Marketing is not the same for all professionals. For many, it is about branding, and for some, marketing is fraught with something. As CMO at Keepit, Michele Hayes thinks differently. She considers marketing as a messenger for the customer’s voice. “Trust and thought leadership are what the Keepit brand is about,” she remarks. She has always felt that her role is to advocate for the customer as they navigate their cloud and data journey.
With the Geopolitically tension-filled environment, Michele acknowledges, “that isn’t an easy task.” Concurrently, technology is evolving, and AI is on the rise. She sees this as a clear call for the industry to pay attention. Data protection and digital resilience are no longer static needs. They are shifting under the weight of automation, compliance regulations, and growing demands for digital sovereignty.
Michele has also observed a change in market expectations. Enterprises are now seeking companies that can provide guidance in their risk mitigation strategies. It is much more than simply delivering products.
EU-born Keepit is expanding its global reach. Thus, staying ahead of the regulatory tide is the need of the hour. Michele’s formula? Leveraging an outside-in research approach to offer best practices and perspicuity. It means weaving together the insights of their customers, as well as those of industry analysts. As a result, Keepit’s credibility in the market is established, reassuring clients that their needs are understood at every stage of their digital evolution.
Marketing With Soul
It all started early in her career. As Michele puts it, “I was shown the value of the channel.” It influenced everything she does. The special skills are evident in how she markets solutions, especially when building a brand in an emerging company. For her, it has never been a quick-fix formula for leads. Across generations of marketing, what she nurtures is a culture of relevance. It propels her to ensure that her team members understand the “who”, the “how”, and most importantly, the “why” to find more creative ways to engage.
Keepit: Cloud-Native Data Protection with Global Reach
Michele remarks, “Keepit provides a next-level SaaS data protection platform purpose-built for the cloud.” Securing data in a vendor-independent cloud protects essential business applications, strengthens cyber resilience, and future-proofs your data. Its unique, separate, and immutable storage with no sub-processors ensures compliance with local regulations, reduces the impact of ransomware, and keeps data accessible at all times. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Keepit has offices and data centers worldwide. More than 18,000 companies rely on the platform for easy, effortless backup and recovery of cloud data.
According to Michele, the platform safeguards all key SaaS applications, from Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra ID, and Salesforce to Google Workspace, Azure DevOps, Power BI, Dynamics 365, and Zendesk. It also currently protects Jira, Confluence, and Okta. Since Keepit allows proper third-party backup in an independent cloud, companies can rest assured. Their data is protected. Keepit scales seamlessly with business growth, purpose-built for SaaS to ensure smooth protection across applications. As the only cloud-native platform storing backups in a proprietary, vendor-independent cloud with no sub-processors, recovery is fast, precise, and granular. Its unique architecture keeps data immutable and air-gapped, while setup takes just minutes with minimal training or resources.
Its CMO points out that Keepit meets demanding regulatory standards, including ISO/IEC 27001 for information security, SAE 3402-II, which is audited annually by Deloitte, and SOC 2 Type I attestation for internal controls related to security, availability, confidentiality, and privacy.
The Keepit platform also meets the growing demand for cost-effective solutions to protect business-critical data. It does so by offering a simple per-seat pricing structure. Additional costs or hidden fees? There are none! Michele highlights, “You receive unlimited and always hot storage.” With data centers in seven regions, Keepit ensures sovereignty, compliance, and peace of mind.
Michele emphasizes, “Keepit fully incorporates inclusivity and representation in all of our marketing strategies.” It demonstrates that the brand’s commitment is not limited to technological excellence. It is also toward people-centered leadership. More insights and customer success stories are available at Keepit Customers and on the Keepit blog.
Keep(ing)it Up with Fast-paced Tech Domain!
“Keepit is in a growth mode,” its CMO notes. So, there is no pause button. Michele’s team is constantly juggling the priorities of their sellers. Rather than being a micromanager, Michele believes in creating breathing room for her team. The purpose is to let them test, stretch, and shine. In her role, her day-to-day responsibilities primarily revolve around ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Additionally, she empowers her team to drive Keepit’s strategy and execute what its sellers and, ultimately, its customers need. On a day-to-day basis, she is measured by how well she creates new opportunities for her sales team.
The Credibility Indicator
The Keepit marketing team is measured on SQLs, qualified sales opportunities, that are part of a seller’s forecast. They don’t just look at a qualified lead. They vet it as a live shot, and the seller will actually work. It is a high bar, Michele notes, but it establishes a strong relationship between the sales and marketing teams. Not only that, but everything is tracked, underscoring the significant impact the marketing team has on the sales process.
Overcoming a Major Hurdle
The “Covid Blip” created a sweeping shift in most marketers’ careers. Michele’s professional journey is no different. It changed their ways of doing events and engaging with clients. With a nostalgic smile, she recalls the fist bumps and elbow “hugs.” The pandemic created new drivers of engagement, such as QR codes. An advanced system that has evolved today’s digital engagement strategy. The key takeaway, Michele observes, is how it also spurred “experience” marketing. Something that takes people out of the event and creates a unique engagement.
When asked how she approaches translating complex SaaS solutions into accessible marketing campaigns, this seasoned expert responds with thoughtful rigor. Michele has grappled with how global data compliance and sovereignty have created a global issue that transcends geography. Instead of resisting the challenge, they have adapted processes to deliver in the Keepit way. With a nimble, problem-solving approach, Campaigns are specifically designed to address the challenges their customers are facing.
Achievement that Stands Out
That one professional achievement that has been most meaningful to her is becoming a team leader. It did more than match her collaborative groove; it provided the structure to develop it further. Michele shares her fascination for the educational element of marketing and how it is constantly evolving. As a team leader, the veteran leaves no curiosity unexplored. She is always eager to inspire her teams to learn new things, stay creative, and be relevant. To Michele, leadership is not about control. It is about presence. Something that requires resilience, remaining steady when outcomes don’t go as planned.
The Human Algorithm of Balancing
Balancing strategic leadership with creative execution. Tough, yes. Impossible? No. Michele proves it in the 5 a.m. calls and midnight brainstorms. Keepit is a global company with Danish roots that is growing in new markets, particularly in the US. As a Californian, this not only requires an early start to her days. Equally important is her understanding of the sensitivities across a tense geopolitical environment.
Michele credits her team for making resilience feel simple. It creatively bridges the security and compliance requirements of Keepit’s target customers. This approach enables clients to see for themselves that they understand how the company will protect their critical data in the event of an intentional or unintentional cyber incident. “Regardless of the time zone,” Michele shares, “my team is fully collaborative and empowered to execute our strategies.”
The Advice for Rising Leaders
For emerging marketing professionals seeking to lead in the SaaS or cybersecurity space, Michele offers practical, hard-earned wisdom. She urges them to take courses and understand the role of AI in marketing. Being a progressive mind, Michele is aware of what’s brewing in the digital sphere. “I know people are concerned it will take jobs,” Michele reassures, “but it will be an enabler and an optimizer.” For many, it may be a confusing technology, and this industry leader demystifies that. Rather than downplaying its consequences, she educates marketers about it. She firmly believes that AI integration at scale will change how people do business over the next few years. Michele closes with a reminder, saying, “Marketers need to stay ahead of it.”
The Continuum Legacy
For Michele, legacy means what lasts, how people are inspired, what they choose to honor, and what they pick to pass on to others. Thus, her contributions extend beyond the day-to-day and quarterly goals. They lie in the trail of change she blazes, in how teams adapt, how the industry evolves, and how the profession grows more attuned to the future it must serve.
She hopes her team will continue to find ways to make an impact through their creativity, enthusiasm, and desire to reach and ultimately help customers. In her words: “I wish for my legacy to be that my team marketers have fun in the exploration of outreach. ” She also wants her teams to understand their value. Michele knows that marketing isn’t an easy job. But doing it well is all that matters. To her, people who truly love it, who continue to learn and thrive, are truly a unique breed.