Lead scoring is an effective tool in the marketing and sales process, yet many companies are not using it.
By scoring prospective customers, you can develop more effective targeting strategies to maximize conversion rates.
Learn about the basics of lead scoring to increase the efficiency of your lead generation tactics.
What Is Lead Scoring?
In marketing and sales, lead scoring involves ranking leads based on sales-readiness.
Leads showing more interest in making a sale are ranked high, while those keeping their distance are given a lower ranking. Lead scoring can help determine which prospects need more nurturing.
How to Use Lead Scoring
Using lead scoring effectively can cause your average lead qualification rate to nearly double according to a study by Aberdeen Research. By analyzing information from different points of contact, you can organize leads according to their likelihood to make a purchase.
There are several different buying signals:
- Site searches
- Email clicks and opens
- Page views
- Link clicks
- Downloads
- Video views
Once you have gathered the necessary data, you can implement a scoring system to prospect more effectively.
Successful lead scoring involves department cooperation, data integration and comprehensive lead inclusion.
Sales and Marketing Cooperation
The most effective use of lead scoring is to integrate it into both sales and marketing strategies.
It is marketing’s job to reel in prospective leads.
Through lead scoring, those leads can be ranked to identify which are ready to move to sales. The cooperation of sales and marketing is essential for a smooth transition.
Integrate with Behaviors and Demographics
Lead scoring should be used in combination with other customer information.
Every customer interaction is an opportunity to collect data that can help determine intent. Assign a score to each individual attribute, such as location, point of contact and online search history.
You may need to adjust your scoring methods as you discover more about your leads and the effectiveness of marketing strategies.
Avoid Cherry-Picking
Companies should avoid picking out the highest ranked leads and leaving the rest behind. This is a good way to lose potential customers.
As mentioned above, your scoring methods may not always be completely accurate.
Every lead should be treated with equal importance, but sales strategies may differ based on scoring.
The Benefits of Lead Scoring
Properly executed lead scoring can have great benefits for your company.
The metrics most businesses care about the most, such as conversion rate, return on investment and efficiency can all see a growth spurt after the implementation of lead scoring techniques.
Increase Conversion Rate
The main goal of all leads is to turn them into sales.
A study by Kentico shows that 38% of businesses see higher conversion rates from lead scoring.
Lead scoring can help you target the leads closest to making a purchase and analyze their buying signals to determine how they are influenced.
Boost Marketing ROI
Businesses also want to see they are getting something back for the resources spent on marketing plans.
When lead scoring is incorporated into a marketing strategy, it can boost lead generation ROI by as much as 77%.
Optimize Marketing Efficiency
Lead scoring can help companies determine exactly where a lead is on the sales funnel.
Sales representatives can direct their attention to those with higher rankings and marketing teams can focus on strategies to pull the lower ranking leads up. Less time will be wasted on marketing to those ready to buy or selling to those who have not been properly nurtured.
Using lead scoring is an effective way to target leads and strategize efficiently.
Collect the necessary data from points of contact to score leads appropriately and use best practices for results that will guide you to success. Soon after, you will start to reap the benefits.