Executive review for Mary Rusnak and CECO Environmental

Mary, the case for retaining SQRD is straightforward: preserve a proven operating partner, keep momentum intact, and accelerate Profire's next stage of growth.

This is not a case for continuity based on history alone. It is a case for continuity based on accumulated market fluency, measurable demand generation, and a forward-looking growth agenda that is already mapped. In a technical industrial category like Profire's, replacing an incumbent partner typically creates a relearning curve. Retaining SQRD allows CECO to inherit progress instead.

Executive summary

The recommendation is simple: keep the partner that already knows the market, already has a working engine, and already has the next growth plays mapped.

For a global marketing leader reviewing a recently acquired business, the question is not whether a new agency could eventually learn the category. The question is whether CECO benefits more from continuity, speed, and proven context right now. This page makes that case in five points.

1
SQRD already understands Profire’s niche. Years of category familiarity mean less relearning, sharper messaging, and faster execution in a technical industrial market.
2
The performance record shows business-relevant growth. Recent years reflect meaningful gains in sessions, MQLs, and SQLs — not just marketing activity, but qualified demand contribution.
3
The future roadmap is already defined. Refinery ABM, vertical expansion, site assessments, and awareness concepts are already identified and can be prioritized quickly.
4
Continuity reduces post-acquisition risk. Keeping SQRD preserves institutional knowledge and avoids the drag that typically comes with agency transition during sensitive integration periods.
5
SQRD may be useful beyond Profire. Its strategy, web, automation, and demand generation capabilities could also support other CECO portfolio companies where growth systems need strengthening.
Headline takeaway
Keep momentum.
Replacing SQRD would not create a clean handoff. It would create a relearning curve.
2025 snapshot
98,856
Sessions, alongside 2,156 MQLs and 888 SQLs in the KPI slice highlighted throughout this page.
Strategic posture
Ready now.
The value of continuity is that strategy does not need to wait for a new agency to catch up before it can launch.
The strategic thesis

SQRD already understands Profire's market, message, motion, and momentum. That is exactly the kind of advantage a new parent company should protect — not reset.

Over nearly a decade, SQRD has developed working knowledge of Profire's audience, vertical opportunities, campaign history, and revenue priorities. That knowledge is not theoretical. It shows up in qualified demand performance and in the caliber of the next-stage campaign concepts now available to launch.

2025 Sessions
0
Up 372.5% vs. 2022 baseline
2025 MQLs
0
Up 97.6% vs. 2022 baseline
2025 SQLs
0
Up 178.4% vs. 2022 baseline
SQL to MQL Rate
41.2%
Evidence of qualified pipeline orientation

Sessions trend

Traffic growth built over time rather than through a short-term spike.

Lead quality signal

SQL volume scaled materially while qualification remained meaningful.
What CECO keeps by retaining SQRD
Institutional knowledge already embedded
SQRD understands Profire's industrial buyer language, application context, and category-specific go-to-market realities.
Performance infrastructure already operating
The current system has produced measurable gains in sessions, MQLs, and SQLs rather than merely generating activity.
A forward roadmap already built
SQRD has already identified actionable growth opportunities across refinery ABM, vertical expansion, site assessments, and awareness plays.
Lower risk during a sensitive transition
Post-acquisition periods reward continuity. Replacing accumulated context introduces avoidable drag at exactly the wrong moment.
Executive takeaway: Mary, keeping SQRD means CECO can step into an already-functioning growth engine rather than pause to rebuild one.
Section 1 • Measurable proof

A performance record that supports the case for continuity.

This KPI slice focuses on business-relevant outcomes: sessions, marketing-qualified leads, and sales-qualified leads. It is only one portion of the broader story, but it still shows a pattern leadership should care about: SQRD has helped build sustained digital growth that matured into qualified pipeline contribution.

Animated trendline
Sessions increased from 20,922 in 2022 to 98,856 in 2025.
Animated trendline
SQLs increased from 319 in 2022 to 888 in 2025.
Delta
+77,934
Additional annual sessions from 2022 to 2025.
Delta
+1,065
Additional annual MQLs from 2022 to 2025.
Delta
+569
Additional annual SQLs from 2022 to 2025.
Interpretation
Not just more activity — more sales-relevant output.
That is the difference between a marketing vendor and a growth partner.
Performance table
Year Sessions MQLs SQLs MQL Rate SQL Rate SQL / MQL
202220,9221,0913195.2%1.5%29.2%
202362,5551,0594921.7%0.8%46.5%
202490,4452,0597672.3%0.8%37.3%
202598,8562,1568882.2%0.9%41.2%
What the data says

The operating record suggests SQRD already understands how Profire wins demand in a complex industrial niche.

Industrial performance rarely improves through generic playbooks. It improves when the team understands the buyer, the application, the message hierarchy, the commercial constraints, and the path from awareness to qualified interest. That accumulated understanding is exactly what CECO can preserve by retaining SQRD.

4.7x
Sessions multiple from 2022 to 2025
2.0x
MQL multiple from 2022 to 2025
2.8x
SQL multiple from 2022 to 2025
Growth tied to outcomes
Sales-aware lead generation
Industrial-market message fluency
Execution that compounds over time
Section 2 • Why SQRD

What SQRD knows that a replacement agency would have to spend months rebuilding.

In technical B2B and industrial environments, agency changes almost always come with hidden costs: slower launches, flatter messaging, longer approvals, and weaker context for demand generation. SQRD starts where a replacement agency would hope to get after an extended onboarding cycle.

01

Audience and vertical fluency

SQRD already understands the segments Profire serves, the buyer roles involved, and the difference between generic category messaging and language that actually resonates with technical operators and commercial decision-makers.

02

Operating knowledge of Profire

Years of partnership create useful context: product familiarity, prior campaign learning, internal process awareness, and a stronger understanding of what sales teams need from marketing to convert attention into opportunity.

03

Immediate strategic momentum

SQRD is not starting with general discovery. It already has a defined set of growth concepts mapped to refinery expansion, non-oil-and-gas verticals, demand-capture offers, and targeted awareness plays.

Section 3 • Growth concepts

A more visual view of the opportunities already identified for Profire's next phase.

The point of these concepts is not just creativity. It is readiness. Each idea reflects a practical, market-aware route to growth that builds on Profire's strengths and on SQRD's understanding of where qualified demand can be created next.

Refinery account growth

Account-based marketing for refineries

Profire already has credibility in downstream oil and gas and has seen success with major refinery customers. That makes refinery expansion a logical place to pursue concentrated growth without leaning more heavily into custom one-off business.

  • Build target-account and buying-role lists across top U.S. refineries.
  • Launch LinkedIn audience-based campaigns against prioritized accounts.
  • Use direct mail and role-specific landing pages to improve account penetration.
  • Support sales with structured automated follow-up and outreach workflows.
Increase revenue from legacy oil & gas Expand in proven customer profile
Vertical diversification

Industry and sub-industry content buildout

Profire's relevance extends beyond oil and gas. A deeper vertical-content system would help the brand capture demand in adjacent applications while diversifying revenue streams and improving discoverability among non-traditional buyers.

  • Expand industry and sub-industry page architecture with deeper relevance.
  • Create gated assets tailored to technical use cases and operator pain points.
  • Support the content system with long-tail paid search in niche, lower-competition terms.
  • Strengthen site structure around application-specific discovery paths.
Increase non-oil & gas revenue Strengthen organic and paid intent capture
High-intent demand capture

No-cost site assessment program

A no-cost combustion audit lowers the barrier to engagement for operators with legacy systems and can create a pipeline of near-ready opportunities. It gives Profire a compelling reason to enter accounts with immediate commercial intent.

  • Launch geofenced campaigns around clustered regional sprint weeks.
  • Create urgency-driven landing pages and qualification logic tied to site profile.
  • Prioritize leads by facility size, equipment age, and fit for upgrades.
  • Use automated follow-up sequences to move evaluations toward quotes.
Increase revenue from existing customers Generate ready-to-buy pipeline
Strategic awareness play

“Big swing” — Landman collaboration concept

This is a high-visibility brand move designed to increase awareness among core oilfield personas and reinforce Profire's authority in the field. The strategic value is less about novelty and more about relevance, memorability, and concentrated audience resonance.

  • Pursue product placement or environmental branding within a field setting.
  • Support the program with recurring season-based advertising.
  • Create a Permian Basin VIP event around key target accounts.
  • Use the campaign to amplify both awareness and ABM engagement.
Increase revenue from top existing customers Raise profile in core field markets
Visual opportunity map

How the concepts ladder up strategically

Protect and deepen existing strength

Refinery ABM and site-assessment offers focus on areas where Profire can drive more revenue with high commercial relevance and stronger sales alignment.

Diversify growth sources

Industry and sub-industry content expansion positions Profire to capture qualified demand outside legacy oil and gas, improving resilience over time.

Increase strategic visibility

The Landman concept acts as a brand amplifier inside a culturally relevant context for core field personas, helping Profire become more memorable where it matters.

Concept visualization

ABM
Refineries

High-fit account targeting where credibility already exists and expansion can be focused.

1
Content
New Verticals

Application-led content paths that help Profire earn discovery beyond traditional industry boundaries.

2
Demand Capture
Site Assessments

A lower-friction entry offer designed to surface near-term upgrade opportunities.

3
Awareness
Landman

A bold visibility play that can reinforce field credibility and support high-value relationship marketing.

4
Practical activation path

What CECO gains immediately by retaining SQRD

These concepts are not abstract thought exercises. They can be turned into a prioritized activation plan quickly because the market logic, content angles, audience assumptions, and execution approaches are already in place. That is the commercial value of continuity: strategy becomes launchable faster.

Phase 1

Preserve momentum

Keep the current operating context intact and avoid a reset in learning, approvals, and campaign continuity.

Phase 2

Prioritize initiatives

Select the highest-confidence plays across refinery ABM, vertical content, and demand-capture offers.

Phase 3

Launch fast

Move from strategy to execution quickly because the core message, audience, and site context are already understood.

Phase 4

Scale what works

Optimize based on performance and expand the most effective plays into broader market segments and account groups.

Section 4 • CECO portfolio opportunity

How SQRD could support other CECO portfolio companies beyond Profire.

While this microsite focuses on Profire Energy, the operating capabilities behind the work extend much further. SQRD is built to help companies generate leads, create qualified pipeline, strengthen digital infrastructure, and improve go-to-market execution. That makes this relationship potentially valuable not just for Profire, but for other CECO portfolio companies that need a more performance-oriented marketing partner.

A practical CECO-level upside

Mary, if there are other CECO companies where stronger demand generation, sharper positioning, better web infrastructure, or more coordinated revenue marketing could unlock growth, SQRD would welcome the opportunity to help. The goal is not to sell “marketing.” The goal is to build systems that produce leads, opportunities, and sales.

01

Marketing Strategy

Strategic planning that aligns messaging, channels, and buyer behavior to business growth.

  • Buyer persona development
  • Buyer journey mapping
  • Target market planning
  • Baseline and ongoing analytics
02

Web Design & Development

Digital infrastructure built to support marketing, automation, and lead generation.

  • Front-end and back-end development
  • CMS implementation
  • Database and reporting integrations
  • Go-live planning and launch support
03

Messaging & Identity

Clear value communication that helps technical businesses explain why they matter.

  • Identity refinement
  • Content review
  • Messaging refinement
  • Cross-channel message implementation
04

Automation & Lead Infrastructure

Systems that convert attention into measurable pipeline and more qualified follow-up.

  • Automation platform implementation
  • Campaign and template creation
  • Segmentation and lead scoring
  • Landing pages and gated content
05

Demand Generation Channels

Coordinated execution across the channels that actually drive leads and sales.

  • Paid advertising
  • SEO and content marketing
  • Social and video marketing
  • Reporting, optimization, and ROI focus
Visual operating model

How SQRD typically turns strategy into revenue-oriented execution

SQRD’s approach is built around a four-stage operating model: start with comprehensive strategy, build the right foundation, execute consistently across channels, and optimize dynamically based on audience behavior and performance data.

Step 1

Comprehensive Strategy

Define the who, what, where, and why so campaigns are built around real commercial priorities rather than disconnected tactics.

Step 2

Qualified Foundation

Ensure channels, systems, pages, and automation infrastructure are built and optimized to support performance.

Step 3

Recurring Execution

Run coordinated channel activity that drives tangible results rather than fragmented activity in isolated silos.

Step 4

Dynamic Optimization

Continuously evaluate audience behavior and campaign performance to refine the system and improve output over time.

Section 5 • Why continuity wins

Mary, replacing SQRD would slow or stop lead gen and create a relearning curve at the exact moment CECO should be preserving momentum.

The strongest case for retaining SQRD is strategic, not sentimental. CECO has the opportunity to preserve years of accumulated market understanding while moving directly into the next stage of Profire growth. That means less transition drag, faster execution, and a better chance of protecting lead quality during a period when consistency matters.

Put simply: the incumbent partner already knows the terrain, already has a working engine, and already has the next plays mapped. In a post-acquisition environment, that is not just convenient. It is an operating advantage.

Continuity protects speed
The fastest path to growth is keeping the team that already understands the work and where to push next.
Continuity protects quality
Technical markets punish generic messaging. SQRD already knows how to communicate in a way that fits Profire's world.
Continuity protects momentum
Instead of spending months rebuilding context, CECO can move directly into prioritized growth execution.

Let’s make this easy.

If you’re thinking about what’s next for Profire—or beyond—let’s just talk it through.

Clayton Bird

President & Founder