50 Most Admired Companies of the Year 2021
The Silicon Review
“At KEO Marketing, we focus on what really matters to our clients. The process is very personal to us.”
The Business-to-Business (B2B) landscape has undergone a subtle yet substantial transformation over the years, and to succeed, B2B brands must go digital. The rise of the internet and social media has had a dramatic impact on how companies can reach qualitied buyers. Not only has the B2B buyer changed, but the B2B buying process has changed significantly too. Digital marketing allows better targeting and personalization so that companies can reach the right prospects at the right time and add more value. Successful B2B companies leverage digital marketing to provide online experiences that not only capture the attention potential and existing clients, but nurture them through the sales funnel and convert them into buyers and even evangelists for the brand.
KEO Marketing Inc. is a full service, award-winning, B2B marketing agency that helps companies succeed with digital and traditional marketing. Some of the world’s largest brands have depended on KEO Marketing for marketing programs that deliver tangible and substantial results. The company is the fractional CMO and outsource marketing team for cost conscious companies who want outstanding results. KEO Marketing specializes in brand positioning and messaging, inbound and outbound marketing, content marketing, digital advertising, search engine optimization, website development, sales support, and much more.
KEO Marketing was founded in 2000 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Interview Excerpt: Sheila Kloefkorn
Rewind: How It All Started
KEO Marketing was founded by Sheila Kloefkorn, who serves as the company’s President and CEO. She previously led a much larger B2C agency during the dot-com boom and burst in the late 1990s. From those experiences, she was convinced that online marketing was the future.
“I placed one of the first digital ads on GoTo, which Yahoo purchased and later became an inspiration for Google Ads. At that time, I saw the future potential of what became search engine optimization (SEO).”
“I am passionate about helping business leaders and entrepreneurs take advantage of technology, particularly advances in technology, to do what they do more efficiently and with significantly better results.”
Over the past 21 years, KEO Marketing has helped hundreds of businesses scale and exceed their marketing and sales results. Ms. Kloefkorn has built the agency from a solo fractional CMO in the first few years to now serving as a fractional Chief Marketing Officer with an agency team of specialists to help companies achieve their goals faster and more consistently than they were before.
Addressing Customers’ Pain Points: The Right Way
Digital marketing changes and becomes more complicated every day. It is often difficult for an organization’s in-house marketers to be an expert in all aspects of marketing. That is where KEO Marketing comes in to support and be an extension of the client’s team. This enables the company to leverage senior-level marketing talent (highly trained specialists) for about the same cost as hiring a VP or Head of Marketing. Instead of hiring one leader, you get that leader part-time and a whole team to support your marketing and sales support efforts. It helps cost-conscious companies leverage the marketing talent, strategy, and execution of much a larger company without the big company marketing budget. As a result, you get significantly better leads and sales results for less investment.
KEO Marketing’s business model is unique for a reason: “We think of ourselves as strategic partners who are a full extension of the client’s team. We only take on clients for whom we believe we can make a significant difference. For select clients, I am their outsourced head of marketing, serving as their Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, and our team augments their in-house marketing resources.”
“Most of our clients have been with us for two to 12 years because our marketing programs are reliable and constantly updated based on changes in the marketplace. We specialize in working with mid-market companies that want to get to the next level. Also, with companies who don’t have the budget to staff a full in-house marketing department.”
Team of Experts
The KEO Marketing team of experts focuses on constant learning and advancing client results. They set the bar high and are excited to pass that bar daily. They love marketing, and most importantly, they love making a difference in their clients’ lives.
“I am immensely proud of our team at KEO Marketing. We love what we do, and we are incredibly energized by our clients’ success. Each of us is a marketing or sales specialist with many years of training in our areas of expertise, whether digital advertising, content marketing, email marketing, social media, web development, business intelligence and analytics, sales enablement, and more.”
Client Testimonials
KEO often works with business owners who have shifting needs for their businesses.
“We often work with business owners who have shifting needs for their businesses. One owner, in his 70s, experienced the death of a business partner. As a result of the change in the operating agreement, the remaining partner wanted to sell the business. We had built a powerful lead generation system for the company over the prior 10 years. We were asked to our marketing system into overdrive to increase the value of the business. We did that and they went from a $15 million company to a $35 million company in nine months. He was able to take care of his family and his trusted employees. At KEO Marketing, we focus on what really matters to our clients. The process is very personal to us.”
“Another client, based in Israel, wanted to set up operations in the United States. They needed to get the word out about their new and innovative 3D printing product very quickly. We implemented a targeted outbound marketing program for them and drove more than 100 qualified leads in less than two months. Sales from that campaign results in millions of dollars in sales.”
Future Arrangements
Currently, KEO Marketing is continuing to leverage artificial intelligence technology. Nearly every marketing software offers an aspect of AI; personalization is an extension of that. Every ad, piece of content, and interaction is moving toward personalization. To do this at scale requires software and AI.
“Apart from that, I continue to be very excited about the work that our team is doing to help clients achieve and surpass their goals. So as long as we can keep doing that at a very high level, we’ll continue.”
The Leader Upfront
Sheila Kloefkorn is the president and Chief Executive Officer of KEO Marketing Inc. She is a business and marketing expert with nearly 30 years of experience. As a fractional CMO, Sheila helps companies increase leads and revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition, she leads a talented team of marketers in creating and executing award-winning campaigns worldwide.
Sheila is the recipient of many local and national marketing awards. She was recently named one of the ‘Top 10 Business Leaders of the Year’ and ‘Top 25 Dynamic Women in Business’ by the Phoenix Business Journal, A Top 20 CEO by CEO Magazine, and one of 15 Arizonans to Watch by the Arizona Republic. On behalf of her company and clients, she has received several Stevie® American Business Awards for ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’, and a Stevie Worldwide Women in Business Award in Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations. In 2021, she was named a Top 100 Marketing and Advertising leader by MARsum.
Ms. Kloefkorn is a certified business coach and frequent national and local speaker on various marketing, business, and diversity topics.