Introduction to the Gartner B2B Buying Journey
The Gartner B2B Buying Journey is a structured framework that helps growth marketers understand how business buyers make purchasing decisions. By clearly mapping out each stage of the buying process, marketing, sales, and product teams can align their efforts, identify gaps, and optimise their strategies.
Using a defined buyer journey framework like Gartner’s helps your team:
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Spot weaknesses or leaks in your marketing and sales funnels.
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Create targeted content and test effective sales tactics.
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Align internal activities with the customer’s actual buying process, avoiding random or unfocused marketing.
Common Challenges in the B2B Buying Journey
B2B buying journeys are rarely straightforward. Growth marketers often face these common challenges:
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Complexity: Buyers interact with multiple touchpoints, making tracking and optimisation difficult.
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Non-linear paths: Buyers frequently revisit earlier stages, complicating the journey.
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Multiple channels: Buyers engage across various online and offline channels.
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Variable timelines: B2B buying cycles can range from days to years, making forecasting challenging.
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Multiple stakeholders: Decisions typically involve several people, each with different priorities.
The Six Stages of Gartner’s B2B Buying Journey
Gartner’s framework breaks down the B2B buying process into six clear stages:
| Stage | Description |
|---|---|
| Problem Identification | The buyer recognises a business issue or opportunity that needs solving. |
| Solution Exploration | The buyer researches potential solutions and approaches. |
| Requirements Building | The buyer defines specific criteria and requirements for evaluating solutions. |
| Supplier Selection | The buyer shortlists and evaluates potential suppliers against their criteria. |
| Validation | The buyer confirms their choice through references, trials, or further research. |
| Consensus Creation | The buyer secures internal agreement among stakeholders to proceed with the purchase. |
Alternative Frameworks to Gartner’s B2B Buying Journey
While Gartner’s framework is popular, other buyer journey frameworks can also help growth marketers optimise their approach:
| Framework | Description |
|---|---|
| Chartered Institute of Marketing Buying Journey | A structured model covering customer decision-making from awareness to advocacy. |
| Active Campaign Customer Lifecycle | Focuses on nurturing customer relationships through defined lifecycle stages. |
| The Pirate Funnel (AAARRR) | A growth-focused framework emphasising acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and revenue. |
| The Inbound Methodology | HubSpot’s approach to attracting, engaging, and delighting customers through valuable content. |
| McKinsey Consumer Decision Journey (CDJ) | A cyclical model highlighting ongoing customer-brand relationships. |
| Forrester Customer Lifecycle Framework | Emphasises customer experience and engagement throughout the lifecycle. |
| HubSpot Flywheel Model | A circular model focused on customer momentum and advocacy. |
| Customer Value Journey | DigitalMarketer’s framework for systematically moving prospects from awareness to advocacy. |
| RACE Framework | Smart Insights’ practical framework for digital marketing planning and execution. |
How Growth Method Helps You Optimise the Gartner B2B Buying Journey
Growth Method is the only work management platform built specifically for growth marketers. Unlike traditional task management tools like Asana or Monday.com, Growth Method combines ideation, experimentation, and analytics into one streamlined platform, helping you run growth marketing more effectively.
Here’s how Growth Method supports your team:
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Ideation: Our intuitive ideation system ensures your growth ideas align with team goals and follow hypothesis best practices. Ideas are automatically categorised and shared with your team for immediate feedback.
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Experimentation: Growth Method incorporates best practices from leading growth teams, guiding experiments through clear stages—building, live, analysing, and complete—to increase velocity and learning.
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Reporting: Impress stakeholders with professional reports that clearly demonstrate your team’s strategic goals, tactical execution, and measurable results.
“We are on-track to deliver a 43% increase in inbound leads this year. There is no doubt the adoption of Growth Method is the primary driver behind these results.” Laura Perrott, Colt Technology Services
Conclusion
The Gartner B2B Buying Journey framework provides a clear, structured approach to understanding and optimising complex B2B buying processes. By aligning your marketing, sales, and product teams around this framework, you can identify opportunities, streamline your efforts, and drive better results.
Growth Method is the only work management platform built specifically for growth marketers. We help companies implement a systematic approach to grow leads and revenue. Book a call today to see how Growth Method can support your growth marketing efforts.