Salesfusion CEO on Helping Fellow Marketers and Small Businesses Energize their Campaigns

“The mistake that many of us make is that the technology itself is the key to our success,” says Salesfusion CEO Carol O’Kelley in a resource video on the marketing automation startup’s site. That’s where Salesfusion differs from other software companies — they believe that marketing success comes at the intersection of the right platform, expertise, people, and processes.

Salesfusion helps marketers create, manage and analyze marketing tactics and campaigns through an easy-to-use platform. The startup also provides resources and support beyond the technology to help marketers get their message across in a more effective manner with their do-it-for-me (DIFM) approach.

In this scenario, Salesfusion takes on the campaign’s execution and reporting while freeing up the client to create stellar content. “Everyone at Salesfusion rallies around ensuring our clients achieve their marketing goals. It’s rewarding to bring our resources to bear on their success,” says O’Kelley.

O’Kelley joined as CEO of Salesfusion in 2015 after being attracted to its entrepreneurial environment. From there, she hit the ground running. “It’s critical to be able to adjust course quickly, which is often easier to do in a smaller company.”

“That said, I value solving problems with repeatable processes, and I feel that creating programmatic solutions is often a hallmark for larger enterprises. Salesfusion’s goal is to combine the best of both worlds,” says O’Kelley.

O’Kelley has led Salesfusion in a consultancy model, taking a very personal approach to clients’ projects to set themselves apart from the recent increase in marketing technology offerings. Their human-focused approach, along with an A-team of experienced marketers, helps them stand out.

“As a career marketer, I know first-hand how difficult it is for marketers to earn a seat at the table. Whether it’s ensuring our clients’ marketing automation deployment goes smoothly, or brainstorming approaches to a client’s marketing programs – I’m energized by helping my fellow marketers achieve their goals,” says O’Kelley.

“I hope that my background as a marketer, as someone who has implemented and used a lot of marketing technologies, helps Salesfusion look at projects from the perspective of the customer.”

That marketing background is extensive, with 20 years in leadership positions at startups and enterprises alike — from Oracle to RedPrairie.

Being a female leader in technology has also helped her feel a degree of stewardship and responsibility to help other women thrive in the industry. 

“While I can’t set the standard for an entire industry, I’m certainly in a position to guarantee that one company — the one I’m leading — gets it right. It starts by setting the tone and then it moves into ensuring gender pay equality, which I’m proud to say Salesfusion has achieved,” says O’Kelley. “And on an ongoing basis, the challenge is to ensure both men and women have the opportunity to advance their careers, even during the child-rearing years.”

That commitment to career building and work culture has encouraged the Salesfusion team to innovate their product and continue adding much needed integrations to help marketers’ visualize their data more effectively. Up next, they are adding on an integration with a business intelligence platform.

“Data-driven marketers make better decisions and solidify their positions as business strategists by analyzing  facts and figures. While we have data and reports available today, the BI integration will provide better visualization and analytics with actionable insights,” says O’Kelley.

Along with new product features and developments, O’Kelley believes that growing the company in Atlanta will help it thrive along with the flourishing local tech and marketing scene.

“Salesfusion is a company of dedicated marketers, and because Atlanta has become such a hotbed for sales and marketing technology, the community provides a rich pool of candidates with the expertise we count on,” says O’Kelley.

“Having close proximity with other sales and marketing tech companies also ensures we’re part of the ongoing dialogue of what’s changing in this market – which is key to remaining competitive.”