A new perspective on how to make B2B marketing more effective; drawn from 30 years of real-world experience.
We all have a process we follow when making a purchase. It may not be consistent, but it’s there. It usually starts with a need, want, or desire, and ends with us exchanging money for something that (hopefully) satisfies that need.
Businesses follow a similar process. Unlike consumers, they do it with more rigor. Companies don’t buy things on impulse or usually just because someone’s craving the latest tech.
If you’ve worked in B2B marketing, you’ve heard this process described as the Buyer’s Journey. We call it a journey—not a process, program, or procedure, because it often feels more like an epic saga. Depending on the complexity of the purchase, the journey can take weeks, months, or even years.
We’ve dissected the Buyer’s Journey to death. However, just like how most people overlook the most important factor in personalization (spoiler: it’s not job titles), there’s a dimension of the journey we often miss:
There are Crossroads on the Buyer’s Journey.
The Stages—and Why They’re Not Enough
The Buyer’s Journey is typically described in stages:
• Awareness of a problem or need
• Consideration of potential solutions
• Decision or close
These stages aren’t discrete, linear steps. They’re better understood as conditional states—modes of thinking and behavior. Sometimes the transitions are fluid; other times, they’re structured and deliberate.
In marketing, we talk about “moving” buyers through these stages. Here’s a quick rant: marketing doesn’t move buyers from stage to stage. The buyer moves when they’re ready. Our job is to support them when and where they show up.
Here’s a simplified example of the B2B Buyer’s Journey. Let’s say a kitchen team lead notices the spatula they use at home is way better than the one at work. That’s awareness. They mention it to their manager; still awareness. The manager tells the regional operations leader. Eventually, someone in operations starts looking into better spatula options. That’s consideration. They research, evaluate features, and pass along a short list. When procurement gets involved to negotiate a price, the purchase enters the decision stage. If all goes well, boxes of shiny new spatulas soon arrive.
Sounds like a tidy process, right? Here’s the truth:
The Buyer’s Journey isn’t a straight line. It forks. It loops. It stalls. It jumps ahead. It doubles back. It is full of crossroads.
I didn’t come to this idea overnight. Over the years, I started noticing that the most successful campaigns weren’t always the most creative or comprehensive; they just happened to show up at exactly the right moment. That moment, the crossroad on the buyer’s journey, is where marketing has the most power.
It’s Not a Funnel. It’s a Root System.
Have you ever seen a boabab tree? A baobab tree is one of the most distinctive and iconic trees in the world, native to parts of Africa, Madagascar, and Australia. It’s often called the “upside-down tree” because, its sparse, twisted branches resemble roots sticking into the air.
That’s a better mental model for the Buyer’s Journey. Not a funnel. Not a conveyor belt. More like a tangled root system.
Salespeople already know this. They live in the chaos. The good ones learn to jump from branch to branch, redirect conversations, and guide deals back on track.
Marketing, on the other hand, still tends to treat the journey as linear. That’s partly because marketing is proactive; we do our work long before the buyer signals any intent. Sales gets to react once the buyer raises their hand. That makes it a little easier for sales to tailor their message in real time. Great reps don’t just react, they guide.
For marketers, the task is harder. We see the signs of a business in the awareness stage and then expect them to next show up in consideration. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve built tactics and content for that eventuality only to be disappointed because the prospect didn’t show up on the expected point on the path.
The Problem: We’re Building for Every Stage
Most marketers assume they need to support every stage of the journey; consider this:
A buyer might hear about a product from one company, evaluate a similar product via a second, and ultimately purchase from a third company that best meets their unique needs. All three companies probably invested in marketing for every stage, hoping to “own” the journey. Only one got the deal.
Can you blame marketing for not knowing what path the buyer will follow on their journey? No. But maybe there’s a better approach.
The Crossroads on the Buyer’s Journey Strategy
What if, instead of building for the entire journey, we focused our efforts where we’re most likely to win?
Just like companies differentiate on product characteristics like price, features, or quality, we can compete at different stages of the Buyer’s Journey.
If your go-to-market strategy is based on lowest cost, don’t waste time producing “thought leadership.” Let the competition warm up the buyer with fancy whitepapers. You show up at the close with a sharp price point and a clear message: Best product. Lowest price.
If your advantage is vision and innovation, invest more heavily in awareness. Let others fight over price in the final round—you’ve already captured the imagination of the buyer.
Show Up at the Right Crossroads
The Buyer’s Journey is not a straight path. It’s not a funnel. It’s not a process.
It’s a winding, branching, reactive, nonlinear journey; riddled with moments of hesitation, redirection, and renewed urgency: the crossroads.
You don’t need to be everywhere. You need to be at the crossroads that matter—for your brand.
Spend your marketing dollars where buyers want you to show up. Focus on the stages where your messaging hits hardest. Build around the intersections, not the whole map.
Note: “Crossroads on the Buyer’s Journey” is a concept I’ve been developing over three decades in B2B marketing. If you’d like to use or reference it, I’d love to hear how—it’s a conversation worth continuing.
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