Now that you have started to consider the strategy behind your lead generation campaign, you’ll want to develop a standardized scoring system to assign points to incoming leads so that you can begin to track lead value. Today, we will be going over some basics of lead scoring and how it can help you get the most out of your lead generation campaigns.
Lead scoring assigns a numerical value to every action a prospect takes. The end goal is for a prospect to earn a high enough score to “qualify” as a marketing qualified lead (MQL) and eventually convert into a sale. We’ve discussed before how establishing a concrete definition of your ideal MQL is step one in creating an effective lead generation campaign. Lead scoring does just that by matching new prospects to your ideal MQL profile based on their industry, company and more.
After determining whether a prospect is qualified, scoring will help determine if they are truly interested in your product or service by tracking engagement and assigning each prospect action a score. This can include email opens and clicks, as well as interactions with content on your site. For example, a prospect who opens your email might earn 15 points, but a prospect who opens and clicks a link would earn the 15 plus an additional 35.
While lead scoring can seem complex at first, every successful lead generation campaign uses lead scoring in some capacity. The good news is that it doesn’t take long to master and can significantly boost sales numbers. In fact, 68 percent of marketers name lead scoring based on user engagement the main driver of improved ROI.
While lead scoring is a useful tool to boost sales, it quickly becomes ineffective if your lead generation campaign does not take marketing and sales alignment into account. In the example above, we assigned 50 points to a prospect that both opened and clicked a link in an email. But without collaboration with your sales team, could you conclusively say how much these actions impact sales?
Before implementing your lead scoring strategy, collaborate with your sales team to decide what score value a prospect needs to become an MQL, as well as what actions are most important in predicting an eventual sale. Make sure to regularly assess this number during your campaign, especially if you are not receiving as many MQLs as you anticipated.
Are you looking to improve a lead generation campaign through lead scoring? Contact us for more advice.
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Good idea about giving points to leads. This concept could be used to really gamify marketing and lead generation.