What is a marketing qualified account?

In the world of advanced B2B marketing, especially within an account-based marketing (ABM) framework, understanding a marketing qualified account (MQA) is crucial. Unlike a marketing qualified lead (MQL), which focuses on an individual, an MQA represents an entire company or organization that has demonstrated significant engagement with your marketing content and aligns with your ideal customer profile (ICP). This collective interest from multiple stakeholders within an account indicates a higher likelihood of conversion and justifies focused sales or ABM efforts.

Identifying MQAs helps marketing and sales teams align their strategies, ensuring that resources are directed towards the accounts with the highest potential value. It's about shifting from a volume-based lead generation approach to a quality-focused, account-centric strategy. This strategic pivot allows for more personalized outreach and a more efficient use of sales and marketing resources, ultimately driving better business outcomes.

Why marketing qualified accounts matter

MQAs are more than just a buzzword; they are a fundamental component of effective account-based strategies that drive real business impact. Here's why they are so important:

• Increased efficiency and focus: By identifying MQAs, sales teams can concentrate their efforts on accounts that have already shown a strong interest and fit. This prevents wasted time on less promising prospects and streamlines the sales cycle.
• Improved sales and marketing alignment: The process of defining and qualifying MQAs requires close collaboration between marketing and sales. This fosters a shared understanding of target accounts, their needs, and the criteria for engagement, leading to a more cohesive go-to-market strategy.
• Higher conversion rates: Accounts that are collectively engaged and fit your ICP are inherently more likely to convert. Focusing on MQAs means marketing and sales are working on the accounts with the highest propensity to become customers, leading to better conversion rates and larger deal sizes.
• Optimized resource allocation: Marketing budgets and sales efforts are valuable. Directing these resources towards MQAs ensures that investments are made where they are most likely to yield a positive return, enhancing overall marketing ROI.

How to identify and qualify marketing qualified accounts

Identifying an MQA involves a systematic approach that combines firmographic data, engagement signals, and intent data. It's about building a comprehensive picture of an account's fit and interest.

Defining your ideal customer profile (ICP)

Before you can qualify an MQA, you must clearly define your ICP. This includes:

• Firmographics: Industry, company size, revenue, location.
• Technographics: Technologies the company uses (e.g., CRM, marketing automation).
• Pain points: Common challenges your solution addresses.
• Strategic goals: What the company aims to achieve.

This profile serves as the baseline for MQA qualification.

Tracking engagement signals

Engagement signals demonstrate an account's interest. These are collected at an account level, often from multiple individuals within the target company:

• Website activity: Multiple visits to key product pages, pricing pages, case studies, or demo requests from different IPs within the same organization.
• Content consumption: Downloads of multiple whitepapers, e-books, or attending several webinars relevant to your solution.
• Email engagement: High open and click-through rates from various contacts within the account.
• Ad interactions: Clicks on targeted ads or engagement with social media campaigns.

Leveraging intent data

Intent data provides insights into an account's research behavior across the web. This third-party data can show if an account is actively researching topics related to your products or services, even before they directly engage with your brand. For example, if multiple employees from a target account are searching for