What is a buying group?

What is a Buying Group?

A buying group is the collection of people within an organization who influence or make a purchase decision together. In B2B, this is almost always more than one person.

A typical buying group can include:

  • Decision Makers: Executives or budget owners (CIO, VP of IT)

  • Influencers: Technical evaluators, team leads, or specialists

  • Gatekeepers: Procurement, security, or legal reviewers

  • End Users: People who will actually use the product and can push adoption

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Rather than marketing to a single contact, a buying group recognizes that multiple roles collaborate and have different needs before a purchase is approved.

How Buying Groups Are Used in Advertising

Buying groups help you spend ad dollars where they’ll have the most impact:

  1. Role-Based Messaging:

    • Target decision makers with ROI-focused ads (“Cut Audit Prep Time by 70%”).

    • Target end-users with solution benefits (“Automate Access Requests in One Click”).

  2. Multi-Contact Targeting:

    • Run ads to multiple people at the same account simultaneously to create consensus.

    • Example: Show security, compliance, and IT teams content relevant to each of their concerns.

  3. Account Expansion:

    • Use intent data to identify new buying group members at existing customer accounts and run cross-sell or upsell campaigns.

How Buying Groups Shape Marketing Programs

Buying groups allow you to design programs that surround the account with relevant messaging:

  • ABM Programs: Deliver content at both the account level (why your solution matters to their business) and the persona level (why it matters to each member of the buying group).

  • Intent Marketing: Use intent from the whole buying group to target an account

  • Sales Enablement: Provide SDRs/BDRs with talking points tailored to each role so they can orchestrate multi-threaded outreach.

Buying Groups in Nurture Campaigns

Buying group logic lets you build coordinated nurture streams that push everyone toward consensus:

  • Parallel Nurture Tracks:
    Run simultaneous, role-specific email sequences. For example:

    • Finance leader gets a total-cost-of-ownership calculator

    • IT leader gets a technical integration guide

    • Compliance leader gets a case study on reduced audit findings

  • Intent Focused Content: Use behavioral intent from a buying group to adjust messaging and align content to interests

  • Trigger-Based Content:
    When one member engages (downloads a whitepaper, attends a webinar), trigger follow-up touches to other members in the group to accelerate momentum.

  • Buying Stage Progression:
    Move the whole account forward when enough members show engagement — not just one person.

Key Advantage

The big win with buying groups is orchestration — ensuring you aren’t over-focusing on one champion or leaving a blocker unaddressed. This increases win rates and reduces deal cycles because it brings all stakeholders along together.