marketing qualified lead

Marketing Qualified Lead

A prospect who has met enough engagement and fit criteria that the marketing team judges them worth passing to sales for follow-up. The acronym MQL also exists as a stub entry; this entry provides full context.

When you'd see it: B2B SaaS and enterprise sales funnels. The handoff point between marketing (generates and nurtures leads) and sales (qualifies and closes). Pipeline reviews track MQL volume and MQL-to-SQL conversion rates as core health metrics. Marketing is typically held accountable to an MQL volume target.

Why it matters: The MQL definition is the contract between marketing and sales — it specifies what marketing promises to deliver and what sales will pursue. A well-defined MQL improves sales efficiency by ensuring reps spend time on genuinely interested, qualified prospects. Poor MQL definitions create wasted effort on both sides: marketing chases vanity metrics, sales ignores leads.

Common mistakes: Defining MQL by activity alone — 'downloaded a whitepaper = MQL' without fit criteria. A lead from a student researching a school project hits the activity threshold and will never buy. Strong MQL definitions combine behavioral signals (what they did: watched a demo, visited pricing) with fit signals (who they are: company size, industry, role). Also: setting MQL thresholds to hit a volume target rather than to identify real buyers.

Related sales qualified lead, SQL (Sales), CAC, conversion rate, ICP