The New Rules of B2B Marketing: How to Win with Differentiation and Value, Not Volume

Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast

“Deeper ICP understanding solves 99% of your marketing problems—including differentiation. Most B2B teams just scratch the surface with outdated personas and miss the real insights that drive action. When you truly understand your audience—their pain points, their priorities, and what keeps them up at night, you unlock messaging that resonates, content that converts, and positioning your competitors can’t copy.” That’s a quote from Tom Shapiro and a sneak peek at today’s episode.

Hi there, I’m Kerry Curran, Revenue Strategist and host of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. Each week, I bring you sharp insights and expert strategies to turn marketing into a true growth engine. If you’re focused on results, follow the show and leave a quick rating or review to help more marketers discover the boost they need.

B2B buyers have changed, but too many marketing strategies haven’t. In The New Rules of B2B Marketing: How to Win with Differentiation and Value, Not Volume, I sat down with Tom Shapiro—CEO of Stratabeat and author of Rethink Lead Generation.

Tom and I unpack why the traditional playbook of high-volume tactics no longer works, and what top-performing brands are doing instead.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why meaningful differentiation is your most underused growth lever
  
• How deeper ICP research can solve 99% of your marketing challenges
  
• The real role of SEO today—and how to align your content, website, and outreach to deliver value, not noise

Be sure to stay tuned until the end, where Tom shares how to improve your B2B marketing today—without spending a dollar more.

So if you’re ready to stand out in a sea of sameness and drive smarter growth, this episode is for you. Let’s go!

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:01.539)
So, welcome, Tom. Please introduce yourself and share your background and expertise.

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (00:07.512)
Sure—thanks, Kerry. Great to be here. I’m Tom Shapiro, CEO and founder of Stratabeat, an organic-growth agency for B2B technology and SaaS companies. We provide SEO, content strategy, content development, content marketing, web design, and conversion-optimization services. I’ve been in marketing since 1994—several years before Google existed—and I’ve written several books along the way. My latest is Rethink Lead Generation, which covers the most effective ways to generate leads for maximum results.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:52.195)
Excellent—thanks, Tom. This is your second time on, and you always share great, actionable recommendations, so I’m excited to dive in. In your role you speak with many B2B and SaaS CMOs. What themes or challenges are you hearing from them today?

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (01:20.854)
A common theme is that what worked years ago no longer does—the old B2B marketing playbook isn’t as effective. They’re asking how to pivot for success. We see highly effective tactics many companies aren’t leaning into—and one underlying factor that changes everything but is often overlooked.

For example, original research—not as a one-off, but as a series you own quarterly or annually—delivers unique value your competitors can’t touch. Another overlooked tactic is website-visitor identification combined with timely outreach. If you can see your ICP on your site, understand what topics and products they viewed, and reach out within 24 hours, that hyper-personalized approach is incredibly powerful.

Ultimately, success comes from deeply understanding your audience and delivering overwhelming value, not gaming isolated tactics.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (03:49.732)
Right—the landscape has changed. From roughly 2010–2022, SaaS was driven by huge investment and “spend to acquire,” but market conditions and buyer behavior shifted. Tactics focused solely on tech stacks or hiring more BDRs no longer move the needle.

Given today’s sea of sameness, where many products look alike, how do companies zero in on—and articulate—true differentiation?

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (06:03.852)
Many markets are oversaturated. We worked with a $200-million software company; six marketers joined our call, yet none could articulate clear differentiation. Someone finally said, “We’ve been around the longest.” That provides zero customer value—and can even sound like stagnation.

The answer: deeper ICP understanding. When you truly know your audience’s pain points—what keeps them up Sunday night—you can uncover differentiation that resonates. Claiming “we use AI” or “we’re oldest” means nothing without tying it to customer benefit.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (08:05.986)
Agreed. So how do brands actually gain that deeper ICP insight?

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (09:19.030)
Most teams barely scratch the surface—dusty personas on a server aren’t enough. Start by talking regularly with actual customers and sales teams; listen to sales-call recordings monthly at minimum. Review sales decks and gather feedback on how prospects react.

Use your CRM for win–loss analysis, social listening, surveys, and on-site behavioral analysis. We often listen to 20 hours of recorded calls for a new client—gold they’ve never mined.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (11:51.222)
Great points—social listening, NPS feedback, even Reddit threads can reveal unexpected insights. For websites especially, how do you close the gap between buyer pain points and on-page messaging?

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (14:14.210)
Marry sales and marketing via CRM win–loss analysis—weekly if possible. Identify why deals close or stall, then update or create site content to answer those concerns. Your goal: prospects visit your site and immediately feel, “This partner knows my challenges and can solve them.”

Kerry Curran, RBMA (16:03.595)
So—is SEO dead?

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (16:11.010)
Not at all. Critics point to HubSpot losing 80 % of organic blog traffic—but much of that content was off-topic “famous quotes.” HubSpot’s core pages didn’t dip.

Stratabeat more than doubled organic traffic last year, with record-breaking organic leads in Q1. SEO works when you provide overwhelming value—often through original research that fuels reports, blogs, webinars, and sales conversations.

Studies claiming AI Overviews dominate 60–80 % of searches are generic. In our study of 300 B2B SaaS firms, AI Overviews appeared for just 18 % of their page-one keywords. The top 10 % performers—those doubling or tripling traffic—actually faced more AI Overview competition yet still crushed results. So focus on your own data and audience.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:04.363)
Exactly—measure the right KPIs across the full buying cycle. For listeners ready to improve, where should they start?

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (22:17.954)
First, deepen ICP insight:

• Meet with sales monthly or quarterly.
  
• Listen to sales-call recordings regularly.
  
• Conduct CRM win–loss analysis every month.
  
• Talk to customers frequently—not annually.
  

Second, implement daily website-visitor identification and follow-up. If your ICP visits, reach out within one business day with personalized value. Both initiatives cost little but massively boost results.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (25:16.085)
Fantastic. How can people find you?

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (25:22.574)
Visit Stratabeat.com, connect with me on LinkedIn, or grab my book Rethink Lead Generation on Amazon.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (25:45.889)
I’ll include those links in the show notes. Thanks so much, Tom—always great having you here.

Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat (25:55.073)
Thank you, Kerry.

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

I’m Kerry Curran, reminding you that real growth happens when marketing leads with purpose—and with revenue in mind.

For more advice, visit revenuebasedmarketing.com. I hope to see you soon.

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