Outbound vs Inbound: Which to Invest In First (The Real Answer)

Neither outbound nor inbound comes first - the question itself is flawed. They’re complements, not alternatives. The right question is: what ratio fits your stage, market, and ICP?

“Should we invest in outbound or inbound first?”

I get this question constantly. And it’s the wrong question.

The debate assumes outbound and inbound are competing strategies. Pick one, invest heavily, see results. Then maybe add the other later.

That framing leads to bad decisions.

And the cost of bad decisions here is steep. Companies that wait until inbound declines to build outbound are 2.4x more likely to miss their annual revenue targets. Desperation leads to poor execution—rushed hires, untested messaging, and burned runway.

Let me show you why with two case studies:

HockeyStack was crushing it with inbound. Until $5M ARR in early 2024, they relied almost entirely on inbound leads. Then growth slowed. Algorithms changed. Ads saturated. Inbound alone became unstable.

So they built outbound from scratch. The results in 8 months:

• Pipeline: $0 to $74M annualized
• 50% of revenue now from outbound
• 5x YoY revenue growth
• Sales cycles reduced 34%
• Pipeline per SDR: $2.1M/month (6.7x industry average)

Gong had the same realization. In 2018, they were at $300M+ ARR with 90% inbound. AEs hitting 200-300% of quota. Most companies would coast.

Instead, VP of Sales Justin Geller saw the ceiling. Inbound alone couldn’t sustain growth plans. Within 18 months of building outbound, it contributed 45% of pipeline.

As HockeyStack’s team puts it: “Inbound gets you started, but outbound puts you in the driver’s seat.”

Here’s the right way to think about it.

Why the Debate Is Flawed

Outbound and inbound are not alternatives. They’re complements.

Inbound captures existing demand. When someone has a problem, searches for solutions, and finds you—that’s inbound working. The demand already existed. You just caught it.

Outbound creates new demand. When you reach out to someone who has a problem but isn’t actively looking for a solution—that’s outbound working. The demand didn’t exist in active form. You manufactured the timing.

Every market has both:

• People actively looking (inbound captures them)
• People who could benefit but aren’t looking (outbound creates opportunity)

If you only do inbound, you miss everyone who isn’t searching. If you only do outbound, you miss everyone who is.

The question isn’t “which one.” It’s “what ratio.”

What Each Motion Actually Does

Understanding the difference is critical before deciding where to invest.

Inbound: Capturing Existing Demand

Inbound works when people are actively searching for solutions. They have a problem, they know they have a problem, and they’re looking for answers.

Your job with inbound is to:

• Be discoverable when they search
• Provide valuable content that builds trust
• Make it easy for them to engage when ready

Inbound advantages:

• Higher intent (they came to you)
• Lower friction conversations
• Often shorter sales cycles (TOPO research shows inbound deals close 30% faster on average)
• Compounds over time (content keeps working)

Inbound limitations:

• You can only capture existing demand
• Highly competitive for common searches
• Takes time to build (months to years for SEO)
• Dependent on market awareness of the problem

Outbound: Creating New Demand

Outbound works differently. You’re reaching people who have the problem but aren’t actively seeking solutions. Maybe they don’t know the problem is solvable. Maybe it’s not their top priority. Maybe they haven’t gotten around to it.

Your job with outbound is to:

• Identify who has the problem
• Reach them with relevant messaging
• Create enough urgency to start a conversation

Outbound advantages:

• You control timing (don’t wait for them to search)
• You control targeting (go after specific accounts)
• Can create demand in markets where search volume is low
• Faster to get initial signal than SEO

Outbound limitations:

• Higher friction (they didn’t ask to hear from you)
• Requires more education in the sales process
• Doesn’t compound the same way (ongoing effort required)
• Easy to do badly (spam, irrelevant outreach)

Why the Transition Is So Hard

Here’s what William Miller nails in his book Outbounding: Inbound reps are trained as order-takers. Outbound requires diagnosing unrecognized problems.

The buyer psychology is fundamentally different:

• Inbound: 50%+ of prospects want a demo immediately. They’ve done their research. They know what they want.
• Outbound: Less than 10% are demo-ready. They haven’t been thinking about this problem. They need to be convinced it’s worth their time.

This is why companies that crush inbound often struggle when they add outbound. Their reps have been trained to respond to existing intent, not create it.

Forrester’s B2B buyer research shows that 68% of B2B buyers prefer to research independently before engaging with sales—which favors inbound. But they also found that 57% of executive-level buyers are open to cold outreach if it’s relevant to a current business priority. The opportunity exists for both motions.

Miller uses Lewin’s Change Model to explain what outbound actually requires:

1. Unfreezing — Help the prospect recognize they have a problem worth solving
2. Changing — Guide them through understanding the solution
3. Refreezing — Solidify the new way of thinking so it sticks

Inbound buyers show up already “unfrozen.” Outbound buyers are frozen solid. Your reps need completely different skills.

The messaging differs too. Above-the-line (ATL) executives care about ROI, risk reduction, and time-to-value. Below-the-line (BTL) users care about features, workflow, and ease of use. Inbound tends to attract BTL users who then champion up. Outbound often starts ATL and works down.

If you’re adding outbound to an inbound-heavy team, don’t assume your best inbound reps will be your best outbound reps. The skillsets are different.

When to Lean Outbound First

Your market is new or undefined.

If people don’t know your category exists, they won’t search for it. Classic inbound won’t work because there’s no search volume.

Outbound lets you educate the market one conversation at a time. You’re not waiting for awareness to build—you’re building it through direct conversations.

Your ICP is niche and won’t find you organically.

Some ICPs are so specific that traditional inbound channels don’t reach them. If your ideal customer is “VP of Supply Chain at mid-market food manufacturers in the Midwest,” they’re probably not searching for your solution.

Outbound lets you go find them rather than hope they find you.

You need to control timing and targeting.

Inbound is passive. You publish content and hope the right people find it at the right time. Outbound is active. You decide which accounts to target and when to reach them.

If you’re doing account-based selling, entering a new market segment, or running a time-sensitive campaign, outbound gives you control.

You need faster signal.

SEO takes months or years to show results. Outbound can generate conversations in weeks. If you need to validate messaging, test an ICP, or just get revenue moving quickly, outbound provides faster feedback.

When to Lean Inbound First

High search volume exists for your category.

If thousands of people are searching for solutions like yours every month, you’re leaving money on the table by not capturing that demand. The intent is there. You just need to be found.

Long consideration cycles favor content.

For complex purchases, buyers often spend months researching before engaging with sales. If they’re going to spend that time anyway, you want them spending it with your content—learning your framework, seeing your expertise, building trust before the first conversation.

Content builds compound advantage.

Good content keeps working. A blog post you write today might generate leads for years. That compound effect makes inbound attractive if you have the patience to build it.

Your credibility matters more than your reach.

Some markets care deeply about expertise and thought leadership. If your buyers want to know you understand their world before talking to you, inbound content demonstrates that at scale.

The Real Answer: Both, Integrated

Here’s what most companies miss: outbound and inbound work better together than either works alone.

Inbound content makes outbound more effective.

When an SDR reaches out and the prospect checks your website, what do they find? If there’s no content, no proof of expertise, no evidence you understand their world—the outreach feels random.

But if they find articles that speak directly to their problems, frameworks that demonstrate expertise, case studies from similar companies—suddenly the outreach has credibility.

Outbound reaches people inbound misses.

Not everyone searches. Even in categories with high search volume, there are decision-makers who will never find you organically. Outbound fills that gap.

Better yet, outbound can introduce people to your content. The prospect who wasn’t searching might become a regular reader after a good outbound conversation—even if they don’t buy immediately.

The feedback loops compound.

What you learn from outbound conversations (objections, questions, language prospects use) improves your inbound content. What you learn from inbound (which topics attract which personas, what content converts) improves your outbound targeting and messaging.

Separating them means losing those feedback loops.

The Framework: Deciding the Right Mix

Instead of “which one,” ask these questions:

Does demand already exist for what we sell?

If yes, inbound captures it efficiently. If no (new category, niche market), outbound creates it.

How long do buyers research before purchasing?

Longer cycles favor inbound content that nurtures over time. Shorter cycles might favor direct outbound engagement.

What’s our timeline?

Need results in 90 days? Lean outbound. Building for the long term? Invest in inbound infrastructure.

How specific is our ICP?

Broad ICPs can be reached through inbound. Narrow, specific ICPs might require outbound targeting.

What’s our brand awareness?

Low awareness makes inbound harder (no one’s searching for you) and outbound cold outreach harder (no credibility). You might need outbound to build awareness while simultaneously building inbound assets.

The ratio will change over time. Early-stage companies often lean heavily outbound (need to generate revenue, don’t have content yet). As they mature, inbound investment increases and the ratio shifts.

There’s no “right” answer that applies to everyone. But there is a right answer for your company at your stage—and it’s almost never “100% one, 0% the other.”

Suggested Starting Ratios by Stage

Stage	Outbound	Inbound	Why
Pre-$1M ARR	80%	20%	No brand = no inbound. Validate with outbound first.
$1-5M ARR	60%	40%	Start building content moat while outbound drives revenue.
$5-20M ARR	50%	50%	Both motions should be working. Optimize integration.
$20M+ ARR	40%	60%	Inbound compounds. Outbound for strategic accounts.

These are starting points, not rules. Adjust based on your market, sales cycle, and ICP specificity. A company selling to a highly niche ICP might stay at 70% outbound even at $20M ARR. A company in a category with high search volume might flip to 70% inbound at $5M.

The Integration Framework: How Gong Did It

Gong didn’t just add outbound. They integrated it into their culture. Here’s their framework:

Step 1: Launch from Strength Start outbound when inbound is performing well, not when it’s dying. You need the runway and confidence to experiment.

What if you’re early-stage with weak inbound? Gong’s “launch from strength” advice applies to companies with existing revenue and a working motion. If you’re pre-$1M ARR, you likely need to build outbound first—because you don’t have the brand awareness for inbound to work yet. The principle still holds: build from whatever is currently working, even if that’s founder-led sales. Don’t try to launch a new motion while your current one is failing.

Step 2: Get Full Org Buy-in Outbound became a company-wide priority at Gong, not just a sales initiative. Existing teams adapted to new roles without significant additional hiring.

Step 3: Define Clear Success Metrics They focused on a single key metric: “pipeline created per period.” Not activity metrics. Not vanity metrics. Pipeline.

Step 4: Integrate into Company Rhythm Outbound metrics appeared in one-on-ones and forecast meetings. Outbound performance tied to promotions and recognition.

Step 5: Provide Continuous Enablement Ongoing training on cold calling, email writing, objection handling, and pipeline generation.

As Justin Geller said: “Outbound isn’t a department. It’s a cultural antibody against complacency.”

The key insight: Don’t wait until inbound dries up to build outbound. By then, you’re desperate. Start while things are good.

What Most Companies Get Wrong

Mistake 1: Treating them as separate teams with separate goals.

When outbound and inbound don’t share data, don’t collaborate on messaging, and compete for credit—both suffer. They should be one revenue system with coordinated execution.

Mistake 2: Expecting inbound to work without investment.

“We’ll do some content marketing” isn’t a strategy. Inbound requires sustained investment in content, SEO, distribution, and conversion optimization. If you’re going to do it, resource it properly.

Mistake 3: Expecting outbound to work without systems.

Random cold emails aren’t a strategy either. Effective outbound requires clear ICP definition, validated messaging, good data, and trained reps. If you’re not sure your system is working, start by diagnosing what’s broken.

Mistake 4: Switching strategies instead of integrating.

When inbound slows down, companies often shift budget to outbound. When outbound struggles, they shift to inbound. This back-and-forth wastes resources and prevents either from working well.

Mistake 5: Waiting until you need outbound to build it.

HockeyStack and Gong both started outbound while inbound was working. They had the resources and patience to build it properly. Companies that wait until inbound fails are desperate—and desperate decisions lead to poor execution.

The Pivot That Backfired: A $5M ARR company I consulted saw inbound slow down by 30% and panic-shifted 70% of their marketing budget to outbound. No infrastructure, no training, no data hygiene. Result: Outbound produced nothing for 6 months while inbound cratered further from neglect. They ended up laying off their SDR team and rebuilding inbound from scratch—a full year behind where they would have been with a measured approach.

The Bottom Line

Stop asking “outbound or inbound.”

Start asking:

• What’s the right ratio for our stage and market?
• How do we integrate them so they reinforce each other?
• What do we need to make each one work well?

Outbound creates demand. Inbound captures demand. Together, they cover the full market opportunity.

The companies that win don’t pick one. They build a system that uses both—coordinated, integrated, and optimized for their specific situation.

---

Not sure what the right mix is for your company? Book a Strategy Audit and we’ll assess your current system and build a roadmap that integrates outbound and inbound effectively.