About the Episode:
In this episode of The Science of B2B, Kerry Cunningham exposes a major flaw in how B2B marketers attribute success to demand generation tactics: the Freeloading Bystander Problem. Attribution systems often assign undue credit to the last tactic – the freeloading bystander — that occurs before buyer engagement, whether it’s an email, BDR outreach, or an ad.
But by the time a buyer engages, the favorite vendor has already been chosen. Kerry walks through the modern B2B buying journey, drawing on data from the Science of B2B’s Buyer Experience Study, plus 6sense’s 19 million monitored accounts to show why focusing on “last-touch” performance masks what actually drives revenue.
Topics Covered
- Why attribution is broken: how the last tactic to prompt engagement freeloads off prior efforts
- New data on the true duration and dynamics of modern B2B buying journeys
- The distinction between the decision and purchase stages — and why it matters
- What 11-person buying groups can teach us about brand preference and shortlisting
- The misalignment between actual buyer behavior and typical marketing attribution models
- Practical guidance for assigning marketing tactics to buying stages, not deals
Actionable Takeaways
- The average B2B buying cycle is 12+ month. Even smaller deals have buying cycles that span quarters and include hundreds of interactions with each vendor.
- Most buying groups put four of five vendors on the shortlist on day one — based on prior brand experience across the group.
- First engagement with sales typically happens at the 70% mark of the journey — after the favorite vendor has been chosen.
- If your attribution model credits the email or ad that triggered contact, it ignores the hundreds of interactions that built brand familiarity and preference beforehand.
- BDR outreach, retargeting ads, and other demand tactics are often just the final handshake — not the reason the buyer picked you.
- Winning marketers tie tactics to buyer stages — not to closed/won revenue — and ask: did this help a buyer move from awareness to consideration, or from consideration to preference?
Noteworthy Insights
- Traditional attribution overvalues final touches and undervalues early-stage influence.
- Buyer engagement is not the start of the journey — it’s the culmination of it.
- Every marketing tactic should be assigned a job relative to a buyer stage.
- Enabling buyers — answering their questions and building familiarity — is more effective than trying to trigger meetings.
- The real goal isn’t “generating leads,” it’s earning a spot on the shortlist before the buying group makes their choice.
Key Quotes
- “That demand tactic that they use to get in touch with you is freeloading off all the work that was done for months and quarters beforehand.”
- “They don’t reach out to you and then decide they want to buy. They decide they want to buy — and then they reach out.”
- “If your measurement model assigns full credit to the last tactic, you’re building your strategy on a false signal.”
- “Buyers know you before they go into market. If you’re not known then, you’re not on the shortlist — and you’re not going to win.”
Future Topics
This episode paves the way for a series on buyer stage-aligned measurement, modern marketing architecture, and how to build a durable brand presence that earns preference before intent is declared. Future episodes will unpack:
- The role of signal-based targeting in identifying early in-market movement
- How to connect content strategy to buyer questions at each stage
- Why rethinking attribution is central to escaping the “MQL Industrial Complex”
