For years, B2B marketing teams have used engagement-based scoring models—MQLs, lead scores, intent data, and content downloads—to determine sales readiness. The logic is simple: if a prospect engages, they must be interested. If they engage a lot, they must be a qualified lead.
The problem? Engagement is not qualification.
A webinar attendee is not a qualified lead. A content downloader is not a high-intent buyer. A lead score is a marketing-created fantasy, not a real measure of purchase readiness.
Yet, marketing teams continue to optimize for engagement signals rather than business outcomes. The result?
Marketing hands sales a list of people who clicked things, not real buyers.
Sales teams waste time chasing low-quality leads that marketing swears are “qualified.”
Companies miss out on real revenue opportunities because they mistake content consumption for purchase intent.
It’s time to fix B2B marketing’s biggest measurement failure.
Why Engagement Is Not Qualification
Marketing teams have built entire demand-generation strategies around the assumption that if someone engages with content, they must be interested in buying. This is fundamentally flawed. Engagement metrics are useful for understanding audience behaviour, but they do not indicate readiness to buy or likelihood to convert into revenue.
Engagement Metrics Are a Poor Proxy for Buying Intent
A webinar registration, a whitepaper download, or a high lead score does not mean someone is ready to buy. Many people engage with marketing content for reasons that have nothing to do with an impending purchase.
Some common examples of misleading engagement:
A junior analyst downloads a whitepaper to prepare a report for their boss, but the company has no plans to purchase.
A competitor signs up for a webinar to keep tabs on the industry.
A university student clicks on multiple case studies for research purposes.
None of these actions indicate intent to buy, yet traditional lead-scoring models would rank them as high-value prospects.
B2B Buying Involves Committees, Not Individuals
Most B2B buying decisions are made by 6–10 stakeholders. Yet, marketing often tracks engagement at the individual level. If a single person from a target account engages with content, that does not mean the company is moving toward a purchase decision.
Real qualification means understanding buying group dynamics and tracking engagement across multiple stakeholders within an account. If only one person is interacting with marketing, that is a weak signal. But if multiple decision-makers from the same company are engaging, that is a much stronger indication of potential intent.
Lead Scoring Systems Reward the Wrong Behavior
Many lead scoring models prioritize activity over intent. The more someone engages, the higher they score—even if their actions do not indicate real buying interest.
Common problems with lead scoring:
A prospect who clicks three emails, watches a webinar, and visits a pricing page gets a high lead score—even if they have no budget, no authority, and no interest in buying now.
A silent but serious buyer who doesn’t engage with marketing but reaches out directly to sales often gets overlooked because they “didn’t score high enough.”
Marketing celebrates MQL volume, even if those leads don’t convert—because the model rewards activity, not revenue.
This is why sales teams don’t trust marketing leads.
A Better Approach: Rethinking Qualification and Measurement
If engagement signals don’t equal buyer readiness, what should B2B marketers be measuring? The answer: Account-Level Buying Signals and Real Qualification Criteria. Instead of tracking individual actions, marketing should focus on account-based engagement and pipeline impact.
Tactical Marketing Metrics (Short-Term Pipeline Impact)
Tactical metrics focus on whether marketing is driving real movement in the sales process. Instead of counting clicks, marketing teams should measure how accounts are engaging collectively and whether that engagement translates into pipeline growth.
Key metrics to track:
Buying Committee Engagement – Is there activity across multiple stakeholders in a target account? If only one person is engaging, the account isn’t moving.
Pipeline Contribution – Are engaged accounts more likely to enter pipeline than non-engaged accounts?
Pipeline Acceleration – Do engaged accounts move faster through the funnel compared to others?
Influence on Opportunity Creation – Are accounts that marketing engages more likely to generate new sales opportunities?
Win Rate Impact – Do engaged accounts convert to closed deals at a higher rate than those that don’t engage?
Unlike lead scoring, these metrics measure real business impact—not just marketing activity.
Strategic Marketing Metrics (Long-Term Brand Growth)
B2B marketing isn’t just about driving immediate pipeline—it’s also about creating future demand. Instead of chasing short-term lead volume, marketers should measure brand-building efforts that ensure their company is top of mind when buyers are ready to purchase.
Key brand impact metrics:
Brand Salience Among Key Audiences – Are more buyers recognizing and recalling the brand post-campaign?
Category Entry Points – Are buyers associating the brand with the key problems it solves?
Market Penetration – Is marketing reaching new potential buyers, or just retargeting the same ones?
Perception Shift – Are brand sentiment and positioning metrics improving among target buyers?
These metrics actually measure whether marketing is influencing future demand.
How B2B Companies Can Fix Their Qualification Process
Fixing B2B qualification isn’t just about changing metrics—it requires a fundamental shift in how marketing and sales define success.
Step 1: Ditch MQLs and Lead Scoring
Remove activity-based scoring models that inflate numbers without proving buying intent.
Stop counting form fills and webinar attendees as leads.
Step 2: Align Sales & Marketing on Real Qualification
Define what makes a buyer “qualified” beyond engagement signals—budget, authority, timing, and business need.
Measure marketing’s impact on opportunity creation, pipeline acceleration, and win rates.
Step 3: Build a Measurement System That Tracks Buying Groups
Shift from tracking individual interactions to mapping account-level engagement.
Integrate marketing data with CRM and ABM platforms to see how marketing impacts sales progression.
Step 4: Balance Short-Term Pipeline Impact with Long-Term Demand Gen
Optimize for pipeline influence now while also building brand salience for future buyers.
Move beyond immediate lead-gen and track long-term category leadership.
Final Takeaway: Fix Your Measurement Model or Fall Behind
B2B marketing teams have spent years optimizing for the wrong metrics—prioritizing lead volume over deal quality, engagement signals over real buying intent and MQLs over actual revenue impact. The problem isn’t just that these models don’t work—it’s that they actively waste resources, misalign marketing and sales, and create friction in the buying process.
Fixing this isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a competitive necessity. Companies that modernize their qualification process will build stronger sales pipelines, generate higher-converting opportunities, and position their brand as the go-to choice when buyers enter the market. To stay ahead, B2B marketing teams need to act now. Here’s how:
Ditch MQLs and lead scoring in favour of real qualification.
Measure account-level buying signals, not individual engagement.
Align marketing and sales on what “qualified” actually means.
The question isn’t whether you should fix your measurement model. The real question is: How fast can you replace it before your competitors do?
