Managing those qualified but not-ready-to-buy leads in advance of an active sales process is quickly becoming one of the most important roles for B2B marketing organizations. The justification and math is clear – the more actively you can nurture leads and build long-term relationships based on trust and credibility, well before the prospect is ready to buy, the more likely you are to win the business and increase your conversion rates over time.

And what's more, effective lead nurturing strategies and implementations can significantly decrease required marketing budget for new leads over time while increasing marketing-sourced opportunities in your sales pipeline.

The following pages provide several strategic and tactical best practices for introducing, launching and executing a lead nurturing or marketing automation effort for your organization.