How to Get More Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL's)

Created: May 21st 2019 By: Clover Imaging
CIG-May 9-Blog

 

What Are Marketing Qualified Leads?

Before you can get a better understanding of how to get more marketing qualified leads, you must first gain a bit of essential context about what they are and why they're so important in the first place.

In essence, a MQL is a lead that is immediately judged as more likely to become a valued customer based on marketing analytics and other sources of intelligence that you have access to. Essentially, it's someone who enters the sales funnel much closer to a purchase than your average lead. Oftentimes they've done more research on their own and, because of that, your marketing and sales teams have to do less "convincing" and other legwork. Well-nurtured leads that already arrive therefore require less work to actually generate a sale, meaning that you have to invest less money into each one before they start turning a profit.

To put it another way, it's the difference between someone who walks into your store and who isn't really sure they want to make a purchase at all versus someone who walks into your store and knows exactly what they want with minimal effort required on your behalf. Obviously, you want as many people who fall into that latter category as possible.

How to Increase Leads to your Website: The Basics of MQLs

By and large, the best way to get more marketing qualified leads is through the right type of inbound marketing strategy that is both A) aligned as closely as possible to the needs of your audience, as well as B) aligned with your own long-term needs as an organization.

Consider the ripple effect that an inbound marketing tactic like content marketing creates almost immediately, for example. When you create a helpful blog post designed to answer a question, solve a challenge or provide real value to one of your customers, you're both establishing yourself as an authority in your industry and giving people an opportunity to reach out and make contact at the exact same time.

However, these are just the immediate benefits of content marketing. Consider the following:

  • According to a 2015 HubSpot study, companies that publish at least 16 blog posts per month (although preferably more) get as much as 3.5 times the amount of traffic that companies who publish four or fewer posts do.
  • Another HubSpot study revealed that over the course of its lifetime, one single blog post creates as much short-term traffic as six aging or "decaying" posts.
  • Yearly growth in terms of unique site traffic tends to be 7.8 times higher on average for brands that employ content marketing when compared to those that do not. 
  • A DemandMetric study revealed that while content marketing alone generates about three times the amount of leads as a traditional outbound marketing tactic, it also costs about 62% less. 

So instantly, the decision to start a quality blog is one that essentially pays for itself by way of increased traffic volume and quality over the short-term. However, the benefits don't end there. In a lot of ways, they're only just beginning.

That one simple decision to start a blog also begins to affect other areas of your campaigns, too, with SEO (search engine optimization) being perhaps the most direct.

Because of the way that Google's algorithm works, sites are essentially rewarded for meeting certain characteristics like publishing quality, valuable content on a regular basis. So the more content you publish, the higher your sites will rank as a result. This, too, brings with it benefits like:

  • It helps you significantly improve your local SEO efforts, which are hugely important to small and medium-sized businesses in particular.
  • It lets you tap directly into the booming mobile search market - remember that as of 2015, more Google searches took place on mobile devices than on traditional computers in major countries like the United States and Japan.
  • According to SearchEngineJournal, 70% of the links that users of sites like Google click on are organic. The more content you publish, the higher your organic pages will rank and the more traffic you'll enjoy as a result.
  • It's also important to note that between 70% and 80% of all users tend to ignore paid ads entirely - meaning that if you're focusing more and more of your efforts on inbound marketing, this is something that you literally don't have devote even an ounce of worry to. 

At this point, you can start to see a few trends developing. First, inbound marketing techniques are all directly related to one another - unlike something like cold calling or direct mail, results generated in one area tend to feed into and empower those in another. Focusing on content marketing and blogging allows you to make gains in terms of other areas like SEO or even search engine marketing, almost by default.

Secondly, after awhile, these efforts quickly begin to create their own momentum. The more content you put out into the world, the more opportunities you've given people to see your brand as an authority. You've also worked to create a more informed, educated audience - meaning that they're coming to your sales funnel at a much farther stage than they would have if you'd have just sent them a postcard in the mail one day.

Once someone IS ready to make a purchase, these types of efforts help in other ways, too. They're a way to break down the silos that used to exist between your marketing and sales teams, essentially allowing them to act as one in the same. Because of this connection, you're also in a position to better serve those customers - meaning not only do you have an easier time closing a sale, but you tend to end up with a much more satisfied customer as a result.

In the end, all of this gives you and your teams the ability to spend less time "selling" and "marketing" and gives you more of an opportunity to focus on running the business you've already worked so hard to build in the first place, which is really the most important benefit of all. 

Author: Clover Imaging

Comments

Loading

Leave a Comment

Your Name is required field.
Comment is required field.
Close

Sign Up For More Information

- SIGN UP TODAY! -
Close

Thanks For Signing Up!

Register now to start saving 40% over OEM pricing

2022 Aspire Sustainability Comparative LCA, commissioned by Clover Imaging Group.

Supplies Ordered
Close
We have received your pallet pickup request.
Close
Information
Close
Information
Close
Information
Close
 
Close

 
Close

INFORMATION
Close

Are you sure you want to logout?

INFORMATION
Close

Press OK to switch region to Clover Imaging Group

Multiple choices
Close

This item is available for outright sale or exchange purchase.
Please choose below.

Retrieve account data
Close
To retrieve your login data, enter your email:
 
Please wait...
Information

Thank you for your interest in Clover! Due to the robust functionality on our website, we can only support the most current web browsers. We recommend upgrading your browser to the latest version of Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

Information

Your session will expire in 5 minute(s).


Information

Your session has expired, you are now logged out.


Error retrieving data
Close
Thank you
Close
Video
Close
Video
Close
Video
Close
Video
Close
Video
Close
Web Tutorial
Close
Upload logo
Close

Allowed format: .jpg, .png, .bmp; Max:1024x768px; Min:590x307px.

Shipping Information ()

Close
INFORMATION
Close

Your document is being created. Please wait until the download initiates.


Terms and Conditions
Close
Shipping Address List View all addresses
Close
Click on the address to select it
Add new Ship-To address
Close
* Required Field
Add new Ship-To address
Close
* Required Field
How it works?
Close

Click the green button "Create New User"

Fill out the form fields for your new user. Select which permissions your new user should have and assign a username and password. Click Save. You will receive an e-mail confirming the new user has been set up successfully. Follow this procedure to set up each new user.

After you have created a new user, the new user will receive an automated email with their new user name and password. They will be given instructions on how to change their password if they would like to choose their own. However, as an administrator, you will always have access to delete/edit users, view their profile information (including their password) and change their permissions.

If you need to edit a user, there are links beside each user to edit or delete the user’s profile.

If you delete a user, the user will now appear on the Deleted Users Page and you can Re-Activate at any time if you need to do so.

Clover Video
Close
Information
Close

Alternative Items
Close
Notification
Close
Upload Terms and Conditions
Close

Allowed format: .pdf; Max file size: 5MB.

Upload Customer Logo
Close

Allowed format: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .bmp; Max file size: 5MB.

Resubmit Historical Usage File
Close

Allowed Formats: .xls, .xlsx; Max file size: 5MB.

Warning 
Close

Please note that this is a bid item that's part of the Silver Bullet program. Make sure that you have been approved to ship Silver Bullet items to this customer prior to placing an order. If this customer has not been approved, the order will be cancelled. Thank you.

Warning 
Close

Please note that at least one of selected items is a bid item that's part of the Silver Bullet program. Make sure that you have been approved to ship Silver Bullet items to this customer prior to placing an order. If this customer has not been approved, the order will be cancelled. Thank you.

Warning
Close
Warning
Email
Close
To download this certificate, please provide your email address. You will receive the requested file within 10 minutes.
 
Collection and use of email address governed by our Privacy Policy
PROMOTION DETAILS
Close
First Warning
Warning: One of your past shipments contained less than the minimum required number of items. If this happens again, your account will be suspended. Please ensure that future shipments meet the minimum requirements per recycling program terms and conditions.
Loader