An MQL, or Marketing Qualified Lead, is someone who has shown genuine interest in your product or service, but isn’t quite ready to talk to sales yet.
These leads have typically engaged with your marketing content in some meaningful way, like downloading a resource, subscribing to a newsletter, attending a webinar, or repeatedly visiting key website pages.
They’re more likely to convert than a random lead, but still need some nurturing before being handed off to sales.
How someone becomes an MQL
Marketing teams usually define MQLs based on a lead scoring system, which tracks behavior and assigns points. Once a lead crosses a certain threshold (like visiting a pricing page, opening multiple emails, clicking CTAs), they’re flagged as an MQL.
Common MQL signals
- Downloading a whitepaper or case study
- Repeated visits to the website (especially pricing or product pages)
- Subscribing to a newsletter
- Signing up for a webinar or free tool
- Engaging with marketing emails
Why MQLs matter
Not every lead is ready to buy. MQLs bridge the gap between cold traffic and sales-ready prospects. By identifying and nurturing MQLs, marketing teams make sure sales isn’t wasting time on leads who aren’t ready to talk.
MQLs are passed to SDRs or BDRs [ADD LINKS TO PAGES] when they reach a certain readiness, or they might be nurtured through email sequences, remarketing, or content until they’re ready to become SQLs.
