Does inbound actually work for Enterprise? (Dave's Newsletter)

WHAT WE'RE HEARING

Inbound and Enterprise Aren’t Mutually Exclusive

Editor's Note: Hey. Dave here. Someone asked in Exit Five recently whether you can drive inbound for Enterprise. Because typically the school of thought is that to get bigger customers you need to do outbound, and this is why ABM became such a big thing over the last decade. Instead of casting a wide net with inbound, they said ABM was fishing with a spear. But like most things I’m learning in marketing, the answer is somewhere in the middle. The marketers that chimed in all had completely different answers. Tradeshows. LinkedIn. Warm outbound. ABM. And one person said enterprise and inbound aren't mutually exclusive. So who's right? I'm not taking a side…I just think it's worth seeing all the perspectives because the answer clearly depends on your situation.

Picture the CIO of Metlife sitting at her desk, scrolling your website, and filling out a contact form for a $1M+ product? Or maybe she saw a LinkedIn Ad and got your eBook?

Enterprise buyers don't behave like that…

They don't fill out forms.

They don't book demos. They take meetings that come through relationships and respond to dinner invites only. Right? That’s what I’ve been taught over the years.

Except...some marketers are proving that wrong. Inbound can drive deals with bigger customers.

They're getting 25% of their pipeline from enterprise buyers who raise their hands. Six-figure deals. No self-serve. Real inbound. Maybe they are listening to the podcast after all?

Can you drive inbound for enterprise or not?

This edition of the newsletter is dedicated to those trying to decide how to split time between Inbound and Outbound for the Enterprise. Here’s what enterprise marketers in Exit Five told us recently.

"Trade Shows Are Working Best For Us"

One person jumped in right away.

“Trade shows, unfortunately.”

Nobody wants trade shows to be the answer (and I get the hesitation, events are a huge lift)…but for some companies selling into enterprise, they’re still the most reliable way to generate pipeline.

Not sexy. Not scalable. But they work.

And by the way, in person isn’t just back for enterprise. We’re seeing this at Exit Five, too. People want to connect offline. Hang out in real life.

It’s so much easier to build trust and relationships in person. You can't build the same rapport over Zoom that you get sitting across from someone at dinner.

Making IRL (and real online) connections is more important than ever because of AI, slop, and fakes.

"Consistent LinkedIn Marketing Plus Warm Outbound"

One marketer took a different approach.

His answer: Consistent marketing on LinkedIn, both organic and paid. Then layer warm outbound on top.

He keeps it super simple and follows up with something like, “Good to connect!” That often leads to a quick convo and finding time to talk to the person live.

The key word: warm. He's not cold calling. He's reaching out to people who've already seen his content. Who already know who he is.

"You Can't Sell Enterprise Without Field Plus Outbound"

Then someone jumped in with a hard no.

“You can't sell to enterprise without field plus outbound. There's very little inbound when you're selling to enterprise. The motion is different.

Inbound gets you mid-market and SMB. Enterprise is a different game.”

Then he broke down what he’s seen enterprise buying look like…

There's no single moment where an enterprise buyer discovers you. It's a slow drip of touchpoints.

Someone sees a LinkedIn ad. Someone else watches a video. A director catches a CTV spot. Six weeks later another stakeholder clicks a display ad. Then someone downloads a case study. Sales meets one of them at an event.

All of that rolls up into whether the account is warming up. And none of it looks like traditional inbound.

They move on their own timelines. Budget cycles. Renewals. Fiscal planning. You can't trigger that with a blog post.

So the GTM for enterprise ends up being a messy but effective blend of pushing your account lists everywhere, showing up across channels, watching for intent signals, and surfacing the accounts that are heating up so outbound can hit at the right time.

"We're Getting Enterprise Inbound Right Now"

Then came more pushback…

This marketer has had multiple public companies come inbound for six-figure deals. More than 25% of their deals come inbound. Their minimum pricing is $75k per year, all the way to $200k+.

Not self-serve. Every deal has to be closed by sales.

But the leads are coming in…

Distribution is mostly LinkedIn, organic and ads. Some owned channels like email, podcast, and community (event investments are tiny right now JFYI).

Then he made a key point: Sales forms are not the only form of inbound.

An email from the buyer. LinkedIn DM. Those count as inbound too.

If you're active on LinkedIn, running ads, doing events, and building community, that's a lot of activity creating those inbound moments.

The Buyer Perspective

One VP of Marketing shared what it's like from the buyer side.

When she was buying in enterprise, she hung out in marketing communities. But she benchmarked against industry peers.

Large events like Inbound were great for discovery. But industry-specific communities were better for education and engagement.

Seeing how a brand interacted in a community could drive her to demo. She didn't want to talk to someone spamming the world. She wanted someone who understood her world and the nuances of marketing in it.

Her advice: Allbound is the way. But it performs better if you have a few verticals of focus so you can be relatable.

She also pointed out: Enterprise has different buying cycles. At a calendar fiscal year company, she was doing research in summer because she needed her ducks in a row by mid-Q3 to pitch something for next year's budget.

If you're marketing to enterprise and ignoring fiscal calendars, you might be missing the window.

"Inbound Works If It's Hyper-Specific"

One CMO said she's seeing inbound work for enterprise.

But the key is hyper-specific content. ABM-style in focus. She called it a hybrid of mega-enterprise ABM plus inbound. But it also requires outbound, PR, and social to create the groundswell.

Speaking in their language about their exact needs. Mentioning their companies and competitors in the content. Ensuring plenty of brand awareness through events. That's what makes enterprise buyers raise their hand.

Recap: What This Means for You

The answer is: it depends. I know, I know. But this is the real truth about most things in marketing! Nuance!

It depends on your product. A $75k product behaves differently than a $1M+ product.

It depends on your buyer. Are they hands-on or do they delegate research?

It depends on your definition of inbound. Is it form fills? Or does an email from a buyer count?

Here’s what everyone agrees on:

You need to be everywhere today. LinkedIn. Events. Content. Community. You can't rely on one channel. This is why I am so bullish on social media; it’s not just an additional marketing channel anymore that the intern manages. It is quite literally how your brand shows up online. The new PR.

Note: In writing this, I am also realizing that “be everywhere” is not always good advice, because you risk being OK in 5 areas vs. being great in 2. BUT - a wise CEO I worked with once taught me the power of air cover. When it feels like your company is everywhere online and in-person, that has ripple effects across the funnel. And this is where inbound ends up lifting UP outbound. At Drift we had enterprise buyers come in because they felt like we were everywhere, and that got us into the consideration set. How can you use marketing to get people to know that you exist and that you can solve their problems?

Enterprise buying is non-linear. Multiple people are involved. They move on their own timelines based on budget cycles and fiscal calendars. So wouldn’t you want inbound to be participating there as air cover?

Marketing's job is to create awareness across the buying committee. Sales' job is to navigate the org and close the deal.

The companies winning at enterprise aren't debating inbound versus outbound. They're doing both. They're showing up consistently. They're building relationships. They're there when the buyer is ready.

Whether that buyer fills out a form or sends you a LinkedIn DM or meets you at an event doesn't matter.

What matters is: Are you having conversations with the right people at the right time?

Now, attribution - let’s talk about that on a different day…for now I hope this resonates.

– Dave

P.S. I've been having a lot of fun writing a newsletter again. In a world of quick hits of dopamine and short form video, it feels GOOD to sit down and write.

I also love getting replies in the inbox, feels different than comments on social media.

So tell me: what’s your take on inbound and enterprise here? How can you do both?

With love, Dave from Exit Five (that’s me, sitting here at 10:39 AM on Wednesday editing this newsletter and sending back to Erin before it goes out tomorrow, well - actually right now as you’re reading this)

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