How New Buyer Behaviors Are Redefining Marketing
Explore how modern buyer behaviors—driven by online self-service and digital content—are reshaping marketing roles and strategies. Learn how marketers can adapt to educate, engage, and build relationships at scale in this new era.
By Thaher Majeed | 2025-01-20
How New Buyer Behaviors Are Redefining Marketing
Adapting to the Online, Self-Service Buyer Journey
The Old World of Marketing
Once upon a time, buyers relied on traditional advertising—like TV, radio, and magazines—to discover products and services. They contacted a handful of familiar vendors early in the process to learn about capabilities and pricing. Sales reps would often meet in person to provide live demonstrations and build relationships—sometimes over a round of golf.
Back then, marketing focused on advertising and brand awareness, while sales teams handled education, relationship building, qualification, and closing.
The New World of Buyer Behaviors
Today’s buyers are a different breed. Armed with instant access to online content, reviews, and peer connections, they prefer a self-service approach. Research by Sirius Decisions and Forrester shows that over 80% of the buyer’s journey now happens online before buyers contact a vendor or speak with sales.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this shift, ushering in what some call the “great virtualization.” Buyers now expect to engage digitally at every step of the journey.
What This Means for Marketers
Modern marketers face a much broader set of responsibilities. It’s no longer just about brand awareness and lead generation. Today’s marketing teams must:
- Educate buyers throughout the decision-making process.
- Maximize online engagement with meaningful, scalable content.
- Build memorable, trust-driven relationships with digital tools.
In essence, marketing has become “the sales rep that never sleeps.” To succeed, marketers must think like sellers, understanding the buyer’s journey and creating content that meets their needs at every stage.
Lessons from the Front Lines
At Vidyard, we measure marketing success not just by traffic and leads, but by how much pipeline and revenue we help generate. This shift impacts the channels we prioritize, the type of content we create, and the increasing role of video throughout the buyer’s journey.
The takeaway? Marketing today is about being proactive, educational, and scalable—helping buyers help themselves while building trust along the way.
