Generating leads is a top priority for many businesses. However, not all leads are created equal, and identifying the most promising prospects can be a tricky task. This is where Lead Scoring comes into play. However, unless you think through how you set up your score and how you use it, it can cause more problems than you were looking for.
Recently I got the question: Why did my teams all of a sudden receive a bunch of leads who didn't have any activity since 2018? After a lot of digging into a bunch of automation and lists I realised what had happened: The lead score was made up of a few different lead-specific, behavioural and firmographic datapoints. When I uploaded a Total Addressable Market list to the CRM and enriched a number of company records, all of a sudden associated leads were bumped up to the MQL threshold and a number of sales reps got a 'Please call this lead' Message.
So what is a lead score and how can you use it to automate your Go To Market efforts?
Lead scoring is a powerful strategy that enables businesses to strategically assess and prioritize leads based on their likelihood of converting. By efficiently allocating resources to the most qualified leads, companies can effectively guide them through the sales funnel.
Most Marketing Automation Platforms will offer an out-of-the-box lead scoring function that can greatly enhance your lead management efforts. Even without, you could score your leads with a spreadsheet. So what can your lead scoring look like and how do you keep it simple?
The concept behind lead scoring is relatively straightforward. By assigning a numerical value or score to each lead, businesses can objectively rank and categorize them based on their likelihood to convert into customers. This scoring system is typically based on a combination of demographic data, firmographics, and behavioural indicators. You could go a step further and assign a cold, warm or hot rating.
Obviously, using a spreadsheet would take more manual work but if you already have your customer and lead data in a spreadsheet, it's not a big step to add a lead score.
With the help of a Marketing Automation Platform like HubSpot, Lead Scoring takes the concept of prioritizing leads to the next level. It allows you to create customized scoring criteria that perfectly align with your unique needs. This gives you complete control over the factors that impact a lead's score, whether it's their job title, industry, website activity, or engagement with your content. By fine-tuning the scoring model, you can ensure that it perfectly aligns with your business objectives, paving the way for more effective lead management.
One of the biggest advantages of HubSpot Lead Scoring is its ability to automate the lead qualification process. You can set up rules and triggers that automatically adjust a lead's score based on their actions and attributes. This saves you time and ensures that your sales team is always working with the most qualified leads.
Moreover, automated Lead Scoring provides valuable insights into lead behaviour and engagement patterns. By analyzing the data behind each lead's score, you can uncover trends and patterns that help you refine your marketing and sales strategies. For example, if you notice that leads who engage with your blog posts have a higher conversion rate, you can prioritize content marketing efforts to attract similar prospects.
Implementing Lead Scoring requires careful planning and consideration. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind:
- Define your ideal customer profile: Before you start scoring leads, it's crucial to have a clear understanding of your target audience. By defining your ideal customer profile, you can align your scoring criteria with the characteristics and behaviours of your most valuable customers. When I pull data from various sources, I make sure to check if the data varies and allow the Sales team to validate the automated ICP scoring, certainly for their outbound efforts.
- Keep contact and company score separate: Whether a company is an ICP and in which tier they rank, should be separate from the behavioural score of your lead
- I like to keep behaviour and qualification reasons separate for clarity:
If you don't want to bother your Sales team with people who have 'student' as their job title, do not apply the lead score. The same goes for countries you cannot sell to. Simply do not apply the score. - Collaborate with your sales team:
Lead scoring is a collaborative effort between marketing and sales teams. Involve your sales team in the process to ensure that the scoring criteria align with their needs and insights. Regular feedback and communication are key to refining the scoring model over time. -
Continuously evaluate and adjust:
Lead scoring is not a set-it-and-forget-it process. It requires regular evaluation and adjustment to ensure its effectiveness. Monitor the performance of your scoring model and make data-driven adjustments based on the results.
Generating leads is a crucial aspect of business success for most digital marketing teams. However, not all leads are equally valuable. Implementing a robust lead scoring system can help businesses identify and prioritize their most promising prospects. By automating the lead qualification process and providing valuable insights into lead behaviour, HubSpot Lead Scoring empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions and improve their overall sales and marketing efforts.
