What Are B2B Buying Groups and Why Do They Matter for Your GTM Strategy

B2B purchases rarely involve a single decision-maker. Buying groups of multiple stakeholders evaluate, influence, and approve purchases. Your GTM strategy must address this complexity or deals will stall.

Understanding buying groups changes how you target accounts, create content, structure sales processes, and measure engagement.

What is a Buying Group

A buying group is the collection of individuals involved in evaluating, influencing, and approving a purchase decision. Different members have different priorities, information needs, and levels of influence.

According to Forrester research, B2B buying groups are becoming larger and more complex. GenAI is changing how these groups research and evaluate, making the buying process even more non-linear.

Traditional lead-based marketing treats individuals as independent. Buying group thinking recognizes that multiple contacts within an account must align for deals to close.

Common Buying Group Roles

Most B2B purchases involve some combination of these roles:

Economic Buyer

Controls budget and makes final financial decisions. Cares about ROI, total cost of ownership, and business impact. May not use the product directly but approves spending.

Technical Evaluator

Assesses whether the product works technically. Cares about integration, architecture, performance, and maintenance. Often holds veto power on technical grounds.

End Users

People who will actually use the product daily. Care about usability, workflow fit, and learning curve. Their adoption determines whether the purchase succeeds.

Champions

Internal advocates who push for the purchase. May occupy any of the above roles. Their reputation is tied to the decision, making them motivated supporters.

Influencers

People with opinions that matter but who do not have direct decision authority. Industry colleagues, consultants, or analysts whose input affects decisions.

Blockers

Individuals with concerns that can stall or kill deals. Security teams worried about compliance. Finance questioning budget timing. IT concerned about support burden.

A strategic GTM approach maps these roles for target accounts and addresses each systematically.

How Buying Groups Affect GTM

Buying group complexity changes every aspect of your go-to-market approach.

Target Account Selection

Individual lead quality matters less than account-level buying group engagement. An account with five engaged contacts outweighs an account with one highly engaged contact.

Content Strategy

Different buying group members need different content. Economic buyers need business cases. Technical evaluators need specifications. End users need workflow demonstrations.

Sales Process

Deals progress when buying groups align, not just when champions are convinced. Sales must identify, engage, and align all relevant stakeholders.

Success Metrics

MQL counts measure individuals. Buying group metrics measure account-level engagement across multiple contacts. Tracking engagement at the account level reveals true purchase readiness.

Mapping Your Typical Buying Group

Define the buying group structure that typically evaluates your product.

Step 1: Analyze Closed-Won Deals

Who was involved in recent purchases? Which roles appeared consistently? What was the typical group size?

Step 2: Document Role Patterns

Create templates for common buying group compositions. Note which roles are always present versus sometimes present. Identify which combinations predict faster closes.

Step 3: Identify Priorities by Role

What does each role care about? What questions do they ask? What concerns do they raise? What content do they need?

Step 4: Map Engagement Sequences

In what order do roles typically engage? Who engages first? Who engages last before close? Understanding sequence helps you anticipate needs.

Working with data-driven growth experts extracts buying group patterns from your historical deal data.

Content for Buying Groups

Create content addressing each buying group member's priorities.

Economic Buyer Content

Business case templates showing ROI projections. Total cost of ownership comparisons. Executive summaries distilling key value propositions. Customer success metrics from similar companies.

Technical Evaluator Content

Architecture documentation and integration guides. Security certifications and compliance documentation. Performance benchmarks and scalability data. Technical comparison with alternatives.

End User Content

Product demonstrations showing daily workflows. Training and onboarding overviews. User testimonials from similar roles. Implementation timelines and expectations.

Champion Content

Internal presentation decks they can use. Objection handling guides for internal selling. Email templates for introducing the evaluation. ROI calculators for building internal cases.

Engaging Buying Groups

Strategies for reaching and aligning multiple stakeholders.

Multi-Threading Deals

Sales reps engaging only champions create single points of failure. Multi-threading means building relationships with multiple buying group members.

Multi-Threading Tactics

Ask champions for introductions to other stakeholders. Offer role-specific demonstrations and meetings. Provide content that champions can share internally. Request technical and security review sessions.

Account-Based Marketing

ABM targets accounts rather than individuals. Campaigns engage multiple contacts within priority accounts simultaneously.

ABM Tactics

Advertising reaching multiple titles within target accounts. Direct mail to multiple buying group members. Events inviting cross-functional account teams. Personalized content for different roles.

Consensus Building

Buying groups must align internally before purchasing. Your process should facilitate that alignment.

Consensus Tactics

Provide materials for internal discussions. Offer joint sessions bringing stakeholders together. Address concerns from potential blockers proactively. Create shared evaluation criteria everyone can use.

An AI-native SEO strategy creates content that reaches different buying group members through their individual searches.

Buying Group Metrics

Measure engagement at the account level, not just individual level.

Account Engagement Score

Aggregate engagement across all contacts within an account. Higher scores indicate more buying group involvement.

Buying Group Coverage

How many of the typical buying group roles have you engaged? Deals with fuller coverage close more reliably.

Multi-Contact Pipeline

Pipeline where multiple contacts are engaged versus single-contact pipeline. Multi-contact opportunities have higher win rates.

Role-Specific Engagement

Track engagement by role type. Are you reaching economic buyers? Technical evaluators? Identify gaps in buying group engagement.

Buying Group Alignment Challenges

Common problems that prevent buying groups from aligning.

Conflicting Priorities

Different roles have different success criteria. Solutions that excite users may worry security teams. Strong ROI may not matter if integration is complex.

Solution

Address trade-offs explicitly. Show how concerns balance. Provide data that helps groups weigh priorities.

Misaligned Timing

Different stakeholders engage at different times. Champions may be ready while technical evaluation has not started.

Solution

Provide clear process guidance. Set expectations for evaluation timelines. Offer to coordinate engagement sequences.

Information Asymmetry

Champions know more than other stakeholders. Information gaps create suspicion and slow alignment.

Solution

Provide comprehensive, shareable materials. Ensure all stakeholders have access to the same information. Offer sessions for stakeholders who engage later.

Political Dynamics

Internal politics affect buying decisions. Stakeholder relationships and histories matter beyond rational evaluation.

Solution

Understand internal dynamics through careful discovery. Avoid taking sides in internal debates. Focus on helping the group succeed, not individual stakeholders.

Building Buying Group GTM

Transform your GTM to address buying group reality.

Step 1: Map Your Buying Group

Document typical roles, priorities, and engagement patterns based on historical data.

Step 2: Create Role-Specific Content

Build content addressing each role's priorities and concerns.

Step 3: Implement Account-Level Metrics

Track engagement at account level, not just individual level.

Step 4: Train Sales on Multi-Threading

Enable sales to engage multiple stakeholders systematically.

Step 5: Align Marketing to Accounts

Shift from lead generation to account engagement across buying groups.

Companies that understand and address buying group complexity close more deals than those still treating B2B purchases as individual decisions. Map your buying groups, create appropriate content, and measure engagement at the account level.