← DictionaryMarketing Qualified Lead
A lead judged to meet the criteria worth passing to sales.
A lead that actually looks worth calling.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Marketing Qualified Lead lives under Marketing — Demand. What it actually refers to is a lead judged to meet the criteria worth passing to sales.
It is a label with a settled working definition, so the value is in using it the same way every time. Keep it that plain and it will still be true in twelve months.
How It's Used
Most of the time Marketing Qualified Lead is used in campaign planning, channel choices and the reporting that follows them. It normally appears alongside Sales Qualified Lead, Qualification and Lead. The practical test is whether everyone in the room means the same thing by it.
Why It Matters
Ignoring Marketing Qualified Lead rarely fails loudly — it fails slowly. When it is unclear, spend keeps moving but nobody can say what it bought. Clarity here removes a surprising amount of downstream argument.
Picture a word everyone in the room has agreed to use the same way. A lead that actually looks worth calling.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Professionally, Marketing Qualified Lead carries the narrow meaning: a lead judged to meet the criteria worth passing to sales.
Explained to someone with no marketing background, Marketing Qualified Lead is a lead that actually looks worth calling.
The Bottom Line
Keep Marketing Qualified Lead plain: a lead that actually looks worth calling. That is the version that holds up in a real project.