category: methodology

value: nearly 4,000

claim: 6sense collected nearly 4,000 responses from B2B buyers in its main 2025 study.

source_title: 2025 B2B Buyer Experience Report

population: nearly 4,000 B2B buyers in the main study plus a 766-response companion survey

denominator: main-study or 766-response companion-survey base as identified by the claim; exact question base can vary

period: 2025 study with 2023-2024 comparisons where stated

geography: North America, EMEA and APAC; main sample was 46% North America, 20% Continental Europe, 20% UK and Ireland, and 14% APAC

caveat: The main findings are buyer self-reports, not observed clickstream or CRM events. Bases vary between the main study and the 766-response companion survey.

evidence: Methods, 2025 findings, implications and appendix

research_method: retrospective buyer survey

stage: methodology


claim: A companion survey on AI and economic conditions contributed another 766 responses.


value: 10.1 months

claim: Average B2B buying-cycle length was 10.1 months in 2025, down from 11.3 months in 2024.

stage: cross-stage buyer journey


claim: The point of first seller contact moved to 61% through the journey from 69% in 2024.

stage: selection-to-validation transition


value: 6-7 weeks

claim: The point-of-first-contact change meant buyers contacted sellers roughly six to seven weeks earlier.


claim: The winning vendor was already on the Day One shortlist in 95% of purchases.

stage: selection


claim: The favorite at the end of the Selection Phase became the final winner 77% of the time, down from 83% in prior years.


claim: Buyers initiated 79% of seller engagements in 2025, compared with 82% in prior years.


value: 5.1 vendors

claim: Buyers evaluated an average of 5.1 vendors, up from 4.5.


value: 3.8 vendors

claim: Buyers had prior experience with an average of 3.8 of the vendors they evaluated.


value: 3.6 vendors

claim: Buyers placed an average of 3.6 vendors on the shortlist on Day One.


claim: Ninety-four percent of buyers ranked their shortlist by preference before seller engagement.


value: 8-9 journeys

claim: Buyers had completed an average of eight to nine previous purchase journeys in the category.


value: 2.0 months

claim: Time spent per evaluated vendor fell to 2.0 months from 2.6 months.


claim: Buying-group size correlated with the number of vendors evaluated at r=.635 in 2025, down from r=.683.


claim: Ninety-four percent of buyers reported using large language models, without replacing their reported reliance on vendor content or third-party experts.

stage: validation


claim: Eighty-nine percent of buyers purchased solutions containing AI features.


claim: Among software buyers, 93% purchased solutions containing AI features.


claim: Sixty-two percent of companion-survey buyers were mandated or strongly encouraged to select solutions with AI features.


claim: Sixty-two percent of buyers needed sellers to answer AI-related questions.


claim: Fifty-eight percent said uncertainty about AI caused earlier vendor engagement.


claim: Forty-nine percent said economic uncertainty shortened their buying cycle.


claim: Sixty-two percent said economic uncertainty caused earlier seller engagement.


value: about 70%

claim: Nearly 70% said economic concerns affected vendor choice and pushed buyers toward more conservative selections.


claim: In 85% of successful purchases, buyers had direct prior experience with the winning vendor.


claim: Sixty-eight percent of buyers already knew a seller from the winning vendor.


value: 88 touchpoints

claim: Dreamdata observed an average of 88 touchpoints per B2B customer journey.

source_title: 2026 LinkedIn Ads B2B Benchmarks Report highlights

population: aggregated Dreamdata customer data covering more than 66 million sessions and more than 3.5 million customer journeys

denominator: metric-specific base not reported on the public highlights page; 66M+ sessions and 3.5M+ journeys describe the report-level scope only

period: 2025 observations published March 10, 2026; prior-year comparisons where stated

geography: Dreamdata does not publish a geographic weighting on the public highlights page

caveat: Vendor-customer telemetry is not a census of all B2B advertisers. Metric-specific denominators are not disclosed on the public highlights page, so the dataset-wide population must not be attached to a metric as its exact base.

evidence: Public report highlights page; full report is form-gated

research_method: observed customer-journey telemetry


value: 10 stakeholders

claim: Dreamdata observed an average of 10 stakeholders per B2B customer journey.


claim: Dreamdata observed 81% of the B2B customer journey outside the sales pipeline.


value: 4 channels

claim: Dreamdata observed an average of four channels per B2B customer journey.