Lead scoring is a marketing and sales process used to evaluate and rank potential customers, or leads, based on their interest level and likelihood of becoming paying customers. Each lead is assigned a numerical value or score based on various criteria and behaviors they exhibit.

The main goal of lead scoring is to prioritize leads that are most likely to convert into customers. By assigning scores, marketers can identify high-quality leads and focus their resources more efficiently and effectively.

Industries Where Lead Scoring Is Especially Useful

Lead scoring is commonly applied in industries with longer customer journeys such as travel, automotive, or B2B. With extended sales cycles, measuring advertising impact becomes challenging. For example, when buying a car, the process may include:

• Needing a new car
• Being inspired by a social media video about a car
• Searching for the brand on Google and using a car configurator
• Calling the local dealer to book a test drive
• Purchasing the car in person at the dealership

Since these steps happen across multiple channels, predicting and optimizing the impact of each interaction is difficult. Lead scoring helps assign value to each touchpoint, improving marketing efficiency.

Limited Conversion Data

Often, brands in these verticals have insufficient conversion data for platforms like Google and Meta to optimize properly. Algorithms usually require over 500 conversions per month to perform well. For smaller companies or those with expensive conversions, this threshold may be lower.

The difference between lead scoring and standard attribution is clear: traditional attribution looks at single actions like clicks, leads, or purchases. Lead scoring uses historical data to assign value to different actions combined, calculating an expected customer value. This enables better campaign optimization aligned with business goals. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Implement Lead Scoring

Hieronder vind je een aantal stappen om te beginnen met lead scoring: 

• Identify Funnel Steps: Define the key steps in your customer funnel that contribute to value creation.
  
• Analyze Data: Assess the importance of each funnel stage based on available data; the last step may not always have the highest value.
  
• Assign Values: Attribute scores to funnel steps to clearly communicate their relative importance. 

External Platforms

Once you understand the value of each step, it’s vital to share this data with platforms like Google, Meta, and Snapchat for optimization: 

• Set triggers to update lead scores when users perform key actions, e.g., form submissions or purchases.

• Implement custom tracking codes on your website’s relevant pages to monitor user behavior and update scores accordingly here.

• Integrate score data with tools such as Google Ads Conversion Tracking to use scores in bidding strategies and reporting.

• Optimize campaigns by targeting or bidding higher for leads with better scores.

DV360

Most platforms require technical expertise to enable lead scoring, but DV360 simplifies this through its interface. You can assign values to floodlight activities and let the algorithm optimize based on these scores. Running experiments helps determine the added value of lead scoring.

Conclusion

Although lead scoring can significantly improve marketing ROI, it is still underused by many companies, resulting in missed opportunities. If you want assistance implementing lead scoring, feel free to get in touch with us , we’re happy to help!

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