Lead nurturing is a relationship building approach using different media to provide value to potential customers who are not yet ready to purchase. It turns "not ready" prospects into "sales ready" prospects faster, which can raise win rates on marketing leads by 7% and decrease open-to-close rates. To start nurturing leads, companies should define what a "sales ready" lead is, identify buyer personas, gather relevant content, and determine the resources needed, including a marketing automation solution to send personalized messages. An effective nurturing process includes mapping content to answers buyer personas' questions, creating new content, consistently distributing across channels, and automating the content flow.