Decision making cycles and performance evaluation

We've become accustomed to instant results in nearly every aspect of our lives. Fast shopping. Same-day delivery. Streaming entertainment on demand. Is it any wonder we expect our marketing campaigns to deliver immediate returns?

Such an expectation isn't just unrealistic—it's fundamentally misaligned with how human beings make decisions. And the data proves it.

When I first encountered Forrester's 2021 study on B2B buying behavior, the numbers stopped me in my tracks. What had been 17 touchpoints in 2019 had ballooned to 27 interactions before a typical B2B purchase decision. Twenty-seven. Let that sink in.

The B2B Decision Marathon

These 27 touchpoints break down into:

• 15 digital interactions (website visits, content downloads, email opens, social media engagement)
• 12 human interactions (sales calls, demos, meetings, consultations)

Despite having more information at their fingertips than ever before, business buyers are taking longer and requiring more points of validation before committing. The risk aversion factor has intensified post-pandemic, and current economic conditions, with products and services constantly getting more expensive, support this dynamic.

The B2C Sprint (That's Still Not That Quick)

Consumer purchases might be faster, but "immediate" remains a fantasy. Recent studies suggest consumers require 7-13 interactions before moving from awareness to consideration — and even more before purchase.

Of course, this varies dramatically by industry:

• Emergency services: 2-4 touchpoints
• Fashion and cosmetics: 7-9 touchpoints
• Home appliances: 10-14 touchpoints
• Financial services: 13-20+ touchpoints

According to consumer psychologists, each category carries its own psychological weight. The more significant the financial or emotional investment, the more reassurance consumers need before committing.

Recently I decided to explore analytics and tracking service providers — an example of a B2B purchase. Out of curiosity, I decided to note my interactions with one company during my decision making process. The final count? More than 10 interactions over 9 days.

Here's what that journey looked like:

1. Clicked an ad in Google search placed on a competitor's brand name (day 1)
2. Explored their landing page, homepage and read about the company (day 1)
3. Received a targeted Instagram stories ad (day 3)
4. Got a targeted Instagram video ad (day 4)
5. Got multiple Instagram ads (days 5-7)
6. Visited their integrations and pricing pages (day 7)
7. Looked for reviews and customer experience (day 8)
8. Contacted them via live chat to ask about integrations (day 8)
9. Opened their intro email after using live chat (day 9)

At day 8 I understood this was not going to work out, but I kept seeing ads a few more times – weeks later. None of these interactions alone convinced me to buy. Each subsequent ad reminded me of the company and strengthened my initial urge to explore their product. If I were to use their service, the mark of 25+ interactions would have easily be crossed.

Understanding the stark differences between how businesses and consumers make purchase decisions is critical for crafting effective marketing strategies.

B2B: The Collective Mind

Picture this: A conference room with eight stakeholders from different departments, each with unique concerns about the same purchase decision. That's B2B buying in a nutshell.

"The typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves six to 10 decision makers," reveals a Gartner report. Each person approaches the decision through their specific professional lens: IT considers integration, finance focuses on ROI, end-users prioritize usability, and executives think about strategic alignment.

This multi-stakeholder reality creates a decision process that's:

• Lengthy (often 2-12 months)
• Logic-driven rather than emotion-driven
• Focused on risk mitigation
• Documentation-heavy
• Process-oriented

B2C: The Emotional Fast Lane (That's Still Not That Fast)

Consumer decisions might happen without committees, but they're still complex.

Consumer behavior specialists say that consumers make purchases based on a complex mix of emotional triggers, social validation, and practical justification They might make decisions faster than businesses, but they're still processing significant amounts of information before buying.

Consumer journeys are typically:

• Shorter (hours to weeks)
• Emotion-driven with logical justification
• Influenced heavily by social proof
• Susceptible to impulse
• Less formal but still systematic

When people think of touchpoints, they often limit their definition to direct marketing efforts. The reality is much broader.

After analysing a session with a luxury fashion brand, we identified more than 20 potential touchpoints in their customer journey — many of which they weren't influencing. Here are some of them:

Controlled Touchpoints

• Paid advertising (social, search, display, video)
• Website content
• Email and SMS marketing
• Social media content
• Communication on social media
• Product packaging
• Loyalty program
• Events and shows

Influenced Touchpoints

• Reviews and ratings
• Media coverage
• Influencer mentions
• Partner referrals
• Word-of-mouth
• Customer testimonials
• Industry reports featuring the brand

Environmental Touchpoints

• Industry trends
• Competitor messaging
• Economic factors
• Seasonal needs
• Cultural shifts

Each touchpoint serves a specific psychological function in the decision journey: from building awareness and credibility to creating value and desirability.

The data shows a clear trend: decision journeys are getting longer and more complex. But why?

I explored this question in marketing communities, and several key factors emerged:

1. Information Abundance: "There's simply too much content to process. Decision-makers are drowning in information, which makes them less confident about making decisions."
2. Trust Deficit: Post-pandemic skepticism and rise in overall marketing awareness has created "the trust gap" — people require more verification before believing claims.
3. Experience Inflation: As consumer experiences improve in some sectors, expectations rise across all categories. "Once you've experienced exceptional service in one area, you expect it everywhere."
4. Decision Fatigue: The average adult makes thousands of decisions daily, leading to decision fatigue. "People delay complex decisions when mentally taxed."
5. Risk Aversion: Economic uncertainty has amplified risk aversion. "No one wants to be responsible for a bad business decision in uncertain times."

Looking at industry data confirms this trend:

• In 2018, B2B SaaS purchases involved approximately 20 touchpoints
• By 2025, that number had increased to staggering 200+ touchpoints.

The implication of decision making cycles getting more complex and prolonged in time is you have to embrace the reality of multi-touch decision journeys. After accepting this reality, consider these steps to align your strategy with actionable tactic plans:

Document Your Current-State Journey

Begin with how customers actually find you, not how you think they do. Analyze your data to uncover real paths to purchase, interview recent customers about their decision process, and gather cross-functional teams for journey-mapping workshops. One legal company I worked with discovered that informal peer conversations at industry events played a crucial role in their buyers' journeys — something their analytics completely missed.

Identify Journey Gaps and Friction Points

Where are people dropping off? Which questions go unanswered at critical moments? Look for stages with insufficient content, inconsistencies across channels, or missing measurement capabilities. Many brands create plenty of awareness and decision-stage materials but neglect the critical consideration phase where customers build confidence.

Design Your Ideal Multi-Touch Architecture

For each journey stage, define clear objectives beyond just "move to next stage." Map specific content to customer questions and develop channel orchestration plans that maintain consistency while playing to each platform's strengths. Create measurement frameworks that capture progress, not just completion.

Implement Progressive Measurement

Define specific KPIs for each journey stage and implement tracking for micro-conversions that signal progress. A blog subscription might seem trivial compared to a purchase, but it represents meaningful movement through the decision journey. Build dashboards that visualise the entire path, allowing you to spot blockages before they impact revenue.

Test, Learn, and Refine

Commit to ongoing improvement through regular journey audits and A/B testing at each stage. One SaaS provider discovered that sending a case study before a demo request (rather than after) increased demo show-up rates by almost half. Your multi-touch strategy isn't a static document — it's a living system that evolves as your customers do.

By approaching your strategy with this framework, you'll create experiences that honor how people actually make decisions — and drive more meaningful conversions as a result.

During my journey in marketing, I've observed a consistent pattern: the brands that understand and embrace the multi-touch reality consistently outperform those fixated on immediate conversion. They build deeper customer relationships, achieve better lifetime value, and create more sustainable growth.

The next time you find yourself staring disappointedly at campaign metrics at 3 AM, remember this: those seemingly unsuccessful touchpoints are building cognitive foundations in your customers' minds. Each impression, click, and engagement is a brick in the path that eventually leads to conversion.

Given enough basic preparation, the question isn't whether your marketing is working — it's whether you have the resources, patience and perspective to see the full journey taking shape.