What Are MQLs? Marketing Qualified Leads Explained

by Stephen Graveman

8 Min Read

In the ever-evolving landscape of marketing and lead generation, the concept of Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) has gained significant traction. As businesses strive to optimize their marketing strategies and generate qualified prospects, understanding the essence of MQLs becomes crucial.

In this article, we will explore the concept of MQLs in depth, and discuss why it’s one of the most important marketing metrics to track.

What Is a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)?

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) are individuals or businesses that have shown an interest in a company’s products or services, typically through actions like filling out a form on a website, subscribing to a newsletter, or downloading content.

These leads are deemed more likely to become customers compared to other leads, based on their engagement with the company’s marketing efforts, but they are not yet ready for a direct sales approach.

MQLs vs SQLs

Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) have been vetted by the sales team and meet the necessary criteria to move into direct sales conversations. Unlike SQLs, MQLs still require further nurturing before they are deemed ready for direct outreach.

MQLs vs SALs

Sales Accepted Leads (SALs) come after MQLs but before SQLs, meaning they have been reviewed and accepted by the sales team as worthy of follow-up. While an MQL is still being nurtured by marketing, an SAL has been validated for sales outreach but has not yet been fully qualified as an SQL.

Related: MQL vs. SQL vs. SAL: What’s the Difference?

Why Are MQLs Important?

There are many good reasons for a business to track MQLs, such as:

1. Improve Sales and Marketing Alignment

MQLs help bridge the gap between marketing and sales by ensuring only high-potential leads are passed along. This alignment reduces wasted time on unqualified leads and improves overall efficiency.

2. Increase Conversion Rates

By identifying and nurturing engaged prospects, MQLs improve overall conversion rate and help turn more leads into customers. A well-defined MQL process ensures that sales teams focus on leads that are more likely to close.

3. Optimize Marketing ROI

Focusing on MQLs allows businesses to allocate marketing budgets toward strategies that generate high-intent leads. This data-driven approach helps maximize return on investment by targeting the right audience.

4. Shorten the Sales Cycle

Since MQLs are already warmed up through marketing efforts, they require less time and effort from sales teams. This speeds up the sales process and helps businesses close deals more efficiently.

5. Provide Actionable Lead Insights

Tracking MQL behavior and engagement levels gives marketers valuable insights into customer preferences. These insights can be used to refine messaging, improve targeting, and enhance lead nurturing strategies.

How To Identify Marketing Qualified Leads

For best results, have your sales and marketing teams work together to create the process for qualifying MQLs.

1. Come to a Consensus on the Definitions for MQLs and SQLs

Have your sales and marketing teams determine which customer actions signal an interested buyer. Look through your past marketing efforts to determine what generated the most clicks and which customers ended up buying. Your sales and marketing teams can use these insights to determine when to move an MQL to the sales team.

Have the sales team define what they consider to be an SQL based on their successful pitches. Each member of your sales team may have a different answer, but it’s a good place to start.

2. Establish Buyer Personas

If you haven’t already done so, develop buyer personas. Your team can create a buyer persona by looking through marketing data from customer surveys, successful sales pitches, focus groups, frequent shopper memberships, and other marketing tools. Make note of similarities between buyers. Use this information to create imaginary buyers so you can tailor your marketing efforts to your ideal customer.

3. Use Your Data to Help Identify MQLs

Even if you don’t build a buyer persona out of all the data you collect in the process, you can still find out valuable information. Make note of demographic and firmographic patterns you see multiple times in successful sales pitches.

Maybe you’ll notice that your pitches work better at midsize companies than at smaller firms. Or perhaps you’ll notice that you’re particularly successful in a certain geographic area.

4. Set Criteria for Specific Actions That Make an MQL

Once you’ve created buyer personas and identified demographics and other information for your qualified leads, set some guidelines for moving people into the sales funnel. Look through historical information to see if a certain set of actions signals whether a person is about to buy.

For example, people who sign up for your newsletter may need more time with marketing, while someone who signs up for a demonstration could be a good candidate for the sales team.

5. Track Your Efforts

Once your sales and marketing teams are on the same page, track how many new MQLs you get over a certain period. You may notice that your terms weren’t broad enough, meaning you could shift your criteria for qualifying leads. Revisit your strategy regularly and adjust it as needed.

Examples of Marketing Qualified Leads

You can determine the interest level of potential leads based on how they interact with your website and other marketing efforts. A qualified lead may:

Subscribing to your email newsletter or blog
Downloading gated content like eBooks, guides, or industry reports
Registering for a webinar or virtual event
Following your brand on LinkedIn or engaging with social media posts
Clicking on a paid ad and browsing multiple website pages
Signing up for a free tool, calculator, or interactive resource
Watching a product explainer video or tutorial
Engaging with chatbot assistance to ask basic questions

All these actions signify interest in your company, but they don’t necessarily mean the prospect is ready to buy yet. Here are steps you can take to further qualify your leads.

Best Practices for Generating Marketing Qualified Leads

Use these marketing strategies to generate more MQLs.

1. Leverage SEO and Content Marketing

Optimizing your website and publishing high-quality content ensures your brand appears in front of potential customers searching for solutions. Blog posts, industry reports, and how-to guides help attract and educate prospects while positioning your business as a thought leader.

2. Offer Valuable Gated Content

Providing downloadable resources—such as eBooks, whitepapers, and exclusive research—encourages visitors to exchange their contact information. These assets serve as an entry point to nurture leads and introduce them to your brand’s value.

3. Utilize Paid Media to Drive Awareness

Running targeted paid search and social media campaigns helps reach audiences who may not have discovered your brand organically. Well-optimized PPC ads and LinkedIn promotions can generate MQLs by driving traffic to landing pages with compelling offers.

Actively engaging on LinkedIn, X, and industry forums helps establish brand credibility and build relationships with potential leads. Encouraging discussions, responding to comments, and sharing valuable insights can create an initial touchpoint with prospects.

5. Implement Lead Scoring for Better Qualification

Not all website visitors or content downloaders are equal, so implementing a lead scoring system helps prioritize the most engaged prospects. By assigning points based on actions—such as multiple site visits or email interactions—you can ensure only high-quality MQLs move further down the funnel.

Turn More MQLs Into Customers With MNTN

Generating MQLs is only half the battle—converting them into high-value customers is where the real impact happens. MNTN Performance TV helps you engage, nurture, and track your leads with the precision of digital marketing and the impact of premium TV advertising.

With MNTN, you get:

MNTN Matched: AI-Powered Targeting – Use AI-driven first- and third-party data to deliver Connected TV ads to high-intent leads most likely to convert.
Verified Visits™ Attribution – Track when an MQL visits your site after seeing your ad, giving you full visibility into the customer journey.
Premium CTV Inventory – Run non-skippable OTT ads across 150+ top streaming networks, ensuring your brand stays in front of decision-makers.
Transparent, Real-Time Reporting – Gain actionable insights into campaign performance, audience engagement, and lead progression.
Creative-as-a-Subscription™ (CaaS) – Keep your messaging fresh with performance-driven TV creative designed to move MQLs through the funnel.

Turn high-intent viewers into MQLs—sign up today to get started with MNTN’s self-serve software.

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs): Final Thoughts

Tailoring your marketing strategies to generate more MQLs can help you grow your business without spending extra effort on sales pitches. Improving marketing metrics like MQLs involves developing messages that resonate with people who are more likely to buy from you.

You have plenty of options available to generate MQLs, including performance TV.