While the terms “lead nurturing” and “marketing automation” seem similar, marketing automation is distinct. Marketing automation can be thought of as a platform with tools and analytics for developing a lead nurturing plan. If I may use a “art” example, marketing automation would be the paintbrush, watercolours, and blank canvas. Lead nurturing is the artist who brings everything together. Bob Ross style! Without both, you can’t paint a cheerful little nurturing campaign.

Bonus: Want to brush up on your marketing automation vocabulary? With behavior-based marketing automation, you can take it to the next level. A system that initiates emails and other communication based on user action on and off your site is known as behavior-based marketing automation. It allows marketers to nurture leads by only sending them content that is relevant to their stage in the purchasing cycle.