What is Lead Scoring in Lead Generation?

Lead generation is a process that involves various steps. Lead scoring is one of the approaches B2B marketers use to generate leads. It is an inherent part of the lead generation process and helps businesses increase conversions. Enterprises are adopting the lead-scoring strategy to make their lead-generation process more efficient and result-oriented. According to Marketing Sherpa, companies that used lead scoring had a 77% boost in lead generation ROI compared to those not using the scoring method to qualify leads.

What is Lead Scoring?

Lead scoring is defined as a process of ranking leads to qualify them by assigning a score and passing them to the sales team to nurture them. It uses a point system to grade the leads based on parameters such as user behavior, social media activities, and content engagement. Today the lead scoring process has become automated with the help of lead scoring software.

The process determines whether a prospect is sales-ready. It tells the business the probability of the lead making a buying decision, so a customized strategy can be adopted to pursue it. A score is assigned based on different factors, and the ranking determines if it is eligible to be pursued. Higher the score, higher is the lead conversion probability.

The lead scoring process involves assigning each lead a score, such as from 1-100, and the leads must meet specific criteria to be qualified as market-qualified leads. These leads with a higher score are passed on to the sales team for nurturing. It is worth noting that lead scoring is a continuous process because user behavior keeps changing. Companies keep a tab on the changing scores, and once the score reaches the set benchmark, they qualify them as market-qualified leads.

Steps of Lead Scoring

Identification: Marketers must create an ideal customer profile or a buyer persona that will be treated as a benchmark to qualify them as high-quality or sales-ready before proceeding with the lead nurturing activity. Companies can consider various factors such as job title, location, and gender, and such traits can be used to define an ideal customer. They can identify individuals or organizations that are likely to become customers. Point values are assigned to each lead, which indicates the likelihood of it becoming a customer.

Identify behavioral patterns: Identifying the actions that define a user as a prospect is crucial. Marketers can define activities such as downloading content, opening emails, filling contact forms to assign users specific points, and classifying them as market-qualified leads. Companies can set a high or low score depending on the action initiated by them. For instance, if a user is interested in a demo, they can be assigned a high score because they have a higher probability of buying from the business. Other critical considerations leading to a high score are users visiting the price details page, spending considerable time on the product feature and benefits page, or watching videos about the products and services. Similarly, if there’s negligible engagement with the business by a user, it will be assigned a comparatively low score.

Assign points: The next step is assigning a score after classifying a lead as market-qualified. Digital marketers consider several factors, such as company size, location, behavior, potential deal size, etc., to assign scores. The highest values are given to those that meet the specified criteria.

Track Leads: It’s essential to track the leads and analyze their changing behavior. Leads that continuously meet the threshold in the pointer system, which may be created manually, such as in a spreadsheet or by a lead scoring software system, are sent to the sales team.

Lead Distribution: Users who are qualified as leads are distributed to the sales team. The sales department nurtures the leads and gets the conversions.

Evaluation: The lead scoring system and the entire process are evaluated regularly to make the system more accurate. Continuous evaluation is necessary to get more conversions.

Benefits of Lead Scoring

Lead Segmentation:  Lead scoring is essential to creating result-oriented sales and marketing campaigns. It provides information on what stage the customer is in the sales funnel. Businesses need to adopt a different engagement strategy for different prospect stages. For instance, if the prospect is at the awareness stage, sharing information about the company and the products and services would suffice. However, sharing product demos and video marketing can help if the prospect is at the consideration stage. A customized approach is required to engage the customers effectively. Only then would it result in conversions.

Lower customer acquisition costs: Lead scoring helps a business adopt a laser-targeted approach toward customer acquisition. The lead score tells them about the intention of the leads to buy from the company, so the business can direct all their sales and marketing efforts in pursuing those leads. They save resources and time in targeting high-quality leads, lowering marketing costs.

More conversions: Lead scoring helps get more conversions as the sales team pursues only high-quality leads. The sales team does not have to deal with non-qualified deals and can efficiently nurture only the best leads and save time. The process brings the sales and the marketing team on the same page and helps them speed up the lead generation process.

Increase in profits: Lead scoring removes the clutter of unqualified leads and gives sales and marketing the clarity to focus on high-quality leads, expand the customer base, increase sales, and maximize revenue.

Markable Solutions: Your one-stop destination for lead generation

Markable Solutions is a leading B2B lead generation company that offers lead scoring and nurturing services, enabling you to get high-quality leads. We help you assess the quality of the leads and grade them on different parameters. We help you strategize the lead nurturing process better and get more conversions.

Talk to our team now to get more leads and conversions.