[Subscription Strategy] Understanding the MQL: Key element for successful subscription strategies

For companies looking to develop a subscription offering, it is essential to understand and measure the value of a prospect and identify the specific stage they are at in their buying journey.

To maximize the effectiveness of efforts deployed, the Growth team must accurately identify prospects and properly qualify them.

This is where the acronym MQL comes into play. A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) represents a specific type of prospect.

In building your subscription strategy, it is therefore crucial to understand when a prospect becomes sufficiently engaged to be considered an MQL.

This article explores the definition of an MQL, the criteria used to qualify one, its importance for businesses, and the best strategies to ensure optimal management.

What is a Marketing Qualified Lead?

A Marketing Qualified Lead is a prospect who has shown a notable interest in a company’s products or services.

Unlike a simple visitor or an unqualified lead, an MQL engages in specific actions such as filling out a form, downloading a whitepaper, or subscribing to a newsletter.

These actions indicate concrete engagement with the brand.

These signals suggest that the lead is further along in their buying journey. They already have some clarity about their needs and see how the company can fulfill them.

By targeting these prospects, marketing teams can focus their efforts on leads that are more likely to convert.

Managing these leads effectively allows businesses to optimize the efficiency of their marketing campaigns while reducing the time and resources required to convert less qualified prospects.

Difference Between Lead, MQL, and SQL

To fully understand the notion of MQL, it’s important to place it in the broader context of lead qualification.

This process aims to rank prospects according to their level of interest and engagement with your product or service.

The goal is to assess their position in the conversion funnel.

Here are the main stages a lead goes through before becoming a customer:

• Lead: This is a person or organization that shows initial interest in your business, often identified through contact information provided during an initial interaction.
• MQL: This type of lead has interacted significantly with your marketing efforts. They show concrete signs of interest in your products or services, distinguishing them from ordinary leads.
• SQL: This is a lead whose intent to purchase has been verified, typically after being vetted by the sales team. At this stage, the lead is ready to be converted.
• Customer: This term refers to a prospect who has fulfilled their interest by making a purchase or subscribing to a service offered by your company.

Why are MQLs important?

More targeted actions for better performance

MQLs play a key role in optimizing sales and marketing efforts.

They help align marketing and sales teams, ensuring that sales receive leads already engaged with the brand.

This fosters a better conversion rate, as these prospects are more likely to respond favorably to sales outreach.

For companies with fully digital sales processes—such as SaaS companies—segmenting MQLs offers the ability to refine marketing actions by offering relevant content that meets the specific needs of each potential customer segment.

Resource optimization

Focusing efforts on MQLs allows teams to optimize their use of resources.

Rather than spreading efforts across less promising leads, they can concentrate on prospects with a high likelihood of conversion, allowing less mature leads time to advance in their decision-making process through automated nurturing.

This leads to more efficient management of the marketing budget and human resources, ultimately improving the return on investment of campaigns.

More precise campaign performance analysis

An MQL-centered approach also allows for more detailed analysis of marketing campaign performance.

Rather than merely counting the number of leads generated, it provides the opportunity to evaluate the quality of leads and their potential to convert.

By analyzing the transition rates from MQL to SQL and SQL to customer, businesses can identify the channels that produce the best results and adjust their strategies accordingly.

Example of funnel segmentation :

To better understand how leads evolve in the conversion funnel, here is a breakdown of the different stages:

• Awareness: The target audience is exposed to various channels such as SEO, SEA, social media, or email campaigns.
• Traffic: Website visitors show an initial sign of interest.
• Lead: Individuals who have shared personal information or downloaded content.
• MQL: Prospects who have expressed a clear need or affinity for the brand.
• SQL: Leads with clear buying intentions, in the consideration phase.
• Customer: People who have subscribed to a product or service.
• Ambassador: Satisfied customers who actively promote the brand, generating positive recommendations.

Criteria to qualify an MQL

While we’ve given an example, it’s important to remember that the definition of an MQL varies from one company to another.

It is influenced by various factors such as the sales process, the type of product or service, and the level of detail required.

Several criteria are often used to qualify an MQL:

• Interactions with content: downloading resources, watching webinars, participating in online events.
• Social media engagement: following, sharing, or commenting on company posts.
• Browsing behavior: frequent visits to the website, time spent on important pages, viewing specific product or service pages.
• Completed forms: contact requests, demo requests, newsletter subscriptions.

Some companies implement more advanced techniques, such as:

1. Persona-based segmentation: They use forms to collect data on prospects and categorize them according to their persona. This helps identify and prioritize targets based on their alignment with the products or services offered.
2. Freemium offer subscription: They provide a free or trial version of a product to attract interested prospects. This strategy aims to engage users who are likely to eventually migrate to a paid version.
3. Lead scoring: This strategy involves assigning scores to prospects based on behavioral and profile criteria. A higher score reflects a greater likelihood of progressing in the buying process.

How to qualify MQLs?

To qualify MQLs effectively, it’s necessary to implement several complementary strategies.

Start by optimizing the website and conversion path. By improving navigation, reducing loading times, and simplifying forms, it becomes easier to convert visitors into qualified leads.

Offering relevant content, such as case studies or whitepapers, also encourages visitors to share their information.

Marketing automation tools like HubSpot, Marketo Engage, or Plezi play an essential role.

These platforms enable the segmentation of leads based on their behavior and allow for targeted campaigns that address their specific needs, thereby increasing conversion rates.

A lead who has browsed multiple product pages, for example, could receive personalized emails with special offers or free demos.

Retargeting is another effective strategy for reactivating potential leads.

By showing personalized ads based on browsing history, such as product page visits or interactions with content, businesses can stay top of mind for prospects.

This precise targeting reminds leads of their initial interest and increases the likelihood of conversion.

What tools to use for tracking?

To manage and track MQLs effectively, it’s important to choose the right tools and methods.

Marketing automation tools: These offer features such as lead scoring, email personalization, and tracking interactions on the website.

These tools help analyze the customer journey and identify the most promising conversion opportunities.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Solutions like Salesforce, Zoho CRM, or Pipedrive centralize all lead and customer data.

They allow businesses to track every interaction, organize contact information, manage tasks and reminders, and measure prospect engagement.

CRMs facilitate proactive management of business opportunities and help optimize the sales cycle.

Best practices

Finally, here are some best practices to integrate into your processes:

• Define precise criteria: Develop clear criteria to differentiate between leads, MQLs, and SQLs. Involve sales teams to ensure a shared understanding.
• Close collaboration between marketing and sales: Maintain constant communication between these two teams through dedicated and regular meetings. This helps refine qualification criteria and ensures the quality of MQLs passed on.
• Regular analysis and optimization: Frequently evaluate the performance of MQLs. Identify obstacles and adjust qualification strategies to improve conversion rates.
• Audience segmentation: Use detailed audience segmentation to tailor marketing campaigns to each MQL group. This maximizes the effectiveness of your messages.
• Continuous feedback from sales teams: Regularly gather feedback from sales teams on the quality of MQLs. This feedback helps refine qualification criteria and adjust marketing strategies according to real-world conditions.

Conclusion: Optimizing the value of MQLs

MQLs are strategic assets for any company looking to refine their sales efforts.

Understanding their dynamics and qualifying them correctly allows you to focus on the most promising prospects.

To optimize the effectiveness of MQLs, encourage close collaboration between marketing and sales teams.

The use of efficient tracking tools is also essential. By adopting an agile approach and constantly adjusting qualification criteria, you will not only improve conversion rates but also deepen your understanding of prospects to better meet their expectations.