To reach the B2B buying committee, marketers and salespeople must spread their message across the organization. This research shows which internal departments (HR, IT, finance) wield the most influence over purchase decisions in 22 vertical industries.

1. ​Which Departments Wield the Most Influence
​Over Purchase Decisions in Your Industry

2. CONTENTS
​03 Introduction
​07 Technology
​16 Financial Services
​19 Education
​21 Automotive
​23 Government
​25 Healthcare
​27 Manufacturing
​29 Marketing and Advertising
​31 Retail
​33 Services
​38 Travel

3. IF VENDORS AREN’T KNOWN COMPANY-WIDE,
THEY’RE NOT KNOWN
​The B2B Buying Process is a team game.
​There are decision makers and there are influencers.
​Marketers must strive to reach both groups.
​The bottom line is this:
​Many departments impact the final buying decision,
​and marketers and salespeople are well-advised to
​reach all of the influential departments.

4. 4
THE NUMBER OF DEPARTMENTS IMPACTING THE
BUYING DECISION VARIES BY INDUSTRY

5. 5
SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS INFLUENCE THE
TYPICAL BUYING DECISION
​Recent LinkedIn research found that many departments influence
the buying process, with Information Technology, Finance, and
Business Development leading the way.
T O P D E P A R T M E N T S I N C L U D E D I N T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N
Information Technology 32%
31%
26%
23%
22%
21%
Finance
Business Development
Accounting
Operations
Administrative

6. 6
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
​LinkedIn’s research showed the number and kind of departments that influence
buying decisions varies from industry to industry.
​In the following slides, marketers and salespeople can see the departments
that wield the most influence on purchase decisions in the industry they target.

7. 7

8. 8
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY — ADTECH
Finance 46%
31%
25%
23%
22%
Business Development
Information Technology
Engineering
Marketing
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Technology — Adtech industry3.3

9. 9
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY —
CLOUD COMPUTING
Information Technology 61%
36%
34%
32%
28%
Business Development
Engineering
Finance
Operations
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Technology — Cloud Computing industry4.5

10. 10
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY —
COMPUTER AND NETWORK SECURITY
65%
27%
24%
23%
21%
Information Technology
Finance
Engineering
Business Development
Administrative
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Technology — Computer and Network Security industry3.7

11. 11
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY —
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
54%
36%
27%
25%
25%
Information Technology
Finance
Engineering
Operations
Product Management
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Technology — Computer Software industry3.9

12. 12
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY — INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES / IT CONSULTING
73%
30%
23%
23%
21%
Information Technology
Finance
Business Development
Program and Project Mgmt
Engineering
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision in the
Technology — Information Technology and Services / IT Consulting industry3.8

13. 13
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY —
ONLINE MEDIA PLATFORMS
43%
37%
30%
30%
21%
Media and Communication
Marketing
Business Development
Information Technology
Program and Project Mgmt
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Technology — Online Media Platforms industry3.8

14. 14
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY —
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
41%
36%
33%
25%
24%
Information Technology
Operations
Engineering
Purchasing
Sales
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Technology — Telecommunications industry3.9

15. 15
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY — OTHER
35%
34%
29%
27%
21%
Information Technology
Engineering
Operations
Business Development
Program and Project Mgmt
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Technology — Other industry3.4

16. 16

17. 17
INDUSTRY: FINANCIAL SERVICES —
COMMERCIAL BANKING
61%
44%
42%
27%
24%
Finance
Accounting
Business Development
Administrative
Information Technology
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Financial Services — Commercial Banking industry4.0

18. 18
INDUSTRY: FINANCIAL SERVICES — OTHER
47%
43%
20%
18%
18%
Accounting
Finance
Administrative
Business Development
Information Technology
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Financial Services — Other industry3.2

19. 19

20. 20
INDUSTRY: EDUCATION
58%
36%
22%
22%
18%
Education
Administrative
Accounting
Finance
HR
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Education industry3.5

21. 21

22. 22
INDUSTRY: AUTOMOTIVE
30%
27%
23%
23%
23%
Engineering
Administrative
Accounting
Operations
Purchasing
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Automotive industry3.5

23. 23

24. 24
INDUSTRY: GOVERNMENT
28%
24%
24%
22%
19%
Administrative
Business Development
Information Technology
Engineering
Finance
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Government sector3.3

25. 25

26. 26
INDUSTRY: HEALTHCARE
53%
37%
34%
24%
22%
Healthcare Services
Administrative
Finance
Accounting
Purchasing
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Healthcare industry4.2

27. 27

28. 28
INDUSTRY: MANUFACTURING
50%
47%
42%
35%
34%
Engineering
Operations
Purchasing
Finance
Product Management
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Manufacturing industry4.6

29. 29

30. 30
INDUSTRY: MARKETING AND ADVERTISING
68%
41%
38%
29%
23%
Marketing
Business Development
Sales
Media and Communication
Finance
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Marketing and Advertising industry4.1

31. 31

32. 32
INDUSTRY: RETAIL
34%
33%
28%
28%
25%
Purchasing
Sales
Administrative
Operations
Business Development
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Retail industry4.0

33. 33

34. 34
INDUSTRY: SERVICES — CONSULTING
29%
28%
27%
25%
18%
Product Management
Finance
Business Development
Information Technology
Purchasing
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Services — Consulting industry3.4

35. 35
INDUSTRY: SERVICES — HUMAN RESOURCES
66%
36%
30%
27%
22%
HR
Finance
Administrative
Information Technology
Legal
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Services — Human Resources industry3.6

36. 36
INDUSTRY: SERVICES — INFORMATION SERVICES
55%
29%
28%
25%
21%
Information Technology
Finance
Business Development
Operations
Accounting
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Services — Information Services industry3.9

37. 37
INDUSTRY: SERVICES — OTHER
33%
23%
22%
19%
16%
Operations
Finance
Business Development
Accounting
Consulting
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Services — Other industry3.1

38. 38

39. 39
INDUSTRY: TRAVEL
37%
36%
31%
31%
18%
Finance
Accounting
Administrative
Sales
Business Development
W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E
O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?
Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision
in the Travel industry3.4

40. 40
DOWNLOAD THE FULL EBOOK
​The research in this SlideShare is part of a
larger body of research conducted by LinkedIn.
This research is contained in the “Rethink the
B2B Buyer's Journey“ ebook. This guide shows
how marketers are rethinking the buying team,
content and social media marketing, and sales
and marketing alignment.
Download ebook

41. 41
​ABO U T TH E RE SE ARCH
​For this research, we conducted a survey of more than
6,000 buyers, marketers, and salespeople at mid-sized
to enterprise-level B2B companies in seven countries:
The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom,
Australia, India, France and Germany. Each participant
in the survey took a 10-minute online survey.