We Used to Be Clients
I managed 20+ agencies in my career. Then, I built the one I actually wanted to work with.
Hi, I'm Jess Sweetin 👋
Demand Beacon exists because I spent fifteen years on the other side of the table — briefing agencies, reading their reports, and wondering why the results never matched the pitch.
Why this agency exists
Before Demand Beacon I ran marketing at Vail Resorts, led demand generation at Orderful, and headed up digital at Ninety.io. Across those roles I hired and managed close to twenty agencies — fifteen or so of them running paid media, the rest handling SEO, content and creative.
A few were excellent. Most were not. And the failures were remarkably consistent.
The senior people showed up for the pitch and disappeared after signing. The person who understood my business in the sales meeting was never the person touching the account. What I actually got was someone two years into their career working from a playbook, with the senior name attached to the invoice.
The reporting measured activity, not money. Impressions, clicks, rankings, "share of voice." Beautiful decks that never once answered the only question I had, which was whether this was producing revenue. When I pushed, the conversation got vague.
Nobody would tell me when something wasn't working. Agencies are structured to protect the retainer, so bad news arrives late and softened. I made decisions on optimistic data more than once, and it cost me.
I didn't start an agency because I loved agencies. I started one because I'd been the disappointed client too many times and finally knew exactly what I'd want instead.
So Demand Beacon is built to remove those three failures specifically. The senior people are the only people. Reporting ties to revenue or it doesn't ship. And if something isn't working, you hear it from us before you find it yourself.
That's also why our pricing is published on every service page. I was tired of sitting through two calls and a proposal to find out a number that could have been a line on a website.
What that means when you hire us
1 — Beyond Agencies.
We work like part of your team. Sometimes that means telling you not to spend the money. Sometimes it means recommending something we don't sell.
2 — Integrity.
We do what's right whether or not anyone's watching. You'll always see what we did, what it cost and what it brought in.
3 — No A$$holes.
Respect and kindness aren't optional, with our team or with yours. We ask the same back.
Who You’ll Actually Work With
Jess Sweetin
Fifteen-plus years in marketing, most of it as the client. I ran marketing at Vail Resorts, led demand generation at Orderful, and was head of digital at Ninety.io, where I owned year-over-year growth targets. Earlier roles at Turner Mining Group and Worldwide Machinery taught me how to sell things that don't sell themselves.
I started Demand Beacon a little over three years ago from the Vail Valley, and I still work on every account personally. On the strategy side I handle SEO, Answer Engine Optimization and the parts of a build that decide whether anyone ever finds it.
SEO & AEO
Demand generation
B2B SaaS
Local & destination marketing
Google Analytics & Search Console
Founder
Kostas Manasis
Paid Media SpecialistThe best paid media specialist Jess has ever worked with, and I have close to twenty agencies' worth of comparison to draw on. Kostas runs Google, Meta and LinkedIn accounts with a level of technical depth that's genuinely rare — bid ceilings set from bucketed performance data, conversions imported from your CRM with real values attached, search term reports read by a human every week.
He specializes in Google Ads lead generation for home builders and the construction industry, and he publishes regularly on the mechanics of account structure and bidding. When an outside expert audited one of his accounts, the strongest criticism they could find was that his approach was more sophisticated than necessary.
Rachel Kelly
Rachel brings a creative, strategic approach to digital marketing. With a background in social media communication and marketing, she enjoys finding thoughtful ways to connect brands with their audiences through engaging content and digital strategy.
She helps with tactical execution, including blog publishing, audits, site updates, and more. She enjoys the variety of digital marketing and the opportunity to support both the strategic and creative sides of client work. Rachel brings a detail-oriented mindset and a willingness to learn to each project, ensuring that initiatives are executed effectively and align with overarching marketing goals.
Digital Marketing Specialist
Nova
Chief Pup Officer (CPO)Attends every internal meeting. Contributes little. Morale is measurably better with her here, which is more than can be said for most org charts.
Does the different approach actually work?
Fair question, and the honest answer is that you should check rather than take our word for it.
We ran Aloha Ski & Snowboard Rentals at 13x return on ad spend last year. There's more in our case studies, and our blog shows how we think when nobody's buying anything.
If you'd rather test us than read about us, the free SEO & AEO audit runs twenty-five checks on any page and tells you what's wrong with it. No email required for the score. We built it ourselves, which is its own kind of answer to the question.
