Taking the leap and deciding to incorporate a lead scoring methodology into your organization’s marketing strategy is a big step. Congratulations! But, now comes the hard work - implementation. You, of course, want everything to go off without a hitch, so it’s essential to understand everything that feeds into creating an effective lead scoring program.

But in today’s blog, let’s specifically talk about integrating lead scoring. Let’s dive right in:

Back to Basics

Lead scoring is the process of ranking a lead’s sales readiness based on the lead’s progress through their buying journey. It’s important to note that sales readiness can sometimes mean different things to different departments in your organization. So first things first, understand that getting Sales and Marketing on the same page is absolutely crucial to the success of any lead scoring program. Both teams need to be involved with the process from the very beginning.

Lead Scoring Methodology

Lead scoring approaches can be designed to score leads in a variety of different ways. Leads can be grouped into rankings of A,B,C,D or hot, warm, or cold. While deciding how you want to group the leads is important, what’s more important is deciding which demographic and behavioral attributes will classify each lead.

Attributes

Explicit Data is information that a lead provides directly (through a form) such as:

  • Lead Source - where did the lead come from?
  • Budget - Does their budget match up with the type of product or service you offer?
  • Authority - Is this person a decision maker?

Implicit data is information that is gathered through analyzing the leads behavior such as:

  • Pages Visited - Which web pages has the lead spent time on?
  • Frequency - How often are they visiting your site? How much time are they spending on each page
  • Open Rates - Are they reading the emails you send? Are they taking the requested actions (downloading an ebook, registering for a webinar, etc.)?

Scoring

Assigning scores to each piece of data can seem overwhelming at first. It doesn’t have to be. First, list out all data (be sure Marketing and Sales are both included in this discussion). Then categorize the data into buckets of highest to lowest importance. Look at what characteristics a MQL (marketing qualified lead), and SQL (sales qualified lead) possess and work backwards. This will look different for everyone. Maybe your ideal lead has completed a form on your website, visited a specific sales page a certain number of times, and regularly reads your blog. Define your specific parameters, assign numerical values and you’ve just defined the value of a SQL. Leads that meet that minimum threshold will then be sent to Sales. Assign point values to all remaining attributes in the same manner. For any lead who doesn’t meet the SQL minimum, they continue to be nurtured until the day when they do qualify.

Track & Analyze Your Lead Scoring Methodology

Finding the lead scoring sweet spot can take time. You may not get it exactly right the first time around, and that’s okay. Track progress. Monitor how many leads are entering the system, how many are qualifying on a daily and weekly basis. How do these numbers match up with your goals? Communicate with Sales - are the leads they’re receiving converting or do they find they need more nurturing? Tweak the model. Test your theories, and keep testing until it’s functioning the way you expect it to.

Need help perfecting your lead scoring model or determining why it isn’t working as you think it should? Call the Yetis (571) 606-3106. We can solve your marketing technology problems. Let us help you. Email today.

Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net