If you’re leading marketing or sales at a B2B SaaS company, you’ve probably wrestled with this question more than once: Should we double down on inbound or scale up outbound?
It’s a fair debate. After all, both have their loyal advocates, metrics dashboards, and occasional budget tug-of-war. But here’s the truth most people won’t say out loud: in B2B SaaS, it’s not about choosing sides. It’s about knowing when each one works—and how to make them play well together.
This post isn’t here to push a trendy method or rehash what HubSpot and Salesloft already covered. It’s about helping you decide what works best for your stage, your buyers, and your goals.
Let’s take an honest look at what inbound and outbound actually deliver, and when each one has the upper hand.
First, A Quick Refresher: What Are We Comparing?
In case your day has already been filled with dashboards, syncs, and unexpected Zoom invites, here’s a quick distinction:
Inbound marketing is about attraction. It brings leads to you through valuable content, SEO, social, and education-based strategies. Think: blogs, whitepapers, LinkedIn posts, webinars, and organic search.
Outbound is proactive. You reach out to prospects via email, cold calls, LinkedIn messages, or even targeted ads. You build a list, craft your message, and go straight to the people who fit your ICP—even if they’ve never heard of you.
Both can generate pipeline. But not in the same way, at the same speed, or with the same buyer psychology.
Where Inbound Marketing Excels
Inbound tends to win long-term. It attracts leads that want to hear from you, consume your content, and often show up with higher intent. But it’s not magic—it requires time, consistency, and clarity.
Here’s where inbound tends to perform best:
1. Complex SaaS products that require education
If your product solves nuanced or unfamiliar problems—like compliance automation, cloud cost optimization, or internal developer platforms—you need content that explains the why before the how. Inbound allows you to build credibility and explain value without a sales pitch.
A well-structured blog or gated case study can replace multiple discovery calls—and reach buyers before your competitors do.
2. Considered purchases with multiple decision-makers
Inbound supports the reality that SaaS purchases rarely involve just one person. Your ideal buyers are likely doing their own research, reading thought leadership, and comparing vendors long before they reply to an email. If your content doesn’t show up in that process, you’re not even in the running.
3. Brands investing in long-term awareness
Inbound builds compounding value. One high-performing SEO page or industry whitepaper can continue to bring in leads for months or even years. If you’re thinking beyond this quarter and aiming to own your category, inbound should be a core investment.
Where Outbound Marketing Leads the Charge
Now, let’s not forget how many B2B SaaS companies got their first 50 customers: cold outreach. When done right, outbound can be fast, measurable, and tailored. But it’s rarely passive—and definitely not something you want to “set and forget.”
Outbound tends to work best when:
1. You’re entering a new market or launching a new product
No one is Googling your solution yet? That’s not a content problem—it’s a visibility problem. Outbound allows you to get in front of target accounts before there’s existing demand.
Think of outbound as a way to test messaging, learn from objections, and discover how your audience really talks about the pain you solve.
2. You have a clearly defined ICP and buyer persona
If you know exactly who your buyer is, where they work, and what tools they use, you don’t need to wait for them to find you. Whether you’re targeting logistics directors, RevOps managers, or CTOs in mid-size fintech firms, outbound lets you go direct.
3. You need results on a shorter timeline
Inbound is a marathon. Outbound, when well-executed, can be more like a sprint. With a refined list, smart messaging, and a reliable follow-up cadence, outbound gives you more control over your sales pipeline—especially in early-stage SaaS or during aggressive growth targets.
It’s Not Either/Or—It’s Both/And
One of the biggest mistakes we see in SaaS marketing is treating inbound and outbound as isolated functions. In reality, the strongest growth strategies blend both in a coordinated way.
Here’s what that could look like:
Inbound fuels outbound: A new whitepaper becomes the anchor for outbound messages. Blog content gets repurposed as email follow-ups. LinkedIn content builds familiarity before your SDR reaches out.
Outbound validates inbound: Cold outreach reveals which pain points resonate most. You learn what messages land—and which ones don’t. That insight directly shapes your content calendar.
Both improve conversion: A prospect who’s seen your founder’s podcast, read a blog post, and received a personalized email? Much warmer than someone seeing your name for the first time.
Choosing a Starting Point: What Should You Do?
If you’re resource-constrained (and who isn’t?), here’s a simple way to choose where to focus:
Start with Inbound if:
- You’re already getting some organic traffic
- Your buyers are actively searching for terms related to your solution
- You have expertise in-house to write, produce, or repurpose content
- You want to build credibility and authority over time
Start with Outbound if:
- You’re pre-product market fit or validating a new idea
- You need to generate pipeline quickly to meet short-term goals
- You have a clear target list or vertical and can personalize outreach
- You already have someone (or a small team) focused on prospecting
What Success Looks Like (And Doesn’t)
Here’s what to keep in mind:
- Inbound will not bring a flood of leads overnight.
- Outbound will not scale without refinement, good copy, and fast follow-up.
- Both need iteration.
- Both need alignment with sales.
And both, when done well, can drive serious ROI.
What you don’t want is to be six months in with scattered blog posts, an empty CRM, and no clear feedback loop between your messaging and your market.
Inbound and outbound aren’t enemies. They’re different tools in the same toolbox. The best SaaS companies we’ve worked with at B2B Academy didn’t choose a side—they learned when to lead with one and support it with the other. They kept testing. They stayed close to the buyer. And they didn’t build elaborate strategies that no one could execute.
So ask yourself:
- Where are your buyers right now—actively looking or unaware?
- What’s your timeline for growth?
- And where can you realistically execute without burning out your team?
- Once you answer that, the path becomes a whole lot clearer.
Have you seen inbound win in surprising ways? Did outbound help you break into a tough vertical? Share your experience in the comments.
Or if you’re still not sure where to start, we’re happy to brainstorm with you—no slides, no fluff. Just strategy. Let’s talk.
