The B2B Buyer Journey Research:

How B2B SaaS CMOs Buy Software in 2026

Today’s marketing leaders face a flood of software choices. Every tool promises to solve their problems, but picking the wrong one can cost their company time and money.
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Using Wynter, we asked 100 top CMOs from $50M+ companies with 200+ employees how they make these choices.
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This year, we learned the rules of B2B software buying have changed.

Here’s your map to the new territory.

AI usage for vendor discovery exploded

From 24% to 84% in just 12 months.
68% of CMOs now start their searcheswith AI tools before traditional search engines.

54% start with known brands but remain open to new options

One CMO said: "I start with the names I know, but I'm alwayslooking for the 'secret weapon' tool that mycompetitors haven't found yet."

The "Cold" Demo is Dead

80% Arrive moderately or very familiar with the brand.

If your sales deck starts with "Who WeAre" and "The Problem," you are wasting the first 10minutes telling them what they already know.

Four fundamental shifts have reshaped the B2B buying landscape

AI Infrastructure
AI agents and LLMs acting as intermediaries.

The rise of GEO
It outranks traditional SEO in discovery value.

Deep Homework
Buyers complete most research before contacting vendors

Trust over noise
Human validation now outperforms raw AI-generated signals

The New B2B Growth Funnel

Winning in 2026 isn't about fixing the funnel. It's about building a stack that survives the "Dark Funnel" and converts the "Educated Buyer."