Modern OEM marketing starts earlier than ever — because by the time buyers reach out, the decision is already taking shape.
What OEM marketers and commercial leaders need to know about self-directed buying — and how to respond
Have you ever walked into a conversation after the introductions are over and everyone is already deep into the good stuff? That’s what the modern OEM buyer journey looks like.
Today’s buyers are doing the heavy lifting before your sales team ever gets a shot. According to 6sense, buyers don’t engage with sellers until the buying group has completed 70% of its journey.1 That number confirms what many OEM marketers already feel every day: The internet has fundamentally shifted power to the buyer.
For OEM brands, that changes the job. Your first impression likely won’t happen in a meeting, at a trade show or through a sales call. It will happen quietly — through your website, search visibility, content, case studies and digital footprint. Long before anyone fills out a form or requests a quote, buyers are already forming opinions about whether your company is credible, capable and worth considering.
It’s Not a Funnel Anymore
The traditional linear funnel doesn’t reflect how industrial buyers buy.
Based on more than 150 research projects, Philomath Research found that today’s buyers move through stages nonlinearly, engage with 10 or more pieces of content across multiple platforms and rely heavily on peer validation, demos and third-party evaluations.2 In practice, the journey looks less like a funnel and more like a web of interactions happening across channels and over time. That complexity is amplified in OEM and industrial environments, where buying decisions rarely rest with a single person.
72%
of B2B buying decisions involve highly complex groups that span multiple departments, often including up to 10 distinct decision-making roles.3
52%
of decision-makers are at the VP level or higher, putting more senior leaders in charge.4
That means trust-building can’t start when sales enters the conversation. It has to start well before.
Your Brand Is Already in the Room
In this environment, your brand is doing more selling than you may realize.
At its best, branding reduces perceived risk. It helps buyers feel confident that your team understands the application, can deliver on the promise and will be a safe choice internally. For OEMs, trust is built through substance: a clear website, strong proof points, useful thought leadership, technical depth and consistent messaging across every touchpoint.
By the time a buyer reaches out, they have often already shaped requirements, narrowed options and built internal consensus. If your brand hasn’t shown up early, influencing that decision gets much harder.
86%
of enterprise buyers start with brands they already know.4
71%
ultimately buy from their
first-choice brand.4
That is the real role of brand in industrial marketing. It is not decoration. It is commercial leverage.
Content Is Not Support Material
In a self-directed journey, content becomes the salesperson.
Buyers are gathering evidence without you. They are comparing suppliers, validating claims and looking for confidence signals in everything they find. The content they encounter shapes how they perceive your expertise, your fit and your value.
For OEM brands, that means blogs, white papers, case studies, videos, technical documentation, application guides, CAD files and performance data are not secondary assets. They are primary selling tools.
Different formats do different jobs. A white paper can build authority. A short video can make an application easier to understand. A case study can answer the question every buyer really wants to know: Has this worked for a company like mine?
The strongest content strategies do not rely on a single format or channel. They create a connected experience that helps multiple stakeholders move forward with confidence.
Showing Up Matters Just as Much
Great content alone is not enough if buyers never see it.
One of the biggest gaps in OEM marketing is overinvesting in content creation while underinvesting in distribution. If buyers are researching independently, your brand needs to be visible where that research is happening.
That includes:
- SEO to capture high-intent research moments
- Paid search to compete in active demand
- Programmatic and sponsored content to build visibility earlier in the journey
- Retargeting to stay present as buyers move in and out of evaluation
Research found that buyers interact with 10 or more content pieces across five or more platforms before deciding.2 If your brand appears in only one or two of those moments, you are leaving the rest of the journey to competitors.
The goal is simple: win share of mind before share of market.
Where This Leaves OEM Marketers
This shift in buyer behavior is not a trend to watch. It is a reality to build around.
OEM brands need to meet buyers where they are, not where we wish they still were. That means building trust earlier, creating content that does real commercial work, and showing consistently across the channels that shape consideration.
By the time a prospect is ready to talk to sales, the decision is already taking shape.
Your job is to make sure your brand is there long before the conversation starts.
Sources
- Aleksey Paneko, “Findings from 6sense Research: When Do B2B Buyers Reach Out to Sales?” 6Sense, January 8, 2024.
- Philomath Research, “What 150+ B2B Projects Reveal About Evolving Business Buyer Behavior in 2025,” July 30, 2025.
- Demandbase, “Understanding the State of the B2B Buyer,” 2025.
- Trust Radius, “2024 B2B Buying Disconnect Report: The Year of the Brand Crisis,” June 10, 2024.