B2B Buyer Journey: Gartner’s 6-Stage Framework Explained

B2B purchases are no longer made by a single decision-maker. If your strategy hasn’t caught up with how the B2B buyer journey 2026 works today, it’s costing you pipeline you’ll never see. Request a demo and we’ll show you how it fits into your buyer’s journey.

While engagement is a stepping stone, what you do with that data is what truly matters. “Traditional demand generation tactics must evolve into integrated strategies that create awareness, build affinity and secure favorable competitive positioning. “To compete effectively, marketers must drive awareness and preference early in the buying journey,” said Kerry Cunningham, Head of Research and Thought Leadership at 6sense, in a statement. B2B buyers are nearly 70% through their purchasing process before engaging with sellers — and 80% of the time, it’s the buyers who initiate the first contact, new research revealed.

Streamline forms, clarify the value exchange, and remove unnecessary steps that slow down high-intent users. Organic visitors convert more often when the next step matches their stage. Ensure key pages are indexable, duplicates are consolidated, and low-value pages don’t compete for visibility.

• Below are four separate options that show how Mailchimp directly addresses a business’s needs.
• Expect pricing conversations, security reviews, reference calls, and a lot of back-and-forth.
• Tighten page hierarchy, remove unnecessary clutter, and keep messaging focused on outcomes.
• Understanding how buyers think through these questions reveals exactly where vendors should focus their messaging.

3 Focus on Content Formats That Convert

However, Forrester’s State of Business Buying highlights that while AI helps with research, it cannot replace the trust built through human interaction. This “compressed” B2B buyer journey places immense pressure on small businesses to be visible and credible from day one. According to Gartner research on the B2B buying journey, the average B2B buying cycle has dropped from 11.3 months in 2024 to 10.1 months in 2026.

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To check these out and discover additional insights from this year’s survey, download the complete 2025 G2 Buyer Behavior Report. AI functionality in software has moved from "nice-to-have" to "must-have," with the majority of buyers now expecting AI b2b buyer journey capabilities and willing to pay more for the top-of-the-line features. Buyers are increasingly bypassing traditional search engines in favor of software review sites and AI-powered tools that provide immediate, tailored recommendations for their specific needs. AI search via LLM chatbots is creating a more direct buyer journey, fundamentally changing how software is discovered and evaluated. This shift is creating new challenges and opportunities for sellers attempting to identify and influence the right decision-makers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Buyers who use AI chatbots to research software aren't easing into it. Which of the following best describes your initial type of AI prompt when researching software? 69% of software buyers we polled said that an AI chatbot led them to select a different software vendor than initially planned.

Tighten page hierarchy, remove unnecessary clutter, and keep messaging focused on outcomes. Use clear H2s, short sections, and a logical flow that makes the page easy to understand fast. Your page should instantly communicate who it’s for, what it solves, and why your approach wins. Focus on keywords and page types that align to active evaluation and buying motion. Publish original research, benchmark data, templates, and insights that become go-to resources in your space. Use case studies, benchmarks, and process breakdowns that show how results happen and what success looks like.

Research shows buyers spend approximately 73% of their buying journey in this invisible phase. Modern B2B purchases involve an average of 6–10 decision-makers across IT, operations, finance, and end users. Only 3–3.5% of unique site visitors self-identify via a form fill. Green Hat and 6sense research found that B2B buyers spend nearly 73% of their buying journey researching anonymously. Research from 6sense shows that typical B2B purchases now involve around 10 people across IT, operations, finance, and end users.

Problem Identification is where marketing can have significant impact through thought leadership, content that reframes a business challenge, and demand generation that helps buyers articulate a problem they may not have fully recognised. The B2B buying journey is the end-to-end process a business buyer goes through from recognising a problem to completing a purchase – spanning multiple stakeholders, months or years, and dozens of touchpoints across digital and human channels. And so oftentimes that you know, helps you think of features that you didn't even think of.” Heitz goes on to say, “You understand their context and how they would integrate your product and like what they need. In B2B, you‘re not just trying to get a business to buy; you’re working to build their success and make advocates who are impressed with your product. Next, catalog every possible interaction point between your prospects and your business.

B2B video conversion varies widely by offer, audience, and funnel stage, so a single benchmark can mislead more than it helps. Video advertising is attractive for B2B because it conveys complex value quickly and holds attention better than text. If 91% of businesses use video, differentiate instead of just participating. And when buyers understand value sooner, sales cycles shrink, win rates climb, and deals move forward with confidence. The teams closing faster aren’t guessing; they’re listening.