What’s in a Lead? Moving From Contacts to Signals

Rethinking the role of leads in B2B Marketing doesn't come easy. After all, we’ve spent the longest time barely looking at anything else.

Ah, the humble lead—once the prized jewel of B2B marketing. We chased them down like they were the last cookies in the jar, collected them like trophies, and passed them along to sales with a flourish, hoping they’d turn into something shiny and profitable. But times have changed, and the cookie has crumbled.

In a complex, account-driven sales environment, the traditional lead—the form-fill, the webinar registrant, the “free whitepaper download” enthusiast—can’t be the endgame anymore. Treating it as such would be your first mistake. Leads just aren’t what they used to be. They’ve evolved. Or, rather, we’ve evolved in how we see them.

Leads Are Dead. Long Live Signals.

The lead as we knew it—a singular contact, a name to check off the list—is no longer the star of the show. Rather, you should think of a lead as a tiny but telling signal, a breadcrumb hinting at a business' possible intent. It's not about the one person who downloaded your eBook (spoiler: they’re probably an intern). It’s about what that action tells you about the account.

Our ABM agency constantly coaches clients on this mental leap: Stop obsessing over individuals. Start looking at the bigger picture. Leads aren’t the destination—they’re a map marker.

Let’s Talk Signals, Not Stalk Contacts

Leads are clues, pointing to activity and interest at the account level. For you, this means rethinking your perspective:

• From Individuals → Accounts: Stop chasing people. Start decoding the signals they leave behind.

• From Transactions → Insights: Leads aren’t victories. They’re breadcrumbs leading you to a bigger prize.

When correctly paired with other data—website visits, ad clicks, social engagements—leads become part of a powerful network of intent signals. Together, all of this information reveals which accounts are warming up, what they care about, and where they might be in their buying journey.

The Art of Signal Qualification

Here’s the thing: Not all signals are created equal. (Sorry, random webinar registrant, but you’re probably not closing a $500K deal next quarter.) Good marketers need to go deeper, qualifying leads to uncover their true value:

• Qualifying Questions: What’s their role? Are they decision-makers, influencers, or just curious onlookers?

• Behavioral Context: What did they engage with, and what does it say about their priorities?

• Account Activity: How does their action fit into the larger mosaic of account-level engagement?

You’ll notice how the old strategy of “get their email and spam them” falls apart here. What it’s really about is gathering intelligence—nuanced, actionable insights that can drive strategy.

Marketing and Sales: The New Buddy Cop Duo

That also means marketing can no longer toss leads to sales like a hot potato. (And thank goodness—who thought that was a good idea?) In this brave new world, marketing and sales are partners, working in lockstep. Marketing identifies and deciphers accounts’ intent signals, sales uses that insight to approach said accounts with context, confidence, and a well-timed pitch.

This requires investment in tools that can aggregate and analyze account-level data. It also demands a culture of collaboration. That’s the truth, and it might feel like work, but it’ll make a world of difference (ask your bottom line).

The Future of the Lead: It’s Complicated, But Worth It

We’re working in a hyper-competitive landscape—and thus have come to discover the hard way that the goal isn’t to collect as many leads as possible. It’s to understand the signals they provide, act on them intelligently, and use them to build deeper, more meaningful relationships with accounts.

So, the next time someone downloads your whitepaper, don’t break out the champagne just yet. Think: What’s the bigger story here? Chances are, if you’re only looking at the lead, you might be missing the point entirely.