“Increasing lead generation” ranks consistently among the most urgent goals for B2B marketers. But how do you know the leads your campaigns drive are actually worth the effort?
The answer is by introducing better lead scoring - and our experience across multiple platforms has shown that HubSpot is by far the best system through which to achieve that task.
This article provides everything you need to set up lead scoring within HubSpot and start benefiting immediately from more accurate insight into your pipeline.
An Overview of Lead Scoring
What is Lead Scoring?
Lead scoring is a systematic approach to ranking leads based on their potential to convert into paying customers. By assigning numeric values or labels to specific attributes and behaviors, businesses can determine how well a lead matches their ideal customer profile (ICP) and the likelihood of their engagement translating into a sale.
For example, a B2B marketer may assign points to leads based on criteria such as job title, company size, and the number of times they’ve visited the company’s website or opened a marketing email. A VP at a large tech company who downloads a whitepaper and clicks on multiple email links might receive a high score, indicating strong engagement and possible purchase intent.
This prioritization enables sales teams to focus on leads with the highest potential for conversion, saving time and effort.
Why is Lead Scoring Important for B2B Marketers?
Leading scoring delivers three specific benefits for B2B marketers:
1. Improved Alignment with Sales
Lead scoring bridges the gap between sales and marketing – a gap which causes a lot of difficulty for most B2B marketers. Much of the tension and disconnect between the two teams stems from disagreement about the quality and viability of leads:
- Marketing feels sales does not pursue leads quickly or effectively enough
- Sales feels marketing does not adequately vet leads to avoid wasted time and effort
But a mutually agreed lead scoring system solves both issues and enables far better collaboration between the two teams.
2. Greater Pipeline Insight
Many B2B companies are unsure about their pipeline health. Sure: they can see how many leads are being generated and how many sales and being made, but most of the “middle” process – whether leads are slowly nurtured and eventually handed over to sales – can feel like a black box.
Lead scoring provides deeper insights into the lead pipeline by identifying the most qualified prospects based on data, rather than guesswork. This reassures CMOs and marketing directors that their lead generation efforts are producing viable prospects – or demonstrates that the lead generation strategy needs an overhaul.
3. Increased Efficiency
Lead scoring ensures resources are directed toward the most promising opportunities, which is vital given that nearly 60% of B2B marketers are being asked to do “more with less”. By focusing efforts on leads with the greatest potential to drive revenue, businesses can optimize conversion rates and achieve better ROI from their marketing and sales activities.
How Does Lead Scoring Work?
Lead scoring works by evaluating and ranking leads using a combination of demographic data and behavioral signals.
- Demographic and Firmographic Data: These are explicit attributes such as job title, company size, industry, and location, which help identify how closely a lead matches the ICP.
- Behavioral Data: These are implicit signals that indicate interest, such as email opens, link clicks, content downloads, website visits, and event attendance.
Common methods of lead scoring include:
- Manual Scoring: Assigning specific point values to different criteria (e.g., +10 points for downloading a whitepaper, -50 points for providing an email with a free domain).
- Predictive Scoring: Using machine learning algorithms to analyze historical data and predict the likelihood of a lead converting.
By combining these data points and methods, businesses can create a dynamic scoring model that continuously evaluates and updates lead rankings as new data becomes available. This ensures that sales teams are always working with the most current and accurate insights.
How to Set Up Lead Scoring in HubSpot
HubSpot makes implementing lead scoring straightforward with its intuitive tools. Whether you're using manual scoring or predictive scoring with HubSpot's Marketing Hub Enterprise, here’s a step-by-step guide to get started.
Step 1: Access the Properties Settings
The first step in setting up lead scoring is to access your properties in HubSpot:
- Log in to your HubSpot account and navigate to Settings (the gear icon).
- In the left-hand menu, click Properties under the Data Management section.
- Locate the property labeled HubSpot Score (or create a custom score property if needed). This property will store the scores for your leads.
- Optional: For HubSpot Enterprise users, consider using combined scores to evaluate both engagement (behavioral indicators) and fit (demographic or firmographic attributes).
Step 2: Define Positive and Negative Attributes
HubSpot allows you to define the criteria that will influence a lead’s score:
- Positive Attributes: Actions or attributes that signal a lead’s interest or alignment with your ideal customer profile. Examples include downloading high-value content, attending webinars, visiting the pricing page, or submitting a demo request.
- Negative Attributes: Behaviors or characteristics that reduce the likelihood of conversion, such as unsubscribing from emails, low engagement, or being in an unqualified industry.
To set these up:
- Open the HubSpot Score property.
- Click Add Criteria under Positive Attributes or Negative Attributes.
- Choose a criteria type (e.g., page views, form submissions, or contact properties).
- Assign points or deductions to each action or attribute based on its importance.
Step 3: Assign Point Values
For lead scoring to work effectively, assign realistic point values that reflect the relative importance of each action or attribute.
Example Framework:
- High-Intent Actions: Visiting the pricing page (+20 points), submitting a demo request (+30 points).
- Low-Intent Actions: Opening an email (+5 points), viewing a blog post (+3 points).
- Negative Actions: Unsubscribing from emails (-10 points), low engagement over time (-5 points).
Pro Tip: HubSpot allows you to set score limits or a maximum total score to control the impact of individual actions on the overall score.
Step 4: Test Your Model
Once your scoring criteria are in place, test your model to ensure it aligns with real-world outcomes:
- Review leads with high scores to confirm they meet your expectations.
- Compare scores against past closed deals to identify patterns.
- Adjust criteria or point values if the scores don’t match actual lead quality.
Use HubSpot’s Visualization Tools: HubSpot offers visualizations for analyzing how your scoring model impacts lead prioritization. Use these tools to refine your approach.
Step 5: Automate Lead Qualification
After setting up your lead scoring model, automate lead qualification to save time and improve efficiency:
- Navigate to Automation > Workflows in HubSpot.
- Create a new workflow based on the lead score property.
- Add actions such as:
- Assigning high-scoring leads to sales reps.
- Triggering nurturing email sequences for medium-scoring leads.
- Sending internal notifications when a lead surpasses a specific score threshold.
For Enterprise Users: Leverage AI-powered predictive scoring to automate workflows based on the likelihood of a lead converting.
Step 6: Monitor and Refine Regularly
Lead scoring is not a one-time task—it requires ongoing adjustments to remain effective:
- Regularly review your scoring model’s performance using HubSpot’s reports and analytics tools.
- Incorporate score decay to lower the impact of older actions, ensuring scores stay relevant over time.
- Use insights from closed deals to identify new patterns in lead behavior and update your criteria accordingly.
Example Adjustments: Add points for emerging engagement signals (e.g., attending a new type of event). Deduct points for outdated or low-quality behaviors.
Advanced Tip: Use Combined Scores
For Marketing Hub Enterprise users, consider creating combined scores that evaluate both engagement and fit. These scores provide a more comprehensive view of lead quality by categorizing leads into segments like A1 (high fit, high engagement) or C3 (low fit, low engagement).
By following these steps, you can set up an effective lead scoring system in HubSpot that empowers your sales and marketing teams to focus on high-quality leads and drive better conversion rates.
Turn Insight into Action with ProperExpression
Setting up lead scoring is one thing – but using those insights to drive more revenue is another.
ProperExpression is a full-stack B2B marketing agency and HubSpot Platinum Partner that helps B2B companies improve lead scoring, enhance sales and marketing alignment, and ultimately maximize the efficiency and volume of revenue they produce.
Want to learn exactly how we could help you optimize your marketing results?
