In this episode of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast, titled The New Rules of B2B Marketing: How to Win with Differentiation and Value, Not Volume, host Kerry Curran welcomes back Tom Shapiro, CEO of Stratabeat and author of Rethink Lead Generation, for a high-impact conversation about what’s no longer working in B2B marketing—and what to do instead.

Tom shares what he’s hearing from CMOs and growth leaders across the industry: the old B2B marketing playbook—built on volume, vanity metrics, and outdated tactics—is dead. Today, differentiation and deep audience understanding are the new non-negotiables.

Together, Kerry and Tom explore the modern marketer’s biggest challenges: cutting through the noise, adapting to evolving buyer behavior, and building strategies that go beyond tactics to deliver lasting revenue impact.

You’ll learn:

• Why deeper ICP research is the foundation of everything—from differentiation to content strategy
• How to use original research to create market-leading content, build thought leadership, and feed your demand gen engine
• What most teams get wrong about SEO—and how to leverage it strategically even as AI reshapes the SERP
• How to identify high-intent website visitors and activate personalized outreach within 24 hours
• The power of CRM win/loss analysis, sales call listening, and real-time behavioral data in shaping smarter campaigns
• Tom also shares how marketers can partner more closely with sales to uncover fresh insights, sharpen messaging, and continuously improve website performance to reflect what truly matters to their buyers.

Whether you're a CMO at a scaling SaaS company or a demand gen leader trying to drive pipeline in a saturated market, this episode delivers practical, proven ways to rethink your strategy, realign with your audience, and win with value—not just volume.

Podcast transcript

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:01.553)
Welcome, Leslie. Please introduce yourself and share your background and expertise.

Leslie Alore (00:08.065)
Hi, Kerry—thank you for having me. I’m Leslie Alore, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Flexera, a B2B SaaS company offering IT and FinOps solutions. Before Flexera, I held growth marketing, lifecycle marketing, and marketing-operations roles at organizations in the private-equity space—like Ivanti—and in the public space, such as Iron Mountain.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:37.209)
Excellent—welcome. We’re excited to have you here. I first met you at B2B MX in Arizona earlier this year, where your presentation on marketing measurement and alignment really resonated. I learned so much and knew it would make a great podcast topic.

You’re deep in B2B marketing and often talk with peers about current challenges. What are you seeing as the biggest issues marketers face today?

Leslie Alore (01:42.862)
One challenge is that we’ve trained business leaders to focus on marketing terms like MQLs, SQLs, and conversion rates—metrics that don’t directly connect to business outcomes. That disconnect makes marketing look separate from driving real impact, even though we’re a commercial, go-to-market function working alongside sales and customer success.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (02:34.790)
So, how can we improve that connection? Where are the gaps?

Leslie Alore (02:51.246)
First, we need to change the way we talk. Discussions about web traffic and MQLs belong in the marketing room. When speaking with business leadership, we should focus on pipeline, bookings, revenue, and smart financial investments—rather than only ROI. Up-leveling the conversation helps everyone see marketing’s impact.

We also have to explain how marketing drives those outcomes. It’s not always a pull-a-lever, dollar-in/dollar-out scenario—it’s nuanced, and that nuance matters.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (04:11.696)
Definitely. The shift from tactic-centric marketing to growth-centric marketing is big—especially now that buying behavior and investment climates have changed. Complex, long-cycle solutions versus transactional ones vary widely. How do you approach measuring brand initiatives or upper-funnel efforts that feel less direct?

Leslie Alore (05:07.822)
Sellers rarely dismiss brand. They want prospects to know who they represent when they connect.

I start by aligning leadership on marketing’s unique value: 1) driving brand perception, 2) driving recurring-revenue growth (or your key revenue metric), and 3) creating great customer experiences that encourage expansion and retention. Once leaders agree marketing supports all three—at scale—we emphasize partnership, not hand-offs, with sales and CS teams.

Marketing’s job is to provide scale and “air cover” in the moments between one-to-one conversations. That framing resonates.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (08:38.278)
Let’s dive into your marketing-contribution model and how it aligns teams around those principles.

Leslie Alore (08:54.434)
Rather than fixating on first-touch or last-touch attribution, the contribution model shows how marketing activities—those that engage specific people—create, progress, and close pipeline.

• Contribution to new pipeline: the total value of opportunities whose contacts engaged with marketing within a set look-back period (e.g., 180 days).
  
  
• Contribution to pipeline progression: the value of open opportunities where engaged contacts advance stages.
  
  
• Contribution to bookings: the value of closed-won deals whose contacts engaged with marketing at any point in the cycle.
  
  

You can then slice the data—new logos vs. cross-sell, partner-sourced vs. seller-created—to understand which campaigns influence creation, progression, or closure. It stops credit debates and focuses on how marketing helps sellers win.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (12:39.238)
Any tips for presenting that data to boards or executives?

Leslie Alore (13:17.304)
Focus on pipeline, bookings, NRR, and GRR—metrics leadership cares about. Behind the scenes, marketers still track campaign-level details, but executives need outcomes. Every marketer should speak that language; it accelerates career growth into CMO or CRO roles.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (14:28.228)
How do you pick the right look-back window for contribution analysis?

Leslie Alore (15:05.708)
Understand your sales and buying cycles. Complex replacements may require six-plus months; transactional cycles need less. Pick a consistent window—my last three organizations use 180 days—and stick to it. Consistency beats “perfect.”

Kerry Curran, RBMA (16:57.178)
Great advice. Beyond pipeline creation, how does contribution vary in different models—enterprise account management, partner-led motions, etc.?

Leslie Alore (17:47.680)
In enterprise account management, sellers know every contact; marketing’s job is air cover and engagement—not sourcing. In partner-led models, marketing drives interest that funnels to partners. Contribution captures that influence, even if marketing isn’t the “source.” That’s good marketing and it must be measured.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (21:20.816)
For listeners ready to start, what foundational steps and data are required?

Leslie Alore (21:33.806)

1. Align on top-level business metrics (pipeline, bookings, retention).
   
   
2. Map how marketing uniquely supports those outcomes.
   
   
3. Ensure you can track:
   
   
• Individual campaign respondents.
  
  
• All contacts on each opportunity.
  Tools like People.ai help automate contact capture; platforms like Full Circle Insights streamline reporting.
  
  

With those links in place, you can report contribution.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (23:36.550)
Any final advice?

Leslie Alore (23:43.992)
Speak leadership’s language first. Nail the business context, then introduce the measurement model. Consistently connect marketing’s activity to pipeline, bookings, and retention, and you’ll elevate the entire function.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (24:33.146)
Brilliant. How can listeners find you?

Leslie Alore (24:41.518)
Connect with me on LinkedIn and include a brief note—I’m always happy to discuss marketing contribution and alignment.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (25:10.086)
Thank you, Leslie—this was incredibly insightful. Talk soon!

Leslie Alore (25:23.554)
Thanks, Kerry.

Thanks for tuning in to Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. If today’s episode sparked an idea or gave you something actionable, follow, rate, and review the show—it helps us grow and keep bringing expert strategies to marketers like you.

I’m Kerry Curran, reminding you that real growth happens when marketing leads with purpose and revenue in mind. For more insights, visit revenuebasedmarketing.com. See you soon.