A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a prospective customer who has actively engaged with a business’s marketing efforts and fulfills specific criteria, indicating a higher likelihood of becoming a paying customer. These criteria encompass factors like demographic information, behavior, and engagement level.
Essentially, MQLs are individuals who have progressed beyond the initial stage of awareness and have expressed genuine interest in a company’s products or services. They demonstrate their readiness to engage in more significant sales conversations by downloading resources, subscribing to newsletters, or actively interacting with content.
As a result, MQLs play a pivotal role in bridging marketing and sales teams, serving as leads that are ready for further nurturing and potential conversion into customers. Below, we’re sharing 20 interesting statistics about marketing qualified leads that any business can benefit from.
20 interesting marketing qualified lead statistics
Nurturing Your Marketing Qualified Leads
- Forrester Research reports that companies that nurture leads can generate up to 50% more sales at about 33% less cost than competitors.
- It’s thought that leads that are nurtured make 47% larger purchases than their non-nurtured counterparts according to The Annuitas Group.
- According to MailChimp, a marketing qualified lead is deemed more likely to become an actual customer than other leads.
- Companies that nurture their leads see a 45% lift in lead gen ROI over their competitors according to MarketingSherpa.
- According to Hubspot, businesses generate roughly 1,800 leads per month. About 4 out of 5 of those leads are considered mqls.
Lead Generation Channels
- For 79% of marketers worldwide, the top priority is generating high-quality leads for their organization according to Salesmate.
- TrustMary shares that 85% of B2B companies name lead generation as their most important marketing objective.
- StartUpBonsai points out that 61% of today’s marketers state lead gen is their #1 challenge.
- According to Hubspot, 80% of B2B content marketing assets are gated with mql lead generation being one of the top objectives.
- 77% of businesses say they see their best organic mql lead gen via LinkedIn according to Sprout Social.
- 85% of B2B marketers use content to generate leadsas opposed to just 60% of B2C marketers according to Exploding Topics.
MQL Importance
- According to MarketingSherpa, 79% of mqls never convert into sales with a lack of lead nurturing being a common cause.
- Content marketing generates three times as many MQLs as traditional marketing but costs 62% less shares Content Marketing Institute.
- Hubspot shares that it’s thought that inbound marketing-driven MQLs cost 61% less than outbound marketing-generated MQLs.
- According to Garter Research, businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads.
- Chili Piper shares that companies that contact a lead within one hour are 7x more likely to qualify the prospect than companies that responds in two hours.
Content Marketing and MQLs
- Orbit Media shares that long form blogs that fall between 2,000 and 2,500 words generate the most MQLs.
- About 78% of businesses rely on email as their most common strategy to generate mqls according to Blogging Wizard.
- By committing a mere 6 hours per week to social media, 66% of marketers report generating new leads according to Social Media Examiner.
- 21% of businesses believe social media has the biggest impact on their lead generation goals according to Marketing Charts.
Final Thoughts
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) are essential for businesses due to several key reasons.
First and foremost, they streamline the sales process by enabling sales teams to focus their efforts on leads with the highest likelihood of conversion. This maximizes the efficiency of the sales pipeline and results in cost savings as resources are allocated more effectively.
Second, MQLs play a pivotal role in revenue generation. Given their demonstrated interest in a company’s offerings, these leads are more likely to convert into paying customers, driving increased sales and revenue.
Additionally, MQLs provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of marketing strategies. By analyzing the behavior and characteristics of MQLs, businesses can fine-tune their marketing campaigns, messaging, and targeting to attract and nurture leads more effectively.
