Healthcare Marketing Glossary

Lead scoring is a method of evaluating and prioritizing potential customers (leads) based on their likelihood of becoming paying customers. By assigning points to various lead characteristics and behaviors, lead scoring helps sales and marketing teams focus their efforts on the most promising leads, resulting in increased efficiency and a higher conversion rate.

How Lead Scoring Works

Lead scoring typically involves assigning points to various lead characteristics and behaviors, such as job title, company size, website visits, and engagement with marketing materials. These points are then used to determine the overall score of a lead, with higher scores indicating a greater likelihood of becoming a paying customer.

Types of Site Visitors

There are different types of site visitors, and each type has its own characteristics and behavior. Understanding the different types of site visitors is essential for creating a user experience that caters to their needs.
Organic Traffic:
Organic traffic refers to visitors who find a website through search engines. These visitors are typically searching for specific information or products and are more likely to convert into customers. They may come from different locations, use different devices, and have different levels of knowledge and intent. Understanding the search terms and queries that bring organic traffic to a website can help website owners optimize their content and improve their search engine rankings.
Direct Traffic:
Direct traffic refers to visitors who come to a website by typing its URL directly into the browser or clicking on a bookmark. These visitors are already familiar with the website and are more likely to be returning visitors. They may have a specific goal in mind or simply want to browse the website. Direct traffic can be an indication of a website’s brand awareness and loyalty.
Referral Traffic:
Referral traffic refers to visitors who come to a website through a link on another website. These visitors may be interested in a particular topic or product and may be more likely to convert into customers. Understanding the referral sources and the content that drives referral traffic can help website owners improve their link building and content marketing strategies.

Characteristics and Behaviors to Score

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to lead scoring, as the characteristics and behaviors that are most relevant will vary depending on the product or service being offered and the target market. However, some common characteristics and behaviors that are often used in lead scoring include:

• Demographic information, such as job title, company size, and location
• Engagement with marketing materials, such as email opens and clicks
• Website activity, such as page views and time spent on site
• Social media engagement, such as likes, shares, and comments
• Lead source, such as referral, search engine, or trade show

Scoring Model

Lead scoring models can be as simple or complex as necessary, depending on the number of characteristics and behaviors being considered and the level of granularity required. The most basic model might simply assign points to a few key characteristics and behaviors, while a more complex model might involve multiple levels of scoring, weighting of different factors, and the use of machine learning algorithms to continuously refine the model.

Benefits of Lead Scoring

Lead scoring provides several benefits to sales and marketing teams, including:

• Increased efficiency, by allowing teams to focus their efforts on the most promising leads
• Improved conversion rates, by ensuring that the right message is delivered to the right lead at the right time
• Better alignment between sales and marketing, by providing a common understanding of lead quality and readiness
• Increased transparency and accountability, by providing clear, data-driven insights into lead quality and progress
• Integration with Marketing Automation and CRM Systems
• Lead scoring is typically integrated with marketing automation and CRM systems, allowing lead scores to be automatically updated in real-time based on lead behaviors and interactions. This enables teams to quickly and easily prioritize their follow-up efforts and measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.

Lead scoring is a powerful tool for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of sales and marketing teams. By assigning points to various lead characteristics and behaviors, lead scoring provides a clear and objective way to prioritize leads and focus efforts on the most promising opportunities. Whether used to support a basic lead triage process or a complex, data-driven lead management system, lead scoring is an essential component of any successful lead generation and management strategy.

Lead Scoring FAQ

What is Lead Scoring?

Assigning points to lead characteristics to evaluate the likelihood of becoming a paying customer.

How does it work?

Lead characteristics are assigned points, higher scores indicating a higher likelihood of conversion.

What are scored?

Demographic info, engagement with marketing materials, website activity, social media, and lead source.

How complex?

Models range from simple to complex based on characteristics, behaviors, and granularity. Complex models may involve multiple levels of scoring, weighting, and machine learning.

Benefits?

Increased efficiency, improved conversion, better sales/marketing alignment, increased transparency/accountability, and prioritized follow-up.

Integrated with marketing automation and CRM systems?

Often integrated for real-time updates and efficient follow-up.