Omneky’s Enterprise Sales Evolution: Converting Early Market Skeptics into Customers
Moving upmarket is challenging for any startup. When your product leverages emerging technology that enterprise buyers are skeptical about, it becomes exponentially harder. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Omneky founder Hikari Senju shared how they navigated this transition.
Starting with SMB Focus
“The vast majority of my customers today are SMB. We’re breaking into the enterprise and mid market,” Hikari explains. This initial focus wasn’t just about easier sales cycles – it followed a classic pattern of market entry: “I think the classic kind of innovators dilemma where you kind of come into the market with an inferior product at a cheaper price and then as the technology improves, you kind of displace the incumbents.”
Building Credibility Through Infrastructure
Rather than trying to win enterprise deals purely through AI capabilities, Omneky focused on building robust infrastructure that larger customers would require. “Building data integrations with all these different ad networks and platforms take time. Not anybody can get access to these ad networks,” Hikari notes. This approach created tangible differentiation beyond just AI features.
The Messaging Evolution
The company maintained consistent positioning even when it wasn’t resonating with larger buyers. “Just consistently communicating to the market that we are the leading generative AI company for advertisers year over year. Not really deviating from that message has helped,” Hikari shares.
This consistency paid off when market sentiment shifted: “The market started to understand the messaging and the value problems we’ve been communicating consistently for the past several couple years, especially now with Chad GBT bringing awareness on that.”
Building External Validation
Recognition from industry analysts and participation in key events helped build enterprise credibility. “Were last year the only generative AI company to pitch as a finalist at know. We were boomer on all the different market maps from CV Insights to NFX, as one of the hottest area of AI companies,” Hikari notes.
The Four-Quarter Strategy
Looking ahead, Omneky envisions a balanced customer portfolio: “I’d imagine it’s going to be a quarter breakdown between agencies, SMBs, mid market and enterprise.” This diversification strategy aims to capture value across different market segments while continuing to move upmarket.
Trust Through Track Record
A key insight from their journey is that enterprise sales in emerging technology is fundamentally about trust. As Hikari explains, “Fundraising is a function of trust. And I think that just trust is a function of building relationships based on trust.” The same principle applies to enterprise sales.
The approach centered on consistent execution: “Doing what you say you’re going to do, and consistently just doing what you’re saying you’re going to do, day over day with the investor community, the first time you meet with investors, they might not invest, but if you tell them what you’re going to do and then you keep executing against it, they’ll believe you a bit more.”
Looking Forward
The company’s enterprise strategy continues to evolve as AI gains broader acceptance. The focus remains on building comprehensive solutions rather than just point products. As Hikari describes their vision: “We’ll generate the content, we’ll do the media buying. We’ll eventually generate landing pages using the data that the database we have. We’re going to generate all other customer touch points.”
For B2B founders navigating similar transitions from SMB to enterprise, Omneky’s journey offers valuable lessons:
- Build infrastructure that creates genuine differentiation
- Maintain consistent messaging even when it isn’t resonating
- Focus on building trust through consistent execution
- Use external validation to build credibility
- Consider a balanced market approach rather than abandoning early customers
The key insight? Enterprise sales in emerging technology isn’t just about features or capabilities – it’s about building enough trust to overcome inherent skepticism about new approaches.