Building a Marketing Team From the Inside Out at Se-Kure Controls

With support from IMEC and Cook County, B2Btail helped Se-Kure Controls turn its deep industry expertise into a repeatable digital marketing system building internal skills in SEO, content, AI and LinkedIn that the company can carry forward for years.

Company Snapshot

• Company: Se-Kure Controls Inc.
• Industry: Retail loss prevention and security manufacturing
• Specialty: Anti-theft devices, convex mirrors and domes for retail safety and security
• MEP Partner: IMEC
• B2Btail Role: Digital Game Plan, SEO, content strategy, AI, LinkedIn and hands-on marketing training

“You took an inexperienced group of people, and you turned us into a more skilled marketing team.”

— Laura, President/CEO, Se-Kure Controls

The Expertise Was There. The Challenge Was Sharing It.

Se-Kure Controls has decades of expertise helping retailers protect merchandise while maintaining a positive shopping experience. The company knew its products, its customers and the retail loss-prevention industry.

The opportunity was translating all that knowledge into a modern digital marketing strategy.

“We feel we’re an authority in the industry, but it matters nothing if you don’t tell anybody and if you don’t interact with the people you serve,” Laura explained.

Se-Kure didn’t simply need more marketing activity. It needed the internal skills, strategy and confidence to communicate its expertise consistently.

Through Cook County grant opportunities and IMEC, the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Se-Kure connected with B2Btail and began turning that opportunity into an internal capability.

B2Btail Turns Strategy Into Digital Marketing Skills for Manufacturers

Rather than simply doing the marketing for Se-Kure, B2Btail worked alongside the team to teach them how to do it themselves.

Using the B2Btail Digital Game Plan and ongoing hands-on coaching, Matthew Pittelkau, Marketing Director at Se-Kure, developed skills across SEO, SEO Yoast, blogging, LinkedIn, AI prompting, subject-matter-expert interviews and content creation.

“It was fantastic,” Matthew said. “I got to learn a lot of how LinkedIn works, how SEO works, how AI works with all that.”

One of B2Btail’s most important accomplishments was helping Se-Kure unlock the knowledge already inside the company.

Matthew began interviewing experienced teammates and transforming those conversations into authentic educational content. Instead of generic-looking blogs, Se-Kure could showcase its people, products, mission and decades of industry expertise.

Over time, Matthew went from participating in the process to owning it by conducting interviews and creating content himself.

“We’ve got a really good groove and system going now,” he said.

From a Digital Game Plan to Real-World Execution

B2Btail helped Se-Kure move beyond learning individual marketing tactics and establish a practical system for putting them to work.

The team developed more authentic blogs featuring Se-Kure employees and products. Matthew strengthened the company’s LinkedIn activity and learned how to use AI more effectively to accelerate, not replace the company’s own expertise and voice.

The work also expanded into thought leadership, prospect targeting and product positioning.

One article created through Se-Kure’s subject-matter-expert content process was submitted to Loss Prevention Magazine. It was accepted and featured on the publication’s website.

B2Btail’s Digital Game Plan also helped stimulate new thinking about how Se-Kure could market existing products. Matthew identified an opportunity to position a locking rack together with a customer call button, connecting product security with the shopper’s need for employee assistance.

Se-Kure subsequently presented the combined concept at a trade show.

The Biggest Result: Capability That Stays at Se-Kure

The most significant B2Btail accomplishment may not be a single blog, LinkedIn post or product-marketing idea.

It’s what Se-Kure can now do for itself.

Matthew developed the ability to interview internal experts, uncover valuable stories, create SEO-focused content, use AI productively, contribute to LinkedIn and translate Se-Kure’s expertise into marketing material.

Laura saw the transformation firsthand.

“The best part of all of this, most importantly, is Matthew has really gained some lasting skills, a sense of confidence, a sense of pride of accomplishment.”

Evidence of that progress includes:

• A repeatable subject-matter-expert interview and content process
• More authentic, people-centered blogs featuring Se-Kure’s expertise
• Internal capabilities in SEO, Yoast, AI, LinkedIn and content development
• External exposure through Loss Prevention Magazine
• New product-positioning concepts carried into a trade show
• Greater ownership and independence of Se-Kure’s marketing activities

For Laura, the long-term impact is especially important.

“What he’s learned is going to benefit Secure for years and years to come.”

IMEC and Cook County Made the Connection Possible

Se-Kure’s transformation also demonstrates the multiplier effect an MEP can create.

Laura had heard about IMEC through a peer but, like many manufacturing leaders, had competing priorities. Cook County’s grant opportunity provided the catalyst to get involved.

“When the grant came up, I decided to take a look, and we’ve never looked back,” she said.

IMEC connected Se-Kure with the resources and expertise that helped the company strengthen its internal marketing capabilities.

“IMEC has been a wonderful partnership with Secure,” Laura said. “It has trained some of my staff. It has just exploded our skill set.”

The combination worked: Cook County helped create the opportunity, IMEC connected Se-Kure with the resource, and B2Btail provided the Digital Game Plan and hands-on coaching that helped turn knowledge into capability.

What’s Next: A Marketing Engine Se-Kure Can Keep Building

Se-Kure is moving forward with something more valuable than a collection of marketing deliverables.

It has people who know how to create them.

The company can continue interviewing its experts, developing authoritative content, strengthening SEO, building thought leadership, experimenting with AI and finding new ways to bring products to market.

And Laura’s perspective on marketing itself has changed.

“I am super excited about the way that we are marketing now.”

For B2Btail, that’s the accomplishment: not simply doing marketing for a manufacturer, but helping a manufacturer build the skills, systems and confidence to do it successfully from within.