What Is a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)?

Definition

A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a contact who has shown enough interest and fit — through content, behaviour and firmographics — that Marketing deems them worth sales follow-up, but who hasn't yet been vetted by Sales. The MQL is a handoff signal, not a guarantee the lead is ready to buy.

Key takeaways

An MQL is Marketing's “ready for sales to look at” signal — a handover, not a verdict.
Define MQL by fit (ICP) plus intent (behaviour), and agree it with Sales in an SLA.
The next stage is SQL, once Sales accepts and qualifies the lead.

An MQL is a handover, not a score threshold

It's tempting to treat the MQL as “whoever crosses 50 points.” That misses the point. The MQL exists to define the moment Marketing formally hands a contact to Sales. The score is just one input; the real definition is an agreement between two teams about who is worth a rep's time.

How MQLs are usually defined

Fit — does the contact match your Ideal Customer Profile (industry, size, role)?
Intent — have they taken high-intent actions (demo request, pricing page, repeat visits)?
Score — a lead score that combines the two into a threshold.
Negative signals — students, competitors and personal emails that should disqualify.

MQL → SQL

Once Sales accepts an MQL and confirms it's worth pursuing, it becomes a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL). The conversion rate between the two — and the time it takes — is one of the clearest signals of whether Marketing and Sales are actually aligned.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between an MQL and an SQL?

An MQL is Marketing's judgment that a lead is worth Sales' attention. An SQL is Sales' confirmation, after review, that the lead is genuinely worth pursuing. MQL is the handoff; SQL is the acceptance.

How is an MQL defined?

By a combination of fit (matches your ICP) and intent (engagement and high-intent actions), usually expressed as a lead-score threshold and agreed between Marketing and Sales in an SLA.

What's a good MQL-to-SQL conversion rate?

It varies widely by motion, but many B2B teams see 20–40%. A very low rate usually means the MQL bar is too loose; a very high one can mean it's too strict.