Marketing-Qualified Lead (MQL)
A lead meeting marketing's threshold of fit and interest, worth sales effort. The B2B pipeline's first quality gate.
Free · no signup · last reviewed August 29, 2026
The definition
A lead meeting marketing's threshold of fit and interest, worth sales effort. The B2B pipeline's first quality gate.
Why it matters to an owner
The owner-scale translation: a lead matching your ICP with a real project. Track the split — 100 leads at 20% qualified is worse than 40 at 80%.
Keep going
LeadA person who raised a hand — form, call, message — with contact info attached. Upstream of…Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)A specific description of the customer you serve best and profit from most — industry, siz…Sales-Qualified Lead (SQL)A lead vetted by an actual conversation — real need, budget, timeline. The stage where pip…
This is the work. Want it done?
Everything here is free to use yourself — that’s the point. If you’d rather a senior marketer just handle it, in your accounts and your name: 20-minute call, no pitch deck.