{"id":27500,"date":"2022-05-25T09:57:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T08:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/?p=27500"},"modified":"2022-05-31T14:11:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T13:11:35","slug":"what-is-an-mql-marketing-qualified-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/what-is-an-mql-marketing-qualified-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A marketing-qualified lead (MQL) is a qualified prospect who has interacted with a brand\u2019s marketing content or marketing channels in a meaningful way but hasn\u2019t yet engaged with the brand\u2019s sales team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marketing-qualified leads have registered interest in a brand\u2019s products or services by engaging with a brand\u2019s marketing efforts, such as by downloading content assets, filling out an outline form, or adding items to a shopping cart (without checking out).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While MQLs are not guaranteed customers, they should be more receptive to further marketing efforts and eventually to engaging with your sales teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defining marketing-qualified leads<\/b><\/h1>\n

A brand\u2019s marketing and sales teams should work together to define what a qualified lead is.<\/span><\/p>\n

Typically a marketing-qualified lead is a prospective customer who at the very least has expressed a need for the brand\u2019s products or services and isn\u2019t opposed to purchasing from said brand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If that qualified lead engages with the brand\u2019s marketing content or marketing channels in a meaningful way, it\u2019s up to the marketing department to qualify it as an MQL.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, if a prospective customer with a need and the desire to buy visits a software brand\u2019s website and initiates a <\/span>web chat<\/span><\/a> with questions about the brand\u2019s products, they have engaged with one of the brand\u2019s marketing channels in a meaningful way and might become an MQL, assuming the prospect meets other customer criteria.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the difference between MQLs and SQLs?<\/b><\/h2>\n

An SQL that has entered the sales funnel generally gets qualified by a methodology such as the BANT framework, indicating they have:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n