Building a CMO+ Mindset for Modern Marketing With Catherine Solazzo

About Guest

Catherine Solazzo is the Chief Marketing Officer at Appfire, a leading provider of software applications that help developers optimize their efficiency on platforms like Jira, Salesforce, and monday.com. With over 20 years of experience in marketing and digital transformation, Catherine has led high-performing teams at global tech giants and was recently recognized on the CRN Women of the Channel 2026 list. Under her marketing leadership, Appfire reaches over a million users every quarter through its technical documentation site.

In this episode…

Marketing today goes beyond just awareness, demand generation, or a polished campaign. It extends into the product experience, customer feedback, partner enablement, and every handoff that shapes revenue. So what does it really take to build a modern CMO mindset?

According to Catherine Solazzo, a seasoned marketing leader with deep experience across developer ecosystems, the answer lies in thinking beyond the traditional marketing boundaries. She explains that elements like technical documentation, release notes, product pages, partner programs, and customer feedback are not secondary functions; they are critical touchpoints that help buyers understand, adopt, and expand with a product. Catherine emphasizes that by taking ownership of this entire journey, marketing teams can move faster, use data more effectively, and create a more cohesive go-to-market motion.

In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz is joined by Catherine Solazzo, Chief Marketing Officer at Appfire, to discuss building a CMO mindset for modern marketing. Catherine explains the CMO+ model, how to align product and marketing, and why demand generation should go beyond lead volume. She also shares advice on partner enablement and creating repeatable operating models.

A glimpse of what you will learn

• [01:16] Catherine Solazzo’s unique path to CMO success and using her communications expertise to lead in marketing
• [05:52] How aligning marketing and product can drive stronger demand generation and enhance customer engagement
• [06:55] How real-time analytics close the feedback loop, helping inform both product development and marketing strategies
• [13:30] Strategies for maximizing value from your install base and increasing revenue with existing customers
• [15:32] Catherine explains how to avoid common mistakes in SaaS partner incentive programs and better align partner value
• [28:32] The importance of evaluating paid media performance and why it should go beyond just leads and clicks
• [30:55] Why enablement will be the key growth driver for 2026, surpassing AI by empowering teams and partners

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Alex Gluz on LinkedIn
• T.A. Monroe Digital Agency
• Catherine Solazzo on LinkedIn
• Appfire
• Jira
• Salesforce
• Monday.com
• Atlassian

Quotable Moments

• “It has been the core competency that I'm able to bring with me to every role.”
• “The earlier they bring in the product marketing team, the better chance we have of deploying good messaging.”
• “We have to be working so incredibly fast and smart using all of the assisted intelligence.”
• “The way we structure our program framework, our benefits, our incentives have to align.”
• “I have built up my own repository of assets that help me quickly adapt to change.”

Action Steps

1. Bring marketing closer to product: Involving product marketing early helps teams build stronger messaging, target the right audiences, and prepare launches more effectively.
2. Treat content as part of the product experience: Creating useful content across the full customer journey helps buyers get answers faster and improves adoption after the sale.
3. Evaluate campaigns beyond lead volume: Looking at trials, demos, conversions, and paid customers gives teams a clearer picture of what is actually driving revenue.
4. Strengthen feedback loops across revenue teams: Sharing lead quality insights, customer objections, and campaign learnings helps sales, marketing, and CX make better decisions together.
5. Make enablement easier for partners and sales teams: Giving customer-facing teams updated, easy-to-use content helps them communicate consistently and respond faster to market changes.

Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by T.A. Monroe Digital. At T.A. Monroe, we build world class revenue engines for B2B SaaS companies. What that means is we do everything behind the scenes to generate you tons of qualified leads, opportunities and customers.

1. We build highly effective marketing systems and scale their profitably through our demand generation strategies.
2. We think scientifically on how to scale your demand and revenue.
3. We bring decades of experience.

Email us at alex@tamonroe.com or visit www.tamonroe.com today to schedule a strategy session or learn more about our mission.

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