How leads are classified in inbound marketing
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2024 10:30 am
Getting leads is a fundamental goal within any inbound marketing project. While it doesn't mean that we already have a client, we have already taken a step towards achieving one.
As we have seen, inbound marketing is about gradually getting closer to our potential customers, getting to know them one step at a time.
Well, one of these steps is to convert visitors to our website into leads or prospects.
What is a lead?
Lead is the name given to those people who have provided us with their data through a form on a landing page . Therefore, another valid way of seeing a lead is as a record in our database.
Two important characteristics of leads can be extracted from this definition:
1 They are interested in our offer, be it an ebook, a free trial, etc.
2 They have given us permission to add them to our database. That is, if you have a database with information about clients from, say, a former employer, those are not leads.
Types of leads
Within these leads there are different classifications according to how they are within the sales process or funnel.
leads conversion funnel
Subscribers
We're going to make an exception for subscribers. Subscribers are not a lead per se, they are all those people who have visited your website or blog, found it interesting, and have given you their email address.
In some cases it may be their email and name or some other information, but we don't know enough about them yet to say if they will become a qualified lead later on.
Leads
As we have already mentioned, these are people who have completed a form and left us their details.
These people have advanced in our sales process, but they are not yet ready to become customers. That is why it is said that a lead is at the Top of the Funnel (TOFU), that is, at the beginning of our sales process.
Qualified Leads or Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)
Although we can name all the people who leave us their data as leads, not all of them are qualified leads.
Qualified leads are those that have the characteristics of our buyer persona.
The main way to get leads is through a content offer, such as an ebook. However, not all people who download that ebook have characteristics that match those of our buyer persona.
Therefore, when planning a marketing strategy, it is important to define a mechanism to separate qualified leads from the rest.
In addition to this, as an MQL progresses through our conversion funnel, we must be able to identify whether there is a real possibility that the customer will convert.
All these interactions with qualified leads gambling data turkey are part of what is known as MOFU or Middle of the Funnel. Little by little we are getting closer to the sale.
Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
These are the leads that have already advanced far enough in our conversion funnel and are almost at the end, that is, at the Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU).
This is the moment when the person has already included our company's offer among the finalists to make their purchase decision. With a real intention to buy, this lead takes its final steps with the marketing team and becomes a sales opportunity.
From this point on, the sales team will be responsible for making a complete presentation or offer.
But… how do we know how advanced a lead is?
We've seen the different classifications given to a prospect as they move through the sales process. But how does this happen? What kind of magic makes a subscriber become an SQL?
That magic is precisely your inbound marketing project.
Any inbound marketing project must define the specific characteristics that differentiate a lead from an MQL or an SQL. These characteristics must be specific to each project.
In addition, you must establish the content offering that will be provided to leads at each stage of the conversion funnel.
These two needs (knowing which section of the conversion funnel a lead is in and moving them forward through it) give rise to two techniques.
Lead Scoring
Lead scoring is a technique that seeks to define two things mainly:
1 Are we really dealing with a qualified lead? Or is he/she simply curious?
2 What TOFU, MOFU or BOFU stage is this lead in?
The idea of lead scoring is to convert an a priori qualitative process into a quantitative one.
Lead scoring will allow you to dedicate the greatest efforts to leads with the greatest purchasing potential.
Lead Nurturing
On the other hand, lead nurturing is about planning the content offering that will be presented to the potential client throughout the funnel.
Each content offer should be tied to the stage the lead is in the conversion process. The further along the lead is, the more specific these offers will be. Thus, as the lead progresses through the process, we will gradually build a stronger relationship with them.
Now it's your turn...
There is still a lot to talk about in the future regarding lead scoring and lead nurturing, and we will. Now, it is your turn to start analyzing what types of leads you currently have and whether you are actually helping them move forward in their purchasing process.
Do you have questions about how to work with your leads? Or maybe you're not getting enough of them? That's what we're here for, contact us .
As we have seen, inbound marketing is about gradually getting closer to our potential customers, getting to know them one step at a time.
Well, one of these steps is to convert visitors to our website into leads or prospects.
What is a lead?
Lead is the name given to those people who have provided us with their data through a form on a landing page . Therefore, another valid way of seeing a lead is as a record in our database.
Two important characteristics of leads can be extracted from this definition:
1 They are interested in our offer, be it an ebook, a free trial, etc.
2 They have given us permission to add them to our database. That is, if you have a database with information about clients from, say, a former employer, those are not leads.
Types of leads
Within these leads there are different classifications according to how they are within the sales process or funnel.
leads conversion funnel
Subscribers
We're going to make an exception for subscribers. Subscribers are not a lead per se, they are all those people who have visited your website or blog, found it interesting, and have given you their email address.
In some cases it may be their email and name or some other information, but we don't know enough about them yet to say if they will become a qualified lead later on.
Leads
As we have already mentioned, these are people who have completed a form and left us their details.
These people have advanced in our sales process, but they are not yet ready to become customers. That is why it is said that a lead is at the Top of the Funnel (TOFU), that is, at the beginning of our sales process.
Qualified Leads or Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)
Although we can name all the people who leave us their data as leads, not all of them are qualified leads.
Qualified leads are those that have the characteristics of our buyer persona.
The main way to get leads is through a content offer, such as an ebook. However, not all people who download that ebook have characteristics that match those of our buyer persona.
Therefore, when planning a marketing strategy, it is important to define a mechanism to separate qualified leads from the rest.
In addition to this, as an MQL progresses through our conversion funnel, we must be able to identify whether there is a real possibility that the customer will convert.
All these interactions with qualified leads gambling data turkey are part of what is known as MOFU or Middle of the Funnel. Little by little we are getting closer to the sale.
Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
These are the leads that have already advanced far enough in our conversion funnel and are almost at the end, that is, at the Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU).
This is the moment when the person has already included our company's offer among the finalists to make their purchase decision. With a real intention to buy, this lead takes its final steps with the marketing team and becomes a sales opportunity.
From this point on, the sales team will be responsible for making a complete presentation or offer.
But… how do we know how advanced a lead is?
We've seen the different classifications given to a prospect as they move through the sales process. But how does this happen? What kind of magic makes a subscriber become an SQL?
That magic is precisely your inbound marketing project.
Any inbound marketing project must define the specific characteristics that differentiate a lead from an MQL or an SQL. These characteristics must be specific to each project.
In addition, you must establish the content offering that will be provided to leads at each stage of the conversion funnel.
These two needs (knowing which section of the conversion funnel a lead is in and moving them forward through it) give rise to two techniques.
Lead Scoring
Lead scoring is a technique that seeks to define two things mainly:
1 Are we really dealing with a qualified lead? Or is he/she simply curious?
2 What TOFU, MOFU or BOFU stage is this lead in?
The idea of lead scoring is to convert an a priori qualitative process into a quantitative one.
Lead scoring will allow you to dedicate the greatest efforts to leads with the greatest purchasing potential.
Lead Nurturing
On the other hand, lead nurturing is about planning the content offering that will be presented to the potential client throughout the funnel.
Each content offer should be tied to the stage the lead is in the conversion process. The further along the lead is, the more specific these offers will be. Thus, as the lead progresses through the process, we will gradually build a stronger relationship with them.
Now it's your turn...
There is still a lot to talk about in the future regarding lead scoring and lead nurturing, and we will. Now, it is your turn to start analyzing what types of leads you currently have and whether you are actually helping them move forward in their purchasing process.
Do you have questions about how to work with your leads? Or maybe you're not getting enough of them? That's what we're here for, contact us .