If you’re in B2B marketing or sales, you’ve likely been there.
You’ve got a funnel full of leads, but none of them are converting into sales. What’s happening? The harsh truth is that many of the "leads" you're counting on to drive your business are, in reality, not leads at all. Instead, they are prospects simply researching, comparing options, or educating themselves. In other words, they’re nowhere near ready to buy, and chasing after them could be a waste of your time.
The Empowered, Defensive Buyer
Today’s B2B buyer is more empowered than ever before. With unlimited information at their fingertips, buyers are defensive, self-educating, and far more selective about when and how they engage with vendors. They can easily research products, read reviews, and gather recommendations from peers, all without ever interacting with your sales team.
But it doesn’t stop there. For most B2B purchases, decision-making doesn’t happen in isolation. Instead, buying decisions are made by committees, not individuals. These buying groups often consist of multiple stakeholders each with their own priorities and concerns, who must reach consensus before moving forward. This, combined with the fact that competition is fierce, lengthens the buying cycle significantly. In fact, buying cycles can last months, and buyers often need to differentiate between multiple solutions before deciding.
First Contact When 70% of the Journey is Complete
Here’s a statistic that’s a game changer: Buyers make their first contact with a vendor when 70% of their purchasing journey is already complete. By the time they reach out to you, they’ve already consumed countless pieces of content, compared you with competitors, and discussed internally what they think they need. This means the majority of their buying process happens behind closed doors, in fact 83% of the journey takes place in the dark, without your awareness. Find more stats like this here.
To make matters worse, 80% of the time, buyers initiate the first contact. When they do, they’re not looking for a sales pitch. They’re simply collecting information to validate their own research. By this point, requirements are often already established, and buyers have a firm idea of what they’re looking for. They’re not a lead ready to buy; they’re just continuing their information-gathering process.
Multiple Interactions and an Overloaded Buyer Journey
The B2B buying journey is complex and filled with touchpoints. In fact, recent studies show that buyers engage in over 4,000 interactions, both digital and human, throughout their research process. This is not limited to downloading whitepapers or watching webinars. Buyers interact with content, their internal teams, their networks, and multiple vendors. And this happens long before they are ready to commit.
This means that when someone downloads your eBook or registers for a webinar, they’re likely far from making a purchase decision. What you consider a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) might just be a prospect looking for information meaning they might show up in your system months before they’re willing to talk to anyone. They could return to research multiple times, giving the illusion of a lead in your funnel, but they are really still far from any commitment.
The Reality is Most Leads Are Not Ready to Buy
So, are all your leads just a waste of time? While that may sound extreme, the reality is that most leads you encounter are not yet leads in the traditional sense. They don’t represent intent to buy they’re just collecting data, comparing options, and educating themselves. And since they often show up months before they're ready for a conversation, chasing after them too soon can leave you frustrated, chasing shadows in your funnel.
Your sales team may be focusing on "leads" that are in research mode and not in purchase mode. You may even be counting them as part of your lead generation success metrics, but the truth is, many of these interactions are simply early-stage touchpoints, not true indicators of purchase readiness.
What Does This Mean For You?
If 83% of the buyer’s journey happens without your knowledge, and if buyers only contact you after 70% of their decision is made, it’s clear that most of the leads entering your funnel aren’t ready to buy. They’re still in the early phases of education, gathering information, and getting consensus from their committee.
This means you need to shift your expectations and strategy when it comes to lead generation. Instead of focusing solely on collecting as many leads as possible, it’s crucial to build a nurturing process that engages with buyers throughout their long, complex journey. Your job is to provide value at every step, offering content that educates and builds trust, so when the buyer is finally ready to decide, you’re top of mind.
Shift Your Focus: From Leads to Long-Term Engagement
Instead of treating every interaction as a potential sale, focus on building long-term engagement with prospects. Use tools like marketing automation to nurture them over time, understanding that the real value comes from consistent, relevant interactions rather than quick wins. Your goal is to stay engaged with the buyer throughout their journey, even if that journey lasts several months.
Recognise that lead nurturing is a long game, and that most leads are not going to convert right away. Build a strategy that reflects the real buying process, one that is slow, multi-faceted, and committee driven.
Paid Search: Why It's Often Ineffective for B2B Leads
Many businesses turn to paid search as a quick way to generate leads, thinking that targeting specific keywords will bring in high-intent prospects ready to buy. But in today’s complex B2B buying landscape, paid search is often an ineffective strategy. Here's why:
- Buyers Are Not Ready to Buy
Paid search primarily captures buyers in the research phase, not those ready to make a purchasing decision. When someone clicks on your ad, they’re typically looking for information, comparing solutions, or simply learning about your product category. As we've already discussed, 83% of the buying journey happens in the dark, and buyers are just gathering data. By the time they click on your ad, they’ve already done most of their research and are just validating what they’ve already learned. Paid search doesn’t create demand—it just captures it, and often too early in the process to make an impact. - Low-Quality Leads
Because many buyers are still researching, the leads generated through paid search are often low-quality. They might fill out a form or download a whitepaper, but they aren’t showing true intent to purchase. They’re merely exploring options, which means your sales team could spend valuable time chasing leads that won’t convert. This can create a frustrating cycle where your team is flooded with "leads" that are far from being ready for a sales conversation. We mention this and some of the following points in more detail over in this blog. - High Costs, Low Return
Paid search campaigns, especially in B2B sectors, can be expensive. Highly competitive keywords can cost a significant amount per click, and when those clicks result in leads that don’t convert, your cost-per-acquisition (CPA) skyrockets. Businesses can end up paying for traffic that is far from ready to engage, making paid search an inefficient use of resources. The return on investment (ROI) can be minimal compared to other marketing efforts like content marketing or account-based marketing, which focus more on nurturing high-value prospects. - Misaligned Buyer Intent
Many B2B searches are informational, not transactional. When someone searches for a solution or product category, they may be looking for educational content, comparisons, or industry insights, not necessarily looking to purchase right away. Paid search ads often target these early-stage queries, meaning that the person clicking on your ad is likely far from deciding. Even if they land on your site, they might not engage meaningfully because they’re not yet in buying mode. - Competition in Paid Search
The nature of paid search means you’re constantly competing for visibility with your rivals. If you’re targeting the same high-value keywords as your competitors, you’re battling for the same prospects who are comparing multiple options. We call this the Red Ocean. This not only drives up the cost per click but also means that the prospect is likely clicking on multiple ads, collecting information from different sources, and comparing without much differentiation. Paid search often leads to a race to the bottom, where the emphasis is on price or features rather than the value your solution offers.
Don't Waste Time on Leads That Aren't Ready
Most of the leads you’re generating are still in the early phases of research. They’re comparing, educating themselves, and discussing their options internally. They aren’t ready to buy yet and treating them as if they are, can be a massive waste of time.
Instead, focus on building relationships, providing valuable content, and guiding them through their journey at their pace. By doing this, you’ll be there when they’re ready to move forward—and you’ll be the first one they think of when they are. This is something touch upon frequently in our own Fried Egg Marketing concept. If you're curious, book your place on our Fried Egg Marketing webinar.
