B2B buyer research should help you make better campaign decisions: who to approach, which problem to lead with, what evidence to provide and what next step makes sense for the buyer.
A job title and a company size will only tell you so much. To create a relevant campaign, you also need to understand what makes a business consider change, who influences the decision and what could prevent it from moving forward.
Much of that information may already exist in your customer conversations, enquiry records and sales process. Other sources can help you check whether those experiences reflect a wider pattern or a small part of the market.
The ten sources below explain where to look, what to extract and how to use the findings. Start with a defined audience, such as the businesses described in your B2B ideal customer profile, so your research stays relevant to the work you want to win.
Table of Contents
| What you need to understand | Useful places to start |
|---|---|
| What causes buyers to seek help | Recent customers, initial enquiries and referral partners |
| What buyers need before choosing a supplier | Sales conversations, proposal questions and decision feedback |
| What makes a service difficult to adopt | Onboarding, delivery and account management records |
| How buyers describe their problems | Enquiries, search questions and relevant peer discussions |
| What is changing in the target market | Company announcements, sector conversations and event questions |
For each useful finding, record the source, date, buyer role and business situation. Keep what someone actually said or did separate from your interpretation of it.
The GOV.UK guide to analysing research makes a useful distinction between observations, findings and actions. Applying that distinction helps prevent a plausible assumption from becoming an accepted fact in your campaign brief.
1. Conversations with customers who bought recently
Recent customers can explain what happened before they contacted you, including the problems and internal discussions your team never saw.
Choose customers whose businesses and requirements resemble the work you want more of. A longstanding client who buys an unusual service may offer valuable feedback, but their experience may have limited relevance to your next campaign.
Ask about the actual buying decision:
- What was happening when you first started looking for help?
- How were you handling the situation before then?
- What made it worth addressing at that point?
- What did you need to see before you felt comfortable choosing a provider?
These questions reveal more than asking whether someone likes a proposed campaign headline. A positive reaction to an idea does not establish that it would have influenced their purchase.
For example, a hypothetical HR consultancy might discover that customers sought help when newly appointed managers started escalating every people issue to the owner. That gives the consultancy a specific business situation to discuss in its marketing.
The campaign could address the owner’s time and the managers’ confidence, supported by a clear explanation of how the service helps. That is more useful than relying on a broad promise to improve HR.
Remember that customers have already chosen you. Their explanations can be shaped by the relationship and what happened afterwards, so compare them with other sources.
2. Initial enquiries and the language buyers use before speaking to sales
Website forms, incoming emails and first messages show how prospects describe their needs before your sales team introduces its own terminology.
Review the original wording where available. A CRM label such as “interested in consultancy” loses much of the context in an enquiry explaining that a company has won a large contract and is worried about delivering it.
Group enquiries by the problem described, the event behind it and the question the person wants answered. Keep the source page or campaign alongside the message, because your existing marketing may have influenced what they asked.
A hypothetical IT services provider might receive repeated questions about taking over from an incumbent supplier. Those enquiries suggest that the handover deserves attention on the campaign page and in the first response.
The provider could explain the information it needs, how responsibilities are agreed and how the transition is planned. It should avoid promising a disruption-free change unless it can support that claim.
This is a practical input for both improving a B2B landing page and making lead follow-up more relevant.
Count separate enquiries, rather than every appearance of the same message across your systems. Also remember that this source only represents people who contacted you. It cannot explain everyone who considered the page and left.
3. Sales conversations, proposal questions and procurement requirements
Sales conversations reveal what buyers need to resolve as a purchase becomes more concrete.
Review relevant call notes, approved recordings, proposal feedback and questions sent during evaluation. Look for requests that repeatedly delay a decision or require a colleague to become involved.
Examples might include:
- A finance director asking how ongoing costs will be controlled.
- An operations lead asking how much staff time implementation requires.
- A technical colleague asking how the service fits existing systems.
- A managing director asking for evidence from a business in a comparable situation.
Each points towards a different piece of supporting information. Your campaign may need a practical implementation overview, a clear explanation of responsibilities or a relevant case study.
Record who asked the question and when. A concern raised during final procurement may belong in a supporting document rather than the opening line of an outreach message.
Distinguish the buyer’s words from the salesperson’s interpretation. “They asked for a phased start” is an observation. “They cannot afford the full project” needs further evidence.
These conversations can also guide educational content. Our article on podcast topics drawn from sales conversations explores how recurring questions can become useful discussions for a wider audience.
4. Feedback from lost, postponed and abandoned opportunities
A campaign based entirely on successful customers can miss the reasons other suitable buyers stopped.
Start with the evidence behind your CRM loss reasons. Labels such as “price”, “timing” and “went quiet” are starting points for investigation, not complete explanations.
For example, “timing” might mean a budget review, a competing project, a leadership change or a lack of internal capacity to implement the work. Each would lead to a different campaign decision.
Where appropriate, ask the buyer for brief feedback about what affected the decision. Make the purpose clear and accept that they may decline. If no explanation is available, retain “unknown” rather than inventing a reason.
Separate buyers who chose another supplier from those who postponed the project or decided to manage the problem internally. Your competition may have been the existing way of working.
In a hypothetical training business, feedback might show that employers valued the programme but could not release managers during their busiest trading period. The next campaign could address planning and delivery timing, provided the business can offer suitable arrangements.
That finding would not justify a blanket discount. It would justify checking whether scheduling is a recurring obstacle and making the relevant options easier to understand.
5. Onboarding, service delivery and account management records
Your delivery team sees what happens when a buyer’s expectations meet the practical work.
Kick-off notes, implementation questions, account reviews and support requests can reveal responsibilities that were unclear before purchase. They can also expose conditions that make a customer more or less likely to benefit from the service.
Ask the people doing the work where projects become difficult:
- Which information is regularly missing at the start?
- What do customers assume the service includes?
- Which internal roles need to participate?
- What must already be in place for the work to succeed?
A consultancy might find that projects stall because nobody at the client company owns implementation. That should influence how the campaign describes the engagement and what sales checks before proposing work.
Similarly, if customers repeatedly need reassurance about the first month, an accurate onboarding outline could help prospects assess the commitment earlier.
Use this source to improve the promise as well as the explanation. If marketing attracts buyers with expectations the delivery team cannot meet, clearer wording alone will not solve the underlying problem.
Keep service users and purchase decision-makers distinguishable. A frequent support issue may matter greatly to users without being the concern that originally caused the company to buy.
6. Public information published by target companies
Company websites, leadership posts, job adverts, announcements and publicly available project briefs can help you understand the situations your target accounts are discussing.
Look for information connected to the service you sell. An office opening may matter to an IT provider. A change in management structure may matter to a leadership development business. An acquisition may be relevant to an integration consultancy.
Check the publication date, the company involved and what the source actually establishes. An announcement describes an event or stated intention. It does not automatically establish a problem, available budget or willingness to appoint a supplier.
A job advert is especially easy to overinterpret. A business recruiting someone to build an internal capability might want outside support, or it might be investing in doing the work itself.
Use the information to develop a relevant question, choose an appropriate example or investigate a possible segment. Avoid approaching a prospect with an unsupported diagnosis of their business.
For a broader campaign, check whether the situation appears across several suitable companies before building the whole message around it. For individual outreach, record what still needs to be confirmed.
Our guide to prioritising B2B target accounts explains how to use that evidence when deciding which businesses deserve attention first.
7. Search queries and question-based research
Search research can reveal the language people use when exploring a problem, comparing approaches or trying to understand a service.
If your website has relevant search visibility, review the queries associated with its impressions and clicks in Google Search Console. Look beyond the largest numbers for questions that relate closely to the decisions your buyers face.
Google’s documentation on query data explains that some queries are omitted for privacy and that the report does not display every data row. Treat it as a partial view of searches connected to your existing visibility.
Question lists from tools such as AnswerThePublic can provide further angles to investigate. Check their relevance to your audience and the country covered by the research. A suggested question is not proof that your target buyers commonly ask it.
Questions about costs, alternatives, implementation or switching suppliers may help you identify useful content. But the person searching could be a student, competitor or individual looking for a different type of service.
Check promising themes against enquiries and buyer conversations. If both point towards uncertainty about implementation, for example, you have a stronger reason to address that subject.
A narrow B2B market may also discuss important problems privately. Limited search data should not overrule clear evidence from relevant buyers.
8. Relevant peer discussions and detailed reviews
Professional communities, public LinkedIn discussions and detailed supplier reviews can show how people describe a problem when they are talking to peers.
Look for accounts of actual experiences: what someone tried, what made it difficult, which alternatives they considered and what happened afterwards.
For example, a discussion about replacing a business system might focus heavily on staff adoption and data preparation. That could suggest a useful campaign angle for an implementation consultancy, particularly if its own customer evidence points in the same direction.
Capture the context as well as the complaint. A review from a large multinational may describe requirements that do not apply to a 30-person service business. A daily user may judge a supplier differently from the person responsible for the budget.
Public discussions also have selection limits. The people who post are those willing to speak in that setting, and a strongly worded comment can attract attention without representing a widespread problem.
Use these sources to identify questions worth checking, useful vocabulary and evidence buyers might value. Avoid treating one thread as a market survey or copying a competitor’s criticism into your campaign.
When participating in a community, respect its rules and contribute openly. Research should not become a pretext for collecting contact details or sending unsolicited pitches to everyone involved.
9. Questions raised in webinars, roundtables and podcast conversations
Conversations around a specific business topic can reveal what buyers find confusing, difficult or worth debating.
Review questions submitted before an event, points raised during discussion and requests made afterwards. Keep the participant’s role and business context attached to the finding where appropriate.
A question from an operations director about securing internal support for change has a different meaning from a supplier asking about the same subject to promote its own service.
Podcast conversations can provide depth when the guest has relevant experience and a useful reason to participate. A discussion about a difficult transformation project, for example, could help an audience understand the decisions involved while allowing the guest to share their expertise.
Our podcast lead generation service connects guest targeting, conversations, content and follow-up. In our work with Alchemy Branding Studio, the programme generated 15 target-fit conversations. That figure measures conversations, rather than qualified opportunities or customers.
For research, the useful output is what those conversations help you understand. Extract recurring questions and decisions, then check them against other evidence before changing a campaign.
Public formats also affect what people will share. A guest may discuss leadership lessons openly while keeping budgets or supplier concerns private. Keep sensitive research separate and be clear about how any conversation will be used.
If you already run webinars, our guide to generating better B2B leads from webinars explains how audience relevance, useful interaction and follow-up connect.
10. Referral partners and complementary service providers
People who work alongside your target customers may see the circumstances that lead to a need for your service.
Accountants may hear about problems with reporting or business planning. Recruitment firms may see how growing companies are changing their management teams. Technology providers may encounter processes that need operational support.
Speak to partners whose client base resembles your intended audience. Ask about recent situations they can discuss without identifying clients or sharing confidential information.
- What tends to happen before someone asks for this kind of help?
- Which role usually raises the issue?
- What has the business already tried?
- What makes an introduction useful, premature or unsuitable?
For a hypothetical finance consultancy, a software implementation partner might explain that buyers struggle to agree reporting requirements before choosing a system. That could suggest a campaign addressing reporting decisions earlier in the process.
The consultancy would still need to check that pattern with buyers and confirm it can help. A partner’s account is an informed second-hand view, and it may reflect the particular clients they serve.
This research can also improve referral conversations. Once both parties understand the relevant situation, they can recognise when an introduction would make sense and what context should accompany it.
Give the research a clear role in your next campaign
Before commissioning campaign assets, agree which decision the research has changed. That might be the audience, the problem you lead with, the evidence you provide or the first conversation you offer.
Keep the source material available so sales, marketing and delivery can challenge the interpretation. If an important assumption remains uncertain, make it something the campaign will test.
At Echo Eight, we review the offer, audience, lead sources, website, follow-up, sales process and reporting as part of The Echo Eight System. That helps connect what you know about buyers to the journey they experience.
If you need help deciding how those parts should work together, book a System Review.
FAQs about B2B buyer research
How much buyer research should we do before launching a campaign?
Match the effort to the uncertainty and the cost of getting the decision wrong. Testing a clearer explanation with a small existing audience requires less evidence than committing substantial resources to a new sector.
For a focused test, look for a credible understanding of the buyer’s situation, the problem you can address and the reason they might take the proposed next step. Use more than one type of source where possible.
A few conversations can reveal useful questions and possible patterns, but they do not establish how common a view is across the market. Record that limitation and use the campaign to learn more.
How can we research buyers if we have few customers or enquiries?
Start with people who have recently faced the problem you want to address, relevant partner conversations and public evidence from the target market.
You can ask potential buyers for a short research conversation, provided you explain the purpose honestly. Ask about their experience of the problem and existing approach, rather than seeking approval for your proposed service.
Use the findings to form an initial campaign hypothesis and test it on a manageable scale. Our article on reaching senior B2B decision-makers through relevant conversations explores ways to create a useful reason to engage.
Which people should we research within a buying organisation?
Include the roles that experience the problem, approve the investment and make the service work in practice. These may be different people.
In a smaller business, the owner may hold several responsibilities. In a larger company, a department leader may need support from finance, operations, IT or procurement.
Keep their concerns separate. The person using the service may prioritise ease of use, while the budget holder needs a clear business case. Your campaign can lead with one relevant problem and provide supporting information for the others as the conversation develops.
Is buyer insight the same as evidence that someone is ready to buy?
No. Buyer insight helps you understand a situation or decision. Someone can discuss a problem in detail without having an active project, budget or intention to appoint a supplier.
Similarly, attending an event or asking a useful question does not establish a qualified opportunity. A research participant should not automatically be placed into a sales process because they helped you.
When someone expresses commercial interest, use an appropriate conversation to understand their requirement and next step. Our guide to B2B lead qualification questions explains what sales needs to establish before booking a meeting.
Can AI help with B2B buyer research?
AI can assist with organising material you provide, suggesting themes and identifying passages for closer review. Ask it to keep source references beside its findings and separate direct evidence from interpretation.
Check the original material before accepting a conclusion. A repeated comment copied between a transcript, CRM note and proposal still comes from one conversation.
Use approved tools and only the information needed for the task. Avoid uploading entire client records simply because it is convenient.
An AI-generated description of a typical buyer is a hypothesis until supported by evidence. Our guide to practical uses of AI in B2B lead generation covers where assistance and human review can work together.
What should we do when different sources disagree?
Check whether they describe the same buyer, situation and stage of the decision. An owner asking for speed and a finance director asking for predictability may both be describing valid requirements within the same purchase.
Also check dates and whether apparently separate sources repeat the same original account. Several articles quoting one survey do not provide several independent findings.
If the disagreement could materially change your campaign, investigate it directly. You might need separate messages for different situations, or a clearer explanation of how the service addresses both concerns. Keep conflicting evidence visible until you understand it.
What should go into a campaign brief after the research?
The brief should make the findings usable by the people creating and handling the campaign. Include:
- The target business situation and relevant buyer roles.
- The problem the campaign will address.
- The evidence supporting that choice, including important limitations.
- The message and supporting proof the buyer needs.
- The channel and the reason it suits this audience.
- The next step you will offer.
- Who will respond and what information sales needs.
- The outcome you will measure and when you will review it.
Keep the detailed research behind the brief. The people implementing the campaign need clear decisions, with enough evidence available to question them.
How do we judge whether the research improved commercial results?
Record what the research changed before launching. That gives you something specific to assess, such as whether a clearer description of implementation attracts enquiries with more realistic requirements.
Track the progression from response to suitable enquiry, attended meeting, sales opportunity and won revenue. Keep those outcomes separate and allow enough time for your usual sales cycle.
If you also changed the audience, channel and offer, avoid attributing every improvement to the research alone. Use sales feedback alongside the numbers to understand what appears to be helping.
Our guide to B2B lead generation metrics explains how to assess lead quality and commercial progression beyond activity totals.