What Is the Buyer’s Journey? How to Create Content for Every Stage

More people are watching, and more brands are posting, making quality and relevance more important than ever. For B2B brands, live Q&As, product launches, and expert panels offer outsized engagement relative to production effort. Live video remains the highest-engagement format on LinkedIn by a wide margin. Video consistently outperforms static content on LinkedIn for engagement, though the gap has narrowed slightly as the platform's algorithm evolves. LinkedIn native video content achieves an average engagement rate of 5.1-6%, compared to 2-3% for static image posts.

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Only 3–3.5% of unique site visitors self-identify via a form fill. This is where a properly configured HubSpot CRM becomes a strategic asset in the B2B buyer journey 2026 rather than just a data store. The other half is understanding what buyers expect when they finally do engage — because those expectations have shifted as dramatically as the journey itself. Each one has a direct implication for your marketing and sales strategy, and each one is a core reason why the B2B buyer journey 2026 demands a fundamentally different approach. Demandbase found that 72% of B2B purchases involve high-complexity buying groups spanning multiple functions, and 79% require CFO approval.

In this stage, Billy realizes he needs a tool to do SEO. So we’ll look through the list and pick out those keywords that are relevant. There are over 30,000 keywords, and not all of them are going to align with our buyer persona.

For instance, in my email campaign work, customer interviews revealed messaging pain points that no amount of data could have shown us. Again, it’s like being a detective — you’re gathering opinions, emotions, and detailed feedback about products in your market. Outsourcing to a research firm provided us with insights we couldn’t have gathered on our own, like identifying demand trends that shaped our go-to-market strategy.

With 25 years+ experience in corporate, community & grassroots marketing, Liza's passion lies in helping businesses connect with their audience in meaningful ways. Each data point includes its source and publication year so you can verify and cite independently. The data overwhelmingly supports videos under two minutes for most B2B applications. Both platforms reward native uploads, buyer’s journey captions, and content designed for their specific user behavior patterns. Mobile video consumption continues to climb across all audiences, including B2B buyers.

Buyer Journey Mapping Case Study: Sodexo

Our unique insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 700,000 consumers, business leaders, and technology leaders worldwide; rigorous and objective research methodologies, including Forrester Wave™ evaluations; and the shared wisdom of our clients. “As buyers reevaluate how they engage with organizations, providers must ignite action and put buyers first to create meaningful experiences. To help B2B buyers make better decisions, providers must transform their go-to-market approach and their understanding of buyers’ needs. Currently, 86% of B2B purchases stall during the buying process and 81% of buyers express dissatisfaction with their chosen providers. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately owned, Atlanta-based company with $23 billion in annual revenue.

Primary vs. Secondary Research

• Canned scripts and one-size-fits-all methods won’t cut it when dealing with savvy buyers — they want more detailed information, more personalized solutions, and a tailored sales approach.
• For example, a B2B tech company might generate leads through LinkedIn outreach; a B2C fashion brand may focus on Instagram influencers and flash sales to drive conversions.
• I think as people are becoming better at spotting what’s inauthentic, they’re placing more trust in genuine, peer-driven recommendations instead (which brings me to my next point).
• This stage, often referred to as the decision stage, is the point where the customer has evaluated your brand against competitors and is ready to make a purchase.
• Outline the key stages from when a customer first finds your store to when they purchase a product.
• If it’s a good fit—we buy it, as long as I do not exceed my budget.”

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free customer journey map templates.

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B2B Marketing Spend & Investment Trends

“Success will hinge on investing in AI governance, balancing human expertise with AI tools, and empowering teams to deliver clear, validated outcomes. “B2B leaders must embrace a more disciplined and evidence-driven approach to how they engage with generative AI, prioritizing trust and tangible value for buyers as they head into next year,” said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester. It’s only when you can listen to everything customers say (online, in-app, or on the phone) alongside data that shows audience and persona behavior that you’ll be able to make meaningful actions that strengthen your brand’s offering.

Oppositely, the B2C buyer’s journey is quicker, primarily because it’s a process sustained on emotion. The B2B buyer’s journey and the B2C buyer’s journey may sound the same, but, in practice, they’re entirely different. Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free templates. In the next section, I’ll break down the key differences between the two journeys so you can modify your sales strategy accordingly. B2B and B2C buyers have different motivations, timelines, and decision-making processes, which impact how sales teams should approach them. They go through a specific process to become aware of, consider, and evaluate a new product or service before purchasing it.

For example, with my company's customers, we strive to share content that identifies their pain points so that they know we fully understand what their struggle might be. Narrow down which topics to focus on by speaking with your customers and determining what content will be relevant for them. The buyer’s journey accounts for all the interactions a buyer experiences with a brand during the process of identifying and eventually solving a problem or satisfying a need. In this piece, I'll outline the importance of each in establishing a marketing strategy for your business-to-business company.

Marketing your products and services starts with building out the personas you wish to attract to your business and identifying their specific pain points. You can then integrate your marketing content with your sales process, get technical buy-in, and focus on customer success. Depending on the industry, the journey can take many steps, and in some instances, it can take years before reaching the implementation stage.