71 touchpoints and counting: The future of B2B sales is buyer-led

A decade ago, reps bragged about closing deals after a handful of calls or emails. 

Today? The average deal takes 71 touchpoints before a contract gets signed – and that number keeps climbing.

Why? Buyers aren’t sitting in one channel anymore. They’re scrolling LinkedIn, half-listening to podcasts, checking Slack, Googling reviews, and maybe catching your webinar replay at 2 a.m. If you’re only showing up in one of those places, you’re invisible in the rest.

Here’s what that shift means and how to play it smart.

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It’s not just touchpoints. It’s the whole experience

“More touchpoints needed” doesn’t mean: “I’ll just send more emails.” Wrong move.

A holistic approach means every interaction – big or small – matters. Examples:

• Micro-touchpoint: A comment you leave under someone’s LinkedIn post.
• Follow-up: The recap email you send after a demo that highlights their specific pain points.
• Content echo: A webinar clip they stumble on two weeks later.
• Internal share: A champion screenshotting your case study and dropping it into their Slack thread.

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Multi-channel presence = multiplying touchpoints

Think of touchpoints like surface area. The more channels you’re active in, the more chances buyers have to interact with you.

• LinkedIn posts → spark awareness (great for early-funnel).
• Cold email → precision targeting (direct to decision-makers).
• Podcasts → authority and thought leadership.
• Events → trust-building through face time.
• Communities → staying top-of-mind organically.

And don’t forget the channels you don’t fully control. For instance, right now social proof is massive: more than 77% of buyers read reviews, and over half talk to current users before signing. 

In 2025, G2 ratings, customer testimonials, and case studies aren’t “nice-to-have”. They’re critical touchpoints in the buyer’s journey.

Of course, you don’t need to be everywhere at once. But you do need to be intentional. Show up where your buyers already spend their time, connect the dots across those channels, and make sure every interaction adds to the experience.

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Stop obsessing over attribution

Most touchpoints can’t be measured.

Your attribution tools? They’re catching maybe 30% of what’s really happening.

And what about…

• The podcast someone listened to in their car?
• The Slack DM from a peer?
• The LinkedIn post that made them Google your company?

That’s all dark social, and no tool will track it. And here’s what Nikita Sherbina, CEO & Co-Founder at AIScreen says on this topic:

“I've noticed more touchpoints in our industry and it's largely because buyers want more personalized, multi-channel experiences. One approach we've found to be helpful is to treat non-measurable touchpoints like passive content views as part of a broader engagement score. Even if a buyer doesn't leave a trail, repeated exposure indicates interest and informs how we sequence our outreach.”

So, instead of chasing perfect attribution, focus on stacking enough quality interactions to build conviction. 

Because as one popular marketing statement says:  “Buyers don’t move linearly, they move socially.”

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And what about gating?

Attribution is overrated, sure, but that little voice still asks: stay completely open, or gate it for the sake of a few extra data points?

First, let’s clear the air: people don’t hate gated content. They hate bad gated content.

For example, dropping a massive PDF no one asked for and nothing inside feels new? That’s a wasted interaction.

But when the content solves a real problem, the trade feels worth it. 

Case in point: Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant” reports are gated, yet they drive massive sign-ups every year because buyers trust the value.

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Pro tip: Gate high-value, specific content (e.g., industry benchmarks, ROI calculators). Keep surface-level pieces ungated (e.g., blog posts, short videos).

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How to make touchpoints effective?

Not every touchpoint is created equal. The real play is being intentional with what touchpoints you use, how you sequence them, and when you back off before fatigue sets in.

• Define your touchpoint mix. Email, LinkedIn, calls, ads, direct mail, events. Each has its place, and buyers expect to see you across more than one.
• Sequence without burnout. Quality beats quantity. Mix up channels and formats so your touches reinforce each other instead of feeling like 15 versions of the same nudge.
• Measure by segment. A $10K deal may take 15–20 touches to land a meeting, while enterprise deals can push 50+. Track average touches to meeting by ACV segment so you know what “normal” looks like for your pipeline.

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The road ahead

~71 touchpoints on average today. Tomorrow? That bar only moves higher.

The teams who win won’t brute-force with extra emails – they’ll turn every interaction into part of a buyer-led journey.

Looking ahead, AI is the biggest shift on the table: already spotting intent signals, scaling personalization, and pulling insights from dark social. 

But tech alone won’t win deals. The human touch still matters for warming up accounts, building trust, and steering the process.

The companies leaning into this now won’t just keep up with 71 touchpoints. They’ll set the pace for whatever number comes next.