About Maribeth Kuzmeski, PhD

Dr. Maribeth Kuzmeski is President of Red Zone Marketing, a consulting firm specializing in marketing strategy, business growth, client acquisition, and differentiation for the financial services industry. Maribeth and her firm personally consult with some of the nation’s leading financial professionals and wealth management firms, including advisors overseeing hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in client assets.

Her specialization in financial services began early in the history of Red Zone Marketing when her fifth client was a financial advisor managing approximately $10 million in assets. Working together, they used highly targeted, niche-based marketing strategies to help grow the practice to approximately $200 million in less than five years. That experience helped shape what would become Red Zone Marketing’s deep focus on helping financial professionals differentiate themselves, attract ideal clients, generate referrals, and grow.

Maribeth is the author of ten books, including the bestseller The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life. An international keynote speaker, she was named a Top 25 C-Suite Speaker by Meetings & Conventions Magazine and has spoken at major industry events including the Million Dollar Round Table and Barron’s Top Producer conferences. She also delivers interactive workshops and training programs on marketing strategy, persuasive communication, branding, business development, and the practical application of artificial intelligence.

In addition to leading Red Zone Marketing, Maribeth is an Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Marketing at Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business and serves as Faculty Fellow for Experiential & Applied Learning with OSU Career Services. She teaches Principles of Marketing, Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Sports Marketing, and Advanced Sports Marketing and helped launch the university’s Sports Marketing major option.

Her work at Oklahoma State extends well beyond the classroom. Maribeth founded The Brand Squad, an award-winning organization that trains business students to work directly with OSU student-athletes on personal branding, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), sponsorships, social media, content creation, and marketing opportunities. She also founded and advises AI Wranglers, a student organization focused on helping students understand and responsibly apply artificial intelligence, and serves as Chair of the Oklahoma State University Athletic Council.

Maribeth received Oklahoma State University’s Regents Distinguished Teaching Award, one of several honors she has received for teaching, leadership, and service.

Maribeth’s work in business and academia is deeply interconnected. She brings current research, emerging ideas, and the perspective of the next generation of consumers and professionals into her consulting and decades of real-world marketing experience into the classroom. The result is a practical, evidence-based approach focused not simply on what sounds good in theory, but on what can be applied to create meaningful results.

Maribeth earned her bachelor’s degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, her MBA from The George Washington University, and her PhD in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.

When she isn’t consulting, speaking, teaching, Maribeth and her husband can usually be found at a sporting event, on a golf course, or spending time with their two (somewhat) adult children.

About Red Zone Marketing

Red Zone Marketing specializes in strategies for standing out in order to achieve measurable new business growth for financial services firms, mutual fund companies, and broker dealers as well as entrepreneurial-minded corporations, and salespeople. Our team of professionals, lead by Maribeth Kuzmeski, include writers, social media experts, graphic designers and strategy consultants. Our services are founded in current research and analysis of in-practice methods that are producing results now.