Why the MQL model is failing B2B marketing and what to use instead
For decades, the marketing qualified lead (MQL) has been the centerpiece of B2B go-to-market (GTM) strategies. It has shaped how marketing teams operate, how sales teams prioritize outreach, and how executives measure marketing’s contribution to revenue.
However, the MQL no longer fits this purpose. It’s not just an outdated metric; it represents a way of thinking that disconnects GTM teams from real business impact, misaligns incentives and fails to reflect how modern buyers behave.
Yet, reversing an entire generation’s worth of thinking is no small task. Executives, sales teams and marketing leaders have all built processes, playbooks and expectations around MQLs. Abandoning them without a structured replacement risks losing credibility.
The path forward isn’t about erasing the past — it’s about evolving. By reframing this shift as a necessary response to AI, financial scrutiny and fiduciary responsibility, GTM teams can move beyond vanity metrics and establish themselves as leaders in the next era of B2B growth.
The MQL no longer works
The MQL was introduced to measure marketing’s impact in a fragmented world where data was fragmented and sales teams needed a filtering mechanism for potential buyers. But over time, it has become an inaccurate, misleading and wasteful standard. It is a vanity metric, often based on engagement signals that do not indicate buying intent.
A system built on vanity metrics
The MQL-industrial complex has only aggravated this issue. The entire martech and demand gen ecosystem is built around maximizing MQLs rather than revenue. This has led marketing teams to focus on boosting lead volume rather than prioritizing quality.
The problem is further compounded by agencies and vendors who profit from the system without being held accountable for whether their efforts translate into pipeline or revenue. Marketing organizations are incentivized to game the system, tweaking qualification thresholds and optimizing for lead counts while the actual goal — driving real business impact — takes a back seat.
The growing frustration across GTM teams
Beyond internal misalignment, the broader business community has already grown frustrated with how GTM performance is measured.
- Sales teams have long disliked chasing low-intent MQLs.
- Finance teams have lost confidence in marketing-driven revenue forecasts.
- CEOs struggle to connect marketing spend with actual business growth.
This disconnect is not just a minor inefficiency but a fundamental failure in how companies measure and drive revenue growth. Even those who do not yet have a clear solution recognize the current system is broken.
The time for change is now
The era of MQL-based marketing is coming to an end. AI-driven transparency, financial accountability and fiduciary risk are making the transition inevitable. The companies that embrace this shift now will gain a competitive edge. Those that resist will be exposed — either by AI, by their CFO or by a lawsuit.
The smartest GTM leaders will take control of this transition, ensuring that their teams, strategies and investments are aligned with real business impact. The future of GTM is about proving, optimizing and compounding real revenue impact.
