B2B marketing often begins measurement too late. Research published by LinkedIn with Factors.ai says buyers in its dataset started researching an average of 124 days before an opportunity appeared in the CRM. The analysis covered 50,000 deals and more than $150 million in LinkedIn advertising spend.

The study also found an association between reaching a broader buying group and winning more business: campaigns that reached six or more people before opportunity creation showed a 17-percentage-point higher win rate. At the same time, 76% of spend in the dataset targeted senior roles, suggesting many teams concentrate attention at the top while technical, operational and financial influencers remain under-served.

Sources: LinkedIn Marketing Solutions research and Factors.ai benchmark report.

What the data can and cannot prove

This is observational research produced by a platform and measurement partner. It does not prove that adding contacts automatically causes a win. Larger, better-run accounts may already have stronger budgets, targeting and sales processes. The useful lesson is to measure influence before CRM creation and map the real decision group rather than optimize only for the final lead form.

Karim strategic takeaway

For a hospital, technology vendor or professional-services offer, build separate narratives for the clinician or user, operations, finance, management and IT. Combine executive thought leadership with practical evidence for evaluators, then use retargeting to connect the sequence. Judge success by qualified account progression and revenue, not cheap form fills.