The reality of the B2B buying journey
Buyers—not marketers—are in control of the buying journey.
That’s the clear takeaway from 6sense's recent research on the B2B Buyer Experience research.
We don’t (and can’t) control when buyers are ready to engage. They’re making decisions long before they talk to us.
Buyers spend ~70% of their purchase process conducting independent research with their internal teams.
85% of buyers have largely established their purchase requirements before they contact sellers.
By the time buyers start conversations with vendors, 81% have selected a favorite. They spend the remaining 30% of the buying process validating that decision.
80% of the time, that favorite is the one that wins.
If brand selection happens before buyers come in market, then the marketing efforts that matter most for long-term success are those that shape perceptions early on.
Marketing isn't about moving people down a funnel. It's about becoming familiar, trusted, and mentally available for buyers so you can be the first one they think of when a business need moves them into a research and buying state.
This research reinforces a few things about B2B buyers in today’s market:
You can’t influence a buyer’s readiness to come in market.
You can’t control when a buyer is ready to engage.
Buyers will buy (and educate) however they prefer.
Buyers pick favorites long before they talk to you.
…and some implications for marketing:
Message distribution and development of mental availability should be core focuses, not just nice-to-haves.
Many of marketing’s most impactful moments (early influence) will never be seen—and often can’t be measured.
Buyers spend most of their purchase journey independently researching solutions—they need access to material that answers every critical buying question they can consume on their own time. Gating important materials for buying teams to self-educate creates a conflict between measurement and buying journey timing.
You need to find ways into buyers' consideration sets way before they come into the market. Les Binet and Peter Field's research on message penetration, emotional resonance, and saturation comes to mind.