B2B Marketing Statistics 2026: Buyers, Budgets & Myths
B2B buyers first contact a seller 61% of the way through their buying journey, and 95% of the time they buy from a vendor that was on their shortlist from day one. Two-thirds would rather skip the sales rep entirely, and a typical purchase now involves 13 people inside the company and nine outside it. The figure most B2B decks still quote, that buyers are “57% of the way through” before talking to sales, is an average from a 2011 survey of 22 companies’ customers, and it varied widely from one supplier to the next. Here are the B2B marketing statistics worth knowing in 2026, each sourced inline with the year noted.
”57% of the way through before talking to sales” is a 2011 average
57% of the purchase process was complete before the average B2B customer engaged a supplier’s sales rep, in a survey of more than 1,500 decision makers and influencers who had bought from 22 large B2B companies across 10 industries (CEB Marketing Leadership Council, hosted by Google, 2012). The survey ran in 2011.
The 57% was an average across very different suppliers. CEB’s own chart shows a spread of supplier averages, and the report notes that “at the upper limit, that number ran as high as 70%” (CEB, 2012).
The current measurement is 61%, and it moved earlier last year. In 6sense’s 2025 survey of nearly 4,000 B2B buyers, first contact came 61% of the way through the journey, down from 69% in 2024, roughly six to seven weeks sooner (6sense Buyer Experience Report, archived, 2025).
Buyers have picked a favorite before the first call
95% of the time, the winning vendor was already on the buyer’s day one shortlist, and four out of five deals go to the buyer’s pre-contact favorite (6sense, 2025).
Average B2B buying cycles shortened from 11.3 months in 2024 to 10.1 months in 2025 (6sense, 2025). Nearly half of buyers said economic pressure shortened their cycles, and 62% said it drove them to engage sellers earlier.
Nearly 90% of buyers say AI features are part of the solutions they bought, and checking what those features really do is pulling buyers into earlier vendor conversations (6sense, 2025).
Buyers average eight to nine previous purchase journeys in the same category (6sense, 2025). The person on the other end of a first call usually knows the market well. More of the 6sense findings are in lead generation statistics.
Two-thirds of B2B buyers would rather skip the rep
67% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free buying experience, from a Gartner survey of 646 buyers in August and September 2025 (Gartner, 2026). A year earlier, the same question found 61% among 632 buyers (Gartner, 2025).
45% of B2B buyers used AI during a recent purchase (Gartner, 2026). Buyers who feel confident in their decision are twice as likely to report a high-quality deal.
73% of B2B buyers actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach (Gartner, 2025).
69% report inconsistencies between what a supplier’s website says and what its sellers tell them (Gartner, 2025). Buyers prefer self-service for general research, but still want a seller’s input on whether a product fits their company.
A typical purchase involves 13 insiders and 9 outsiders
The typical B2B buying decision now includes 13 internal stakeholders and nine external influencers, with more for complex or strategic purchases (Forrester The State of Business Buying, 2026).
94% of buyers with groups of six or more say the size helps, citing broader perspectives, shared effort in validating options and a better chance of securing budget and approval (Forrester, 2026).
Procurement is a decision-maker in 53% of business buying cycles, and engages from the start (Forrester, 2026).
More than 60% of business buyers now use a trial before buying, rising to 78% for purchases of $10 million or more (Forrester, 2026). Forrester also found buyers turning to colleagues and outside influencers to check what AI answer engines tell them, since those answers are often incomplete or unreliable.
About 95% of your market isn’t buying right now
Only about 5% of potential B2B buyers are in the market at any given time, the “95:5 rule” from Professor John Dawes of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science (Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, 2025). The other 95% are part of the market but not ready to buy yet.
If only 5% of buyers are looking, 95% of marketing’s effect arrives later, Dawes argues, so judging B2B marketing by immediate sales misses most of it; brand awareness and mental availability are the leading indicators (Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, 2025). It fits the shortlist data: in 6sense’s 2023 and 2024 studies, buyers had prior experience with nearly every vendor on their day one shortlist (6sense, 2025).
What B2B companies spend on marketing
B2B product companies spend 7.02% of revenue on marketing, and B2B services companies 10.07%, against 11.99% for B2C product companies and 7.24% for B2C services (The CMO Survey Firm and Industry Breakout Report, 2026). The samples are small, 61 B2B product and 41 B2B services companies, so read them as ranges rather than precise benchmarks.
B2B product companies’ marketing spending was flat over the past year (-0.19%), while B2B services companies grew it 2.75% (CMO Survey, 2026). Digital spending grew faster in both, at 4.13% and 7.10%.
Next year, B2B product companies expect overall marketing spending to rise 5.44% and B2B services companies 8.18% (CMO Survey, 2026). B2B services companies plan the bigger push on brand building, up 8.31% against 5.14% for product companies. Budgets across all company types are in marketing statistics.
Being ready when a buyer finally reaches out
By the time a B2B buyer contacts you, they are most of the way through their decision, usually with a favorite already in mind, and 73% will drop a supplier whose outreach misses the mark. Carly makes that first contact count: a new inquiry from your site, inbox or CRM gets an immediate reply from your own email, a meeting on the right teammate’s calendar and relevant follow-ups until the buyer answers, all running as workflows in the background. Carly connects to thousands of apps, so it works with the CRM and forms a B2B team already uses. Why the first hour decides the outcome is in speed to lead statistics.
FAQ
How far through the buying journey are B2B buyers before they contact sales? 61% of the way through, on average, in 6sense’s 2025 survey of nearly 4,000 B2B buyers, down from 69% in 2024. The older, widely quoted 57% comes from a 2011 CEB survey of customers of 22 large B2B companies (CEB, 2012).
What percentage of B2B buyers prefer not to talk to a sales rep? 67% prefer a rep-free buying experience, up from 61% a year earlier (Gartner, 2026 and 2025).
How many people are involved in a B2B purchase? The typical buying decision includes 13 internal stakeholders and nine external influencers, and more for complex purchases (Forrester, 2026).
How much do B2B companies spend on marketing? About 7.0% of revenue for B2B product companies and 10.1% for B2B services companies, in a 2026 survey of US marketing leaders (The CMO Survey, 2026).
Related: Marketing Statistics · Lead Generation Statistics · Sales Statistics · Speed to Lead Statistics · Advertising Statistics · SaaS Statistics · Sales Enablement Statistics · Account-Based Marketing Statistics
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