The days of marketing and sales controlling the buyer’s journey are long gone — but that’s something of an open secret in the B2B industry. In the era of self-service and anonymous buying journeys that rely on peer recommendations and social media insights, marketers must stay on their toes to increase their brand’s agility and relevance of responses. A critical component of this modern buyer’s journey is the continued rise of buying groups and committees, which include several members across all departments in a business. Respondents to Demand Gen Report’s “2022 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey” indicated that the average buying group consists of:
- One to three members (41%);
- Four to six members (36%);
- Ten or more (14%); and
- Seven to nine (10%).
As we examine the results of the “2022 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey,” we’ll spotlight the key trends and buyer behaviors that are influencing purchasing decisions including:
- Buyers’ evolving preferences for peer reviews, in the forms of both recommendations and review websites;
- How organizations can strike the balance between meeting buyers’ self-service preferences while still utilizing sales outreach;
- The continual expansion of the buyer’s journey and how marketers can adapt to it; and
- How to meet buyers’ desires for anonymization while still providing them with relevant outreach.
