Lead scoring allows B2B marketers to appoint a “value” for a lead. Based on activities taken by a lead (download a form, watch a webinar, etc.) coupled with certain demographic information (company size, job position, location, etc.), companies can “sort the wheat from the chaff.” Simply put, the greater the activity, the greater the score. Scoring leads confirms engagement and whether a lead has a greater propensity to move through the sales cycle.
For example, if you have a lead who comes to your website, signs up for a webinar and downloads a white paper – they have invested more time with your company. Through this process, they have shared contact information that can offer insight on their likelihood to buy. Compare this to a website visitor who arrives at your website, then leaves.
In this case, the first lead would gain more points in a lead scoring process – due to both demographic and online behavior.
Benefits of Lead Scoring Campaigns
More sales
The latest research from Eloqua has found that organizations that use lead scoring increase their close rates by 30%, increase their revenues by 18%, and increase revenue per deal by 17%. With some help from technology, you can determine which leads qualify for a sales approach, while the non-qualified leads remain in the funnel for additional marketing.
Campaign management
By creating triggers for certain activities, marketing automation will allow you to set up campaigns to run automatically. Through a nurturing process, you are also better able to segment your database, targeting campaigns to certain user profiles.
Database transparency
If you would like to understand what is happening with your lead generation program, marketing automation and lead scoring can give you better transparency regarding what leads are doing, how they respond and how they are managed. It boosts your ability to analyze your leads, campaigns and activities.
When to Implement a Lead Scoring Program
If you need help identifying the best leads to approach and how to manage them, you can benefit from an automated lead scoring program. Similarly, if the sales cycle is long, and you are looking for a way to automate your marketing responses, marketing automation can help manage the details.
Next Steps
When you implement a marketing automation solution, understanding the factors that constitute a “sales-ready” lead is essential. Creating a shared vision for lead values may be challenging, but it will bring both sales and marketing together around a shared goal.
Once leads are tracked, you need to offer them content that addresses their questions in order to encourage greater activity.
Lead scoring allows you to identify:
- how much time is spent at each stage of the sale cycle
- where leads fall off or ask to be removed
- whether marketing materials address specific questions during the cycle
This transparency is incredibly effective in ensuring lead nurturing best practices and promoting better analysis regarding traffic, activities and requirements to improve your results based on budget and sales goals.
