A marketing qualified account (MQA) is a target account that has demonstrated enough engagement and fit to be ready for handoff to sales. It's the account-level equivalent of a marketing qualified lead (MQL), but measured at the company level instead of individual contact level.
An MQA meets two criteria: (1) it matches your ideal customer profile (ICP fit), and (2) it's showing active engagement signals (email opens, website visits, content downloads, demo requests). You've done your job as a marketer:you've identified a good fit and warmed them up. Sales' job is to close.
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): - Individual person - Fits buyer persona (right job title, seniority, function) - Met engagement threshold (opened email, clicked link, downloaded content) - Handed to sales as individual contact - Measurement: lead-to-customer conversion rate
Example: "Sarah, VP of Marketing at TechCorp, opened our email 3 times, visited pricing page, and downloaded our ROI guide."
Marketing Qualified Account (MQA): - Entire company - Fits ideal customer profile (right size, industry, revenue, tech stack) - Met engagement threshold (multiple people from account researching, visiting website, downloading content) - Handed to sales as account - Measurement: account-to-customer conversion rate
Example: "TechCorp (45 employees, $8M ARR, SaaS, Series B) has had 12 visitors from their company in past 30 days, 4 gated content downloads, and 2 demo requests."
MQL is lead-driven. MQA is account-driven. In ABM, you think in MQAs, not MQLs.
An account qualifies as MQA when it hits two thresholds simultaneously:
Fit threshold (usually static): - Matches your ICP on firmographics (revenue, size, industry, geography) - Fit score of 70+ (depending on your ICP definition) - Has the problem you solve - Has enough budget to pay for you
If an account doesn't meet fit threshold, it's not an MQA, even if it's showing high engagement. It might be a curious prospect, but not a qualified lead for your sales team.
Engagement threshold (dynamic, real-time): - Multiple people from account have engaged (not just 1 person) - Cumulative engagement score of 40+ (or your custom threshold) - Recent activity (within last 30 days, not 6 months ago) - Mix of signal types (e.g., email + website visit, not just email)
Examples of engagement combinations that trigger MQA status: - 3 people opened email + 1 person visited pricing page - 2 people attended webinar + 1 person downloaded case study - 1 person scheduled demo + 4 people visited website - 2 people opened email + 3 people visited website + 1 downloaded whitepaper
The key: multiple people from the account are researching, not just one curious prospect. That's a signal the account is on a buying journey.
Sales efficiency: Your AE has limited time. Instead of spending energy on 100 MQLs from random companies, they focus on 10–15 MQAs:accounts you've already filtered for fit AND warmed up with engagement. Close rates are 3–5x higher because accounts are pre-qualified and warm.
Predictable handoff criteria: You and sales no longer argue about when a lead is "ready." You have a clear definition: "When an account hits both fit score 70+ AND engagement score 40+, it's an MQA and gets handed to sales." It's objective, measurable, and in your marketing systems.
Pipeline generation: Instead of generating thousands of leads and hoping 1% convert, you generate 50–100 MQAs per month and close 10–20 deals. Smaller funnel, higher velocity, better attribution.
Reduces buyer's remorse: A lead you handed to sales who turns out to be at a company below your ICP is a waste. An MQA is pre-vetted on company fundamentals. Sales doesn't waste time on bad fits.
Faster sales cycles: When your AE calls an MQA, the account already knows you exist. They've visited your site, seen ads, read your content. Buying cycle shortens from 6 months to 3–4 months.
Step 1: Audit recent wins Pull your last 10 closed deals. What was their fit score when they came in? What was their engagement score when they were handed to sales?
Example: - Deal 1: Fit 85, Engagement 45 when handed = closed - Deal 2: Fit 78, Engagement 38 when handed = closed - Deal 3: Fit 72, Engagement 52 when handed = closed
Average: Fit 78, Engagement 45. These are your initial MQA thresholds.
Step 2: Audit recent losses Pull 5 deals you lost. What were their scores when they came in?
Example: - Loss 1: Fit 45, Engagement 30 = lost (too low fit) - Loss 2: Fit 72, Engagement 8 = lost (too low engagement, too early) - Loss 3: Fit 68, Engagement 52 = lost (just barely below threshold)
Pattern: Fit 72+ is critical. Engagement 50+ is harder to get. If you're missing the engagement target, you're handing off too early or not nurturing enough.
Step 3: Set your thresholds Based on wins and losses, set clear thresholds: - Fit score 72+ (below this, account is not qualified no matter engagement) - Engagement score 45+ (below this, not warm enough for sales) - Both AND conditions must be met
Step 4: Test and iterate Hand off accounts that hit your thresholds. Measure: what percentage of MQAs that get handed to sales schedule a demo? What percentage close? If demo rate is <30%, your thresholds are too low. If you're getting 0 MQAs per month, thresholds are too high.
Clear SLA between marketing and sales: "Marketing will hand off MQAs with fit score 72+ and engagement 45+. Sales will call within 48 hours and follow-up for 30 days."
Provide context to sales: When you hand off an MQA, tell sales: - How many people from account engaged - What content they downloaded (tells you their pain focus) - When they last visited (tells you timing) - Fit score breakdown (tells them why account matters)
Example: "TechCorp (fit score 78) has 3 people researching implementation guides, 1 visited pricing page yesterday. They're likely in active buying window. Top pain focus: onboarding speed."
Track and measure: How many MQAs do you generate per month? How many convert to pipeline? What's average deal size from MQAs vs. other sources? This becomes your ABM playbook.
Most modern platforms automate this. You set thresholds in your marketing automation (HubSpot, Marketo) or ABM platform (6sense, Demandbase, Terminus). When an account hits both fit + engagement threshold, it: - Automatically flags as MQA in your CRM - Routes to the assigned AE - Triggers a Slack notification to sales - Begins sales playbook automation (email sequence, calendar invite)
A marketing qualified account is ABM's core metric. It bridges the gap between marketing and sales by creating a clear, objective handoff criteria based on both fit and engagement.
Define your thresholds on your best customers, measure conversion rates from MQA to pipeline, and iterate. The tighter your MQA definition, the more predictable your pipeline.