CEO Spotlight: How This Fractional CMO Makes an Impact for Business Owners by Helping Scale Their Companies Faster and More Cost Effectively

Sheila Kloefkorn has spent nearly three decades using her passion of helping others to assist business owners maximize their success. She has supported her clients in achieving their goals by utilizing her experience to create marketing results that fulfill both short-term and long-term goals.

Kloefkorn has run agency operations for both large and boutique agencies as CMO or VP of Marketing and now serves as CEO and President of KEO Marketing. Her clients include those in the technology, education, construction and human resource industries, among others. She is driven to aid her clients in scaling their companies to the next phase.

“Being able to help clients achieve their goals is why I do what I do. I get the most out of helping other people have their dream lives. For our clients, that can show up as changing an industry, building to a liquidity event, or building a company to provide a legacy for their children,” Kloefkorn said.

When working with clients, it is obvious Kloefkorn keeps in mind what truly matters.

“That process of walking clients through the Fractional CMO offer is very personal to us. We think about their business as if it was ours,” Kloefkorn said. “We specialize in working with mid-market companies who want to get to the next level. If companies don’t have the resources they need to staff a full-house marketing department, it’s my honor, with my team, to step in and bridge the gap. We love the work we do, and it’s a privilege to take our experience and put it to work for good people making a difference with great companies.”

Changing with the Times

Much has changed in the world in recent years, and marketing is no exception. However, Kloefkorn made sure her clients were not left behind when the industry saw a significant shift to digital platforms.

“Marketing continues to change at an exponential rate. The pandemic caused more companies to move their traditional advertising and event budgets online. As a result, digital advertising costs are significantly higher,” Kloefkorn explained.

Despite the rising costs the pandemic forced upon business owners, Kloefkorn’s clients received a marketing team with years of sales specialists in each of KEO Marketing’s areas of expertise at the cost it would have taken to hire a single full-time CMO to facilitate them through the drastic changes. Kloefkorn knows it is important to have expertise beyond just digital marketing to make a business successful, particularly during stressful periods.

“Digital marketing changes and becomes more complicated every day, and it’s often difficult for an organization’s in-house marketer to be an expert in all aspects of marketing. That’s where we come in to act as an extension of their team, augmenting the skills and expertise of your in-house talent,” Kloefkorn said.

Kloefkorn’s passion is evident not only in her work, but that in her team’s, as KEO Marketing strives to make sure each and every client connects with prospective customers.

Businesses go through changes, too

While there are many variables outside of a business’ control changing all around them, the reality is businesses themselves go through changes, too. The KEO Marketing team is there to support their clients every step of the way, which starts by only taking on clients for whom she knows her team can really help.

Sheila Kloefkorn has seen first-hand how business owners are continually facing challenging needs that can easily knock a business off the path of success, even with full time marketing resources. For example, life circumstances like the death of a business partner can result in sweeping adjustments for a business. Such was the case with one of Kloefkorn’s longtime clients, a business owner in his 70s.

When his partner passed away, he decided it was time to sell and spend more time with his family. The KEO Marketing team leapt into action, using the already powerful lead generation system they had built for the company that had been providing profits for more than a decade to increase the value of the business for its upcoming sale.

“We did that, and they grew from a $15 million company to selling the company for nearly $35 million in nine months,” Kloefkorn recalled. “It’s not only about the money. It’s about the ability to make a difference. He was able to take care of his family and his trusted employees. That’s the kind of impact we’re interested in making.”

Her desire to make a difference is the reason Kloefkorn has made the decision to bring back the B2B Fractional Chief Marketing Officer offer. This offer provides Kloefkorn serving as the outsourced head of marketing, while her team enhances the in-house marketing assets.

B2B delivers tangible results with increased brand visibility and leads that a sales team can use to expand revenue. It is the perfect opportunity for medium-sized businesses who are ready to scale their business to a larger level and one of the many ways KEO Marketing works as not only their clients’ outsourced marketing, but their partner.

An Eye on the Future

For Sheila Kloefkorn, part of taking care of her clients means preparing them for the future. She utilizes her knowledge and experience to discover the top tools KEO Marketing can create to best lead their fractional CMO clients to success.

The current answer? AI, or artificial intelligence, which KEO Marketing plans to expand in the next year. AI allows marketers a platform for managing data and provides insight to help make data-driven decisions with how best to serve their clients.

“Nearly every marketing software platform offers an aspect of AI,” Kloefkorn explained. “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, one of many tools that will help our team assist clients in the future.”

About KEO Marketing:

KEO Marketing, an award-winning B2B marketing agency in Phoenix, Arizona, develops marketing strategies and systems that help clients generate significantly more leads and sales. Their Fractional CMO offer enables select companies to leverage senior-level marketing talent and highly trained specialists, to get more for their marketing investment, and reduce stress for business owners and their companies. For more information, please visit https://keomarketing.com.