Do you remember how we used to buy software or professional services back in the “old days” of 2019 and before?
It usually involved a trade show floor, bad coffee, and a salesperson holding a brochure like it was a classified document. If you wanted to know the price, the features, or how it actually worked, you had to go through a gatekeeper. The seller held all the cards. They controlled the information flow, which meant they controlled the deal.
Fast forward to 2026. That dynamic isn’t just outdated; it’s extinct.
We have moved from a seller-driven market to a buyer-driven reality. And if your marketing strategy is still designed for 2019, you aren’t just losing leads; you might be invisible.
Here is the hard truth about the new B2B buyer: They are fully digital-enabled, self-education oriented, and completely in control.
The 80% rule
Five years ago, marketing’s job was to get a name and hand it to sales so they could “educate” the prospect.
Today, studies from Gartner, McKinsey, and Forrester (among others) suggest that up to 80% of the buying journey is completed before a prospect ever speaks to a human being at your company.
Think about your own behavior. When you need a new solution, do you fill out a “Contact Us” form and wait for a BDR to call you? No. You Google it. You ask your favorite AI to educate you and compare the top three vendors. You look at pricing pages. You watch a demo video on YouTube and client testimonials from a variety of sources.
By the time the buyer finally agrees to a meeting, they aren’t looking for “education.” They are looking for confirmation. They already know what you do. Now they just want to know if you can actually deliver.
In 2026, corporate websites are viewed as propaganda. Buyers expect that we all think we’re the best at what we do.
Instead, the modern buyer triangulates trust through third-party validation:
- They trust G2 and Gartner grids more than your “Why Us” page
- They trust LinkedIn discussions and Slack communities more than your white papers
- They trust AI-powered research tools to cut through the fluff and give them the raw specs
The new mandate: Be the library, not the billboard
So, what does this mean for a growth leader?
It means we have to stop obsessing over “Marketing Qualified Leads” (MQLs) based on who downloaded a PDF, and start obsessing over consumption.
Your job isn’t to chase buyers. Your job is to be the destination they trust when they are doing that 80% of independent research.
We need to publish content that is so valuable, so transparent, and so educational that it helps the buyer do their job even if they never hire us. We need to answer the hard questions like pricing, problems, and comparisons right on our site. Because if we don’t, they will just ask an AI, and AI will pull answers from your competitor’s site instead.
The bottom line
The era of “hiding” your expertise behind a sales wall is over.
In 2026, the company that wins isn’t the one with the most aggressive sales team. It’s the one that provides the most clarity. We have to stop trying to control the journey and start facilitating it. If you can help the buyer make sense of the market before they sign a contract, you’ve already won the most important asset of all: their trust.
