Lead Scoring and its importance in Inbound Marketing

Le lead scoring is an essential methodology for optimising yourinbound marketing.

This approach enables you to target prospects more effectively and adapt your sales actions, so as to increase the chances of conversion. In this article, we'll look at the importance of lead scoring, its benefits and how to implement it.

What is Lead Scoring?

Le lead scoring consists of assigning a score to each prospect in your database based on various criteria, such as their personal information, their behaviour on your website, etc. websiteTheir interaction with your emails or their appetite for your offer.

This score represents the probability of a prospect becoming a customer and will help you prioritise your sales efforts.

Why use Lead Scoring in Inbound Marketing?

Unlike traditional approaches, inbound marketing is based on attracting potential customers rather than trying to solicit them directly. Given that there is no single formula for success in this field, it is crucial to have a tool that enables you to assess the potential of each prospect. Lead scoring meets precisely this need by providing :

Better qualification of prospects
More precise targeting tailored to your resources
A clear and coherent vision of your sales pipeline
Better segmented and personalised marketing campaigns

The benefits of Lead Scoring in Inbound Marketing

1. Time saving : By assigning a score to each prospect, sales teams can prioritise their efforts on those with the greatest potential to generate business.
2. Relevance of action : Lead scoring makes it possible to target prospects with relevant content and actions according to their level of commitment to the buying process.
3. Increase in conversion rate : By focusing on the prospects who are most interested in your offer, you increase your chances of converting them into paying customers.
4. Reduced sales time : A prospect with a high score is more likely to make a purchase quickly, which increases the speed at which you close deals.

How do you set up Lead Scoring?

There are various approaches to building a lead scoring model, but here is a simple and effective method that you can use as a starting point:

Create a list of criteria that represent the ideal profile of your typical customer.
Define behavioural indicators that show interest in your product or service.
Assign a weighting to each criterion and indicator according to their importance in the purchasing decision.
Assign a score to each prospect based on the data collected.

Profiling criteria to be taken into account

These criteria are used to determine whether the prospect matches the characteristics of your ideal customer. The most commonly used criteria are :

- Demographic data (age, gender, family situation, etc.)
- Business sector and company size
- Position and level of responsibility
- Budget and financial potential

Behavioural indicators to monitor

They allow you to measure the prospect's commitment and level of interest in your offer. The main indicators to take into account are :

- Visits to the website
- Content viewed and downloaded
- Register for a newsletter, webinar or event
- Response to calls for action (CTA)

A concrete example of the use of Lead Scoring in Inbound Marketing

Let's say you're a company specialising in the sale of accounting management software for SMEs. You've identified a set of profiling and behavioural criteria that will be taken into account to evaluate your prospects: sector of activity, number of employees, pages visited on your site, resources downloaded, etc.

To determine a score for each prospect, you allocate a number of points to each criterion according to their relevance and level of interest. For example:

A prospect working in the SME sector will receive 10 points.
A prospect with fewer than 50 employees will be awarded 5 points.
Uploading a case study will earn 20 points.

Once the scores have been calculated, you can identify the hottest prospects (those with a high score) and plan your sales efforts around them to optimise your chances of conversion success.

Adjusting and refining your Lead Scoring

It is essential not to regard your lead scoring model as immutable. Purchasing behaviour is constantly evolving, so it's important to keep abreast of these changes and regularly update your scoring system.

Don't hesitate to test different weightings and combinations of criteria to find the best formula for your company's needs.

Lead scoring is undoubtedly a major asset when it comes to optimising your inbound marketing strategy and increasing your chances of conversion.

By taking the time to define your criteria and indicators carefully, and by regularly adjusting your model, you will have a powerful tool for improving the effectiveness of your sales and marketing actions.