In this AI marketing podcast [https://aidrivenmarketer.com/] episode, Dan Sanchez sits down with Kerry Cunningham [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrycunningham/], Head of Research & Thought Leadership at 6sense, to dissect the current B2B buying landscape and how AI is completely reshaping it. They dive deep into new findings from the Buyer Experience Study and what they mean for both B2B and B2C marketers. Whether you're selling to businesses or consumers, this episode unpacks the buyer journey in ways that will change how you think about pipeline, brand building, and long-term marketing strategy.
My Favorite AI Tools
* Tella - https://danchez.com/tella
* High Level - https://danchez.com/highlevel
* Zencastr - https://danchez.com/podtools
* n8n - https://danchez.com/n8n
Resources Mentioned
* 6sense - https://6sense.com [https://6sense.com/]
* B2B Buyer Experience Report from 6sense: https://6sense.com/science-of-b2b/buyer-experience-report-2025/
Timestamps
* 00:00 - Why B2C marketers should care about B2B buyer research
* 03:05 - Introducing the Buyer Experience Study and how it originated
* 06:45 - Breakdown of B2B buying stages and shocking distribution stats
* 10:32 - The myth of buyer exploration: decisions are made way earlier
* 15:18 - Why your sales team is too late if you're not on the shortlist
* 20:00 - Understanding buyer behavior and the 77% top vendor stat
* 24:50 - Why preferred vendor changes don’t usually change the deal
* 30:40 - The deadly mistake of ignoring early-stage buyers
* 35:15 - Using AI to detect in-market accounts and content needs
* 42:00 - How to build content for every role in the buying group
* 46:05 - The HubSpot and Marketo inbound strategy case study
* 50:40 - Reframing how we define leads and contacts
* 56:10 - What the next-gen CMO is doing right now to win later
* 01:00:45 - Relationships still matter, but AI can amplify them
00:00 How is AI transforming marketing?
00:12 How is AI impacting the B2B buying cycle and what can companies do to get ahead of the competition?
00:52 Can you give an overview of the research you did and dive into the buying cycle stages?
02:18 What changed in the buying process according to the third year of the buyer experience study?
03:42 Understanding buyer stages
06:39 What is the likelihood of winning a deal if a vendor is not on the initial shortlist of four vendors?
09:24 Did your preferred vendor change after you started talking to sellers?
12:23 Targeting early-stage buyers
18:17 Focusing on persuadable buyers
19:00 Role of AI in market readiness
20:05 Creating meaningful content for advanced buyers
23:28 Aligning content with buyer decision-making
26:40 How does the quality of content impact lead quality and brand equity in inbound marketing?
29:04 Building broad audience engagement
35:11 Developing content for entire buying groups using AI