Marketing Impact Unlocked: Prove, Scale, and Strengthen Revenue Contribution

Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast

“We need to stop forcing marketing metrics on the business—MQLs, click-through rates, web traffic—and start speaking the language of pipeline, bookings, and revenue. When marketers align their reporting with what the executive team actually cares about, they stop defending their existence and start leading the growth conversation.” That’s a quote from Leslie Alore and a sneak peek at today’s episode.

Hi there, I’m Kerry Curran—Revenue Growth Consultant, Industry Analyst, and host of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. Every episode, I sit down with top experts to bring you actionable strategies that drive real results. If you’re serious about growth, hit subscribe and stay ahead of your competition.

In Marketing Impact Unlocked: Prove, Scale, and Strengthen Revenue Contribution, we’re unlocking marketing impact with Leslie Alore, SVP of Marketing at Flexera.

If you’re tired of defending MQLs and want to start proving real business value, this episode is for you. Leslie breaks down how to align marketing with what your executive team actually cares about—pipeline, bookings, and growth.

You’ll learn how to build a contribution model, earn executive trust, and scale marketing’s influence across the full customer lifecycle.

Stay tuned until the end, where Leslie shares how to flip the script—from proving marketing’s value to collaborating on shared outcomes.

Let’s go!

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.

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