How HubSpot Lead Scoring Can Help Your Business Grow

Are you tired of spending valuable time chasing after leads that never seem to convert? Do you wish you could focus your sales and marketing efforts on the most promising leads, but struggle to identify which ones are worth pursuing? If so, you're in the right place! In this blog post, we'll introduce you to a game-changing solution that will not only increase sales and improve your marketing ROI but will also revolutionise your lead management strategy: HubSpot lead scoring.

We'll cover everything you need to know, from understanding what lead scoring is, to exploring the benefits it offers, and even providing tips on how to make the most of this powerful tool. By scoring leads, you can prioritise follow-ups, optimise your marketing campaigns, and close more deals. So, buckle up and get ready to transform your business with HubSpot lead scoring!

What is Lead Scoring?

To fully evaluate the quality of your captured audience, it's crucial to not only consider the cost of acquiring a lead, but also to measure the lead's long-term value at the end of the buying cycle.

Lead scoring is a methodology used by sales and marketing teams to assign a numerical value or score to each lead based on various criteria, such as demographic information, online behavior, engagement with marketing materials, and their position in the buyer's journey. This score represents the lead's potential to become a customer.

The primary purpose of lead scoring is to help businesses prioritise their leads, focusing their efforts on those most likely to convert into customers. By identifying high-potential leads, teams can allocate their resources more effectively, ensuring timely follow-ups and targeted marketing campaigns. This approach ultimately leads to increased sales and improved marketing ROI.

To start scoring leads, you can assign a lead score between 1 and 100 based on fit and engagement with your company. For instance, if you have ten criteria, you could potentially score each one from 1-10 and add up the totals to get a percentage out of 100.

By implementing an effective lead scoring system, you can better qualify your leads and prioritize your efforts, ultimately resulting in more efficient and effective sales and marketing strategies.

Why use Lead Scoring in your business?

It's time to supercharge your sales and marketing strategies with data-driven decisions. Implement lead scoring and watch your efficiency, team collaboration, and revenue generation reach new heights by using HubSpot's lead scoring system.

Lead prioritisation:
Focus on high-potential leads and maximise the effectiveness of your follow-ups and nurturing efforts. Stop wasting time on low-quality leads and see your conversion rates soar.

Skyrocket sales efficiency:
Empower your sales team to concentrate on high-quality leads, increasing productivity and driving sales success.

Seamless sales and marketing alignment:
Foster better collaboration between your sales and marketing teams with a shared understanding of what makes a qualified lead. Work together to achieve your business goals.

Personalised marketing magic:
Craft targeted and bespoke marketing campaigns that resonate with each lead segment, boosting your chances of conversion.

Nurture leads like a pro:
Identify promising leads that aren't quite ready to buy, and engage them with tailored content and follow-ups until they're primed to make a purchase.

Boost marketing ROI:
Enhance conversion rates and enjoy a higher return on investment by zeroing in on high-quality leads and delivering laser-focused marketing campaigns.

How to Score Leads?
A lead scoring model is based on activity or demographics.

By activity 
Lead scoring by activity means evaluating actions taken via the campaign. Some examples are: 
•  Requested to be contacted by Sales 
•  Signing up for a free trial
•  Requesting certain types of content
•  Registering for an event or webinar

By demographics
For B2B Lead Gen, leads can be evaluated by demographics using factors such as:
•  Job title
•  Job function
•  Seniority 
•  Years of experience
•  Audience segment
•  Industry


So that is an overview of scoring leads based on activity and demographics, and we shall also go into more detail of how to do this in HubSpot later in this blog post. 

Using Lead Scoring in HubSpot

HubSpot lead scoring is a system that allows businesses to evaluate leads based on their likelihood of becoming customers within the HubSpot platform. The system operates by assigning points to leads according to their stage in the buyer journey, the number of interactions they've had with your brand, and other relevant factors.

The lead scoring tool provided by HubSpot is designed to help you swiftly and effortlessly score your leads. This process involves attributing a numerical value to each lead, using specific criteria to determine which leads are the most qualified. The criteria employed for scoring leads will vary depending on your business and what you consider essential. Some common factors often used include budget, authority, need, timeline, and engagement. In this blog post, we'll delve into HubSpot's lead scoring tool and explore how you can utilise it to score your leads effectively.

Ultimately, the goal of HubSpot lead scoring is ultimately to help businesses prioritise follow-ups so they can close more deals.

Benefits of Using HubSpot Lead Scoring

Streamlined lead management:
Simplify the process of evaluating and prioritising leads, making it easy to identify high-potential prospects and direct your resources effectively.

Enhanced sales team efficiency:
Focus on high-quality leads, allowing your sales team to concentrate their time and energy on opportunities with a greater likelihood of success, boosting productivity and revenue.

Improved marketing campaign targeting:
Utilise lead scoring insights to create bespoke, targeted campaigns that resonate with different lead segments, increasing conversion chances. This allows you to fine-tune your HubSpot campaigns so they're more effective at converting leads into customers.

Better sales and marketing alignment:
Bridge the gap between sales and marketing teams with the HubSpot Lead Scoring Tool, fostering a common understanding of qualified leads and encouraging collaboration towards shared objectives.

Effective lead nurturing:
Recognise leads that may not be ready to buy but have future conversion potential, and nurture these prospects with relevant content and follow-ups, guiding them towards making a purchase.

Increased marketing ROI:
Concentrate on high-quality leads and deliver targeted marketing campaigns to achieve better conversion rates and a higher return on investment for your marketing efforts.

Embrace the HubSpot Lead Scoring Tool and experience a world of efficiency, team collaboration, and revenue growth. Don't miss out on the opportunity to take your sales and marketing strategies to the next level with this game-changing solution.

How to Use HubSpot's Lead Scoring

Now that we've answered the question "what is HubSpot lead scoring?" let's take a look at how you can use it to score your leads.

HubSpot lead scoring works by assigning points to leads based on their buyer journey stage, the number of interactions they've had with your brand and other factors. The more points a lead has, the more likely they are to become a customer.

To utilise HubSpot lead scoring, businesses must first identify their target customers. After establishing customer personas, they can create lead scores for each persona, assigning points based on their buyer journey stage and interactions with the brand. For instance, if targeting small businesses, you might allocate 10 points for leads in the awareness stage and 20 points for those in the consideration stage.

Next, create a list of all leads in your CRM and assign scores to each one, considering their buyer persona and interactions with your brand. You can also use HubSpot's built-in lead scoring tool, which automatically assigns scores to new leads as they enter your CRM.

Assign positive or negative point values to each criterion, depending on whether it's a favourable or unfavourable sign for a specific lead. For example, when scoring leads based on budget, assign positive points to leads with high budgets and negative points to those with low budgets.

Finally, to start scoring leads, click on the 'Lead Score' drop-down menu and select 'Score Leads'. Choose the leads you want to score and click the 'Score' button. By following these steps, you can effectively prioritise leads and optimise your marketing and sales efforts.

Tips for Using HubSpot Lead Scoring

Here are some tips for using HubSpot lead scoring to get the most out of it:

Define your ideal customer profile (ICP):
Before you start scoring leads, determine your ICP by identifying the characteristics of your best customers, such as company size, industry, and revenue. This will help you create relevant lead-scoring criteria and focus on high-potential prospects.

Ideal customer: What is the minimum criteria a lead must pass to become a customer?
Current customer: What qualities do your current customers have in common?
Customer journey: What does a successful customer journey look like?
Sales cycle: How long is the sales cycle of a valuable lead vs. a low-scoring lead?
Lifetime value: What is the lifetime value or average spend of a valuable lead?

Create Persona's
Personas could include groups such as affluent individuals, decision makers in companies, or graduates from specific fields of study, among many other criteria. As you can see, plenty of options! It’s simply a matter of what works best for you.

Start with basic criteria:
When setting up lead scoring, begin with basic criteria such as demographic information (e.g., job title, company size), behavioural data (e.g., email opens, website visits), and lead source. As you gain more insights, you can refine your criteria for better lead prioritisation.

Use both positive and negative scoring:
Assign positive points for factors that indicate a lead is more likely to convert, and negative points for factors that suggest they may not be a good fit. This will help you differentiate between high-quality leads and those less likely to convert.

Monitor and adjust scores:
Regularly review your lead scores and adjust the criteria based on the performance of your leads. Keep an eye on trends, and modify the scoring system as needed to ensure it stays relevant to your evolving sales and marketing strategies.

Collaborate with sales and marketing teams:
Work closely with your sales and marketing teams to ensure everyone understands the lead scoring system and its goals. This collaboration will help both teams align their efforts and focus on the most promising leads.

Automate lead scoring:
Take advantage of HubSpot's built-in lead scoring tool, which will automatically assign scores to new leads as they're added to your CRM. This saves time and ensures a consistent scoring process.

Segment leads based on scores:
Lead scoring works best when it's used in conjunction with lead segmentation. By segmenting your leads into distinct groups, you can target each group with specific marketing messages. This will help you convert more leads into customers. Group leads with similar scores and create targeted marketing campaigns for each segment. This will help you deliver personalised content and improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Consistent Testing and Refinement:
Regularly assess and improve your lead scoring system to increase its accuracy and effectiveness. Align the criteria with your sales and marketing objectives.

Adapt Lead Scores as Business Evolves:
Modify lead scores according to your business's growth and changes, such as targeting new customer personas or removing obsolete criteria.

Regular Reviews of Lead Scores:
Ensure the accuracy and relevance of your lead scoring system by reviewing lead scores frequently.

Determine your ideal buyer persona:
Adjust your campaign strategy and targeting to focus on generating quality leads that fit your sales team’s focus.

Ensure your sales and marketing teams are aligned 
Both teams should be aligned on what constitutes a marketing qualified lead (MQL). This way you can devise an appropriate lead scoring strategy to ensure that you can focus on providing the right quality and quantity to the sales team.

By following these tips, you can optimise the use of HubSpot lead scoring in your business, enhancing marketing efforts and boosting sales conversions.

Examples of Lead Score Criteria using HubSpot

Here are some examples of criteria that you can use to score your leads:

Demographic-based lead scoring:

• Job title or role
• Company size
• Industry
• Geographic location

Behaviour-based lead scoring:

• Website pages visited
• Content downloaded (e.g., whitepapers, eBooks, case studies)
• Webinar or event registration
• Email opens and click-throughs
• Social media engagement (likes, shares, comments)

BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) lead scoring:

• Budget: The prospect's available budget for the product or service
• Authority: The prospect's decision-making power within their organisation
• Need: The prospect's requirement for your product or service
• Timeline: The prospect's expected timeframe for purchasing

Lead source or channel-based:

• Organic search
• Paid search (e.g., Google Ads)
• Social media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter)
• Email marketing campaigns
• Referrals or affiliates

Customer lifecycle stage-based:

• Subscriber: Prospects who have signed up for newsletters or updates
• Lead: Prospects who have shown interest in your product or service by downloading content or filling out a form
• Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): Prospects who have engaged with your marketing efforts and are ready for sales follow-up
• Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): Prospects deemed ready for a sales call or meeting
• Opportunity: SQLs with a higher likelihood of becoming customers
• Customer: Prospects who have made a purchase

Product or service interest-based :

• Specific product or service inquiries
• Pricing page visits
• Product demo requests
• Competitive product comparisons

Engagement frequency and recency:

• Frequency of website visits or content consumption
• The recency of engagement with emails, webinars, or events
• Time elapsed since the last interaction

Negative scoring criteria:

• Unsubscribing from newsletters or email campaigns
• Inactivity or prolonged periods without engagement
• Use of a competitor's product or service
• Low likelihood of conversion based on specific criteria (e.g., outside target market)

Account-based marketing:

• Engagement and interactions from specific target accounts
• Decision-maker involvement from target accounts
• Account size and revenue potential
• Account-specific content engagement

Progression through the sales funnel:

• Awareness stage: Brand discovery, initial research
• Consideration stage: Comparison, in-depth research, and evaluation
• Decision stage: Request for a proposal, negotiation, purchase

Conclusion:

In conclusion, HubSpot lead scoring is a game-changing solution that will revolutionise your lead management strategy, boost sales and marketing efficiency, and improve your marketing ROI. By prioritising high-potential leads, your sales and marketing teams can work together more effectively to close more deals and grow your business. By implementing a data-driven lead scoring system, you'll be able to deliver personalised marketing campaigns, nurture leads like a pro, and enjoy increased marketing ROI.

By leveraging the power of HubSpot lead scoring, you'll not only streamline your lead management process but also foster better collaboration between your sales and marketing teams. As you gain more insights, refine your criteria and regularly assess the performance of your lead scoring system, you'll be well on your way to maximising your sales and marketing efforts.

Scoring your leads is an important part of the sales process as it helps you identify which leads are the most qualified and likely to convert. HubSpot's lead scoring tool makes it easy to score your leads by allowing you to quickly add and edit the criteria that you want to use. Explore the various criteria available, and tailor your lead scoring system to your unique business needs. The future of your sales and marketing success is just a few clicks away. Give it a try today

If you want to learn more about HubSpot Marketing, check out our HubSpot Marketing Hub Guide