Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a prospect whose engagement and fit signals indicate they are worth nurturing further, but who is not yet ready for a direct sales conversation.
In depth
An MQL is identified when a contact crosses a threshold of marketing-driven signals, such as downloading a guide, attending a webinar, or hitting a target lead score. Marketing owns this stage and continues to nurture the contact with content and email until intent grows strong enough to justify a sales handoff. The MQL label exists to create a shared, measurable definition of readiness so marketing and sales agree on who counts.
The common pitfall is an MQL definition that is too loose, flooding sales with contacts who are merely curious, which damages trust between the two teams. In a quiz-funnel workflow, the scorecard score becomes a clean, objective MQL trigger: a respondent who reaches a defined tier is automatically marked an MQL, enrolled in a nurture sequence, and only promoted to sales once additional intent appears.
Example in practice
Frequently asked questions
What makes a lead an MQL?
A lead becomes an MQL when it meets a predefined combination of fit and engagement signals, such as job role, company size, and a minimum lead score. The exact threshold is agreed between marketing and sales and tuned over time.
What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?
An MQL is judged ready by marketing based on engagement and fit, while an SQL has been further vetted by sales as worth active pursuit. The MQL stage typically comes first, with sales confirming intent before promotion to SQL.
How do quiz funnels create MQLs?
A scorecard quiz captures fit and intent data and assigns a score in one step, so any respondent above the MQL threshold is flagged automatically. This removes guesswork and gives marketing an objective, consistent MQL trigger.