Kristin Marquet With Marquet Media, LLC

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Kristin Marquet with Marquet Media. Welcome.

Kristin Marquet: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here today.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about your firm. How are you serving folks?

Kristin Marquet: Sure. So we are PR and branding firm based here in New York City. We’ve had the firm for about 15 years, and we work with a number of clients across a variety of industries. But I would say primarily 80% of our clients are female founders and in style space. So fashion, beauty, wellness, fitness, kind of anything that falls under that gamut. And we also in 2017 started an offshoot called Fem founder-ceo. It started off as a blog that had five readers, but over the last let’s see. Wow, seven years, we’ve built it into a full scale media company with about a million readers a month now and a half a million email subscribers, where we provide not just female founders, but but small businesses and startups with the resources they need to either launch or scale their businesses truly, without really having to spend a ton of money. Because at the end of the day, let’s admit it what startup that is funded privately or from the founder’s pocket? You know, resources have to go a long way. So we just wanted to try and give them access to free resources or low cost resources so that they can really grow their businesses.

Lee Kantor: Now, how have you seen the industry evolve over the years, and especially the blurring of the lines between advertising, especially paid in any form or fashion, social media, PR how have all of these kind of marketing tactics blurred?

Kristin Marquet: It’s a great question. And being in the industry for as long as I have been when I first started, you know, PR was strictly a lot of it was media relations, meaning that you were going to pick up the phone, call a journalist, pitch the client, or pitch the company that you’re working for in-house to try and get a story to run, or at least facilitate some type of introduction. Email wasn’t really email. Pitching wasn’t really appropriate. You know, it was in the early 2000. So email was still. I mean, it was around, but it wasn’t nearly as prevalent and pervasive as it is today. And social media didn’t exist, so we could just take social media out of the equation for a second. So PR a lot of it was media relations. Like I said, you know, communication was either face to face or over, over the telephone and even sometimes by fax, if you can imagine that. You know, I don’t remember the last time I used a fax machine. It was probably, you know, 20 years ago. But with the emergence of social media and digital media, particularly blogs and online magazines, the lines have actually become blurred very much. Um, it’s interesting, a lot of blogs and smaller publications offer sponsorships, advertising, but in the form of native advertising or advertorials. So the content looks like it just kind of fits in with editorial. Um, this is before digital marketing and digital media became a thing. Uh, you know, obviously advertorials and advertising still existed, but all those things had to be marked.

Kristin Marquet: Whereas today, even though they’re still supposed to be marked as advertising or sponsored content, um, a lot of the times publications, um, blogs and even social media influencers don’t, for whatever reason, kind of follow that protocol when you know anything that’s paid for. Um, if it’s an endorsement that needs to be disclosed up front. So those are just a few ways that that, um, you know, PR has really changed in how digital media has really kind of flipped the industry on its head. Um, with us being a boutique PR firm with a small team, we really focus on true digital editorial content. You know, we are not an advertising agency. If a client wants to take out an ad in an online magazine or a print magazine, you know, we’ll help facilitate that. But that’s not what we do. You know, we’re getting our clients that third party endorsement. And to that end, we use analytics to help drive our messaging, um, and really focus on, uh, kind of media sentiment, positioning and things of that nature. Um, so back when I first started in the industry, you know, none of these digital tools existed. So that’s another thing that has made PR so interesting and a lot easier to gauge and determine what the return on investment is. So that being said, um, I’m finding the industry much more interesting and a lot easier to work in versus, you know, when things were everything was done manually, so to speak.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re working with your clients, what is kind of the pain point they’re coming to you with? Is it is it usually kind of a lack of awareness? And they think that if we have our brand out there, more, more people will become aware of it. Therefore, more people will buy whatever we are selling. Or is it, um, you know, more in terms of I need sales. So, you know, I don’t care if they know who who I am, but as long as they click the e-commerce button and buy something, we’re good.

Kristin Marquet: Great question. And we so throughout the years have gotten inquiries for both. But what we really focus on being PR, we focus more on the top of the funnel, um, getting prospects to know about a company or a person or a product or a service or a piece of software. Um, if a client needs help converting a lead into a customer, we can certainly help with that. You know, we’ve done a ton of funnel optimization and funnel development, but really, PR is the mechanism that drives brand awareness, visibility and getting teaching consumers that a specific item or company or person exists. Um, and getting them to click um on a website and click through a website and learn about whatever it is the client is trying to sell.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re working with maybe somebody who’s new to these types of tactics, how do you educate them into taking, I think, a little bit of a leap of faith of, hey, the more people that are aware of you, if we position this correctly and we put it in front of the people who are your ideal prospects, this is going to pay off over time as opposed to some people who have that, you know, more transactional, uh, thinking where they’re like, look, I need every time somebody clicks, they better be considering buying something where brand awareness is kind of a longer play.

Kristin Marquet: Mhm. Yeah. No you’re you’re absolutely right. And I think that’s, that’s kind of where the PR kind of, you know the practice of PR kind of like falls off. But for us you know we, you know I’ve been in the had the company for 15 years and worked with over 1000 clients throughout those years. So when it comes to educating a prospect on why they should hire us. Obviously, if it’s the right fit and I know that we can deliver value to them, you know, what it comes down to is two things. One, case studies proving that we’ve actually done it before, and two, um, giving them references so that they can go vet us out and talk to, you know, as many clients as we’ve worked with in the past or however many clients that we have on the roster at the time. So it really it’s just being honest and up front and saying, listen, if you’re looking to get sales, you need a full marketing suite, all right. Um, if you’re looking to get brand awareness and get your name out there, then PR is the place to start. And it’s just being honest and transparent and educating people on the differences between PR and advertising, PR and digital marketing. Pr and social media. Right? Um, because if a client comes to us, um, and they hire us and they expect us to do X and we aren’t performing, you know, they’re going to get upset and it’s going to make us look bad. So at the end of the day, it’s about managing expectations and telling them what we are going to do for them to help move their business from point A to point B. But yeah, you know, if they’re really just looking for sales, they’re going to need a full marketing suite. But they’re looking to get that third party endorsement, you know, in major media or trade media or digital media. Um, as long as the the industry is the right fit, then obviously then PR is the right avenue to explore.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you have any advice or any tips or low hanging fruit that the listener can take action with today. When it comes to clarifying the brand’s vision and mission and being clear, like you mentioned, the importance of being clear about certain things, and I think this is a great place to start to be clear on what the brand stands for and who it’s for.

Kristin Marquet: Exactly and why it exists, and ultimately what you’re looking to accomplish and who you serve. Right. Um, so the vision and mission are one is aspirational, one is a little bit more long term. But, um, what ties into those two are your value prop and exactly who you’re trying to target. Um, once you know who your customer is, what service, product, or service is going to fulfill the need in that market, right? Um, and why a journalist or the media should be interested in covering you, which comes down to two key components. One is newsworthiness, and that could be the launch of a new product or service, or a new hire or anything, um, that is going to that’s worth announcing. And the other part of that, or the second part of that is credibility. What makes you credible? Is it your education? Is it your experience? Did you go through a transformation like why should the media end up listening to you? And that’s really what it comes down to. You know, you have to be newsworthy. You have to be credible. You have to know who your consumer is and what you’re going to be serving in the market. Why it’s different. It doesn’t necessarily have to be revolutionary or any unique, but it has to be different in some sort of way. And, um, why people should care. I mean, that’s that’s what it comes down to. You know, this isn’t rocket science. Um, those are the the the key components to getting PR, leveraging it, and getting your name out there.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, part of I think the heart of this is something you mentioned of really understanding who your ideal customer is, um, and getting clarity around that. Do you have exercises or ways to help your clients uncover maybe opportunities that they didn’t see or to get clarity around this? Because if you miss that, you miss the whole ball of wax there.

Kristin Marquet: Yes, you absolutely do. And we do. And it’s coming up with a consumer, uh, persona. Right. Or a person that you think will benefit from your product, service or piece of software or book or whatever it is. Um, look at what your competitors are doing. See who they are serving. See how you can serve that target better. Um, or if you have something that doesn’t really exist, um, but you can see that there’s a demand for it based on other products that are out there that are missing the features that you want, that your product or service offers. Um, that could be the appropriate target market. But it really comes down to creating a persona, one person per product or service and going after who they are. Look at where they hang out on social media. Look at where they get their news. Um, do they watch TV? Do they listen to the radio? Do they listen to podcasts? You know, um, look at news consumption and put together almost a personality based on what a composite of all those people are. And once you end up having this, this persona, it becomes so much easier to pinpoint who and how you’re going to serve this person. I know that sounds a little abstract and vague. Um, but I do have a couple of resources on the founder website that I can direct people to if if they’re interested in learning more about how these exercises work. Um, but it’s, it’s taking some time seeing what exists out there, um, and ultimately who the consumer is that is going to purchase from you.

Lee Kantor: Now, maybe this would help, but if you shared a little bit about how femme founder was born. Like, was that when you started? Were you like, I’m a PR firm for everybody. And then you’re like, well, I feel passionate about this group, so let me just do this blog. And then, you know, it kind of takes a life of its own over time. Can you share a little bit about how you kind of found that niche of female founders and, you know, some of the activities you did to just stumble upon that, or was it or was it something that you, you know, from, from go you were like, okay, I’m all in on female founders. I don’t care about anything else. And that’s my niche.

Kristin Marquet: No, no, no. So when I first started my, my firm 15 years ago was serving a bunch of different niches. And then I figured out, okay, this is not going to work. Burnt out. And it was just the growth was too much, you know, it was working legal, uh, you know, financial services, fashion, beauty, all this craziness. And, you know, had team members that specialized in different areas. But like I said, it just it got too much. So what I did was I sat down with the team and really kind of refined who our consumer, so to speak, or who our customer slash client was. And I figured out where our strengths were, which were in the which was in the lifestyle space. Um, in terms of gender, it didn’t really matter, uh, what the client was, but over, I want to say from 2013 to 2017, we had received a number of inbound inquiries from small businesses or experts that wanted to hire a PR firm, but were just starting out and didn’t have the resources. So that’s actually how Femme Founder came about. It was I wanted to provide a resource for small businesses or startups that were female run, female operated, female founded and give them all of the resources they needed so that they can manage their own PR strategies and campaigns in-house. Because, let’s admit it, most small businesses can’t afford to spend 5KA month on hiring a PR firm. So I just wanted to make our resources. Um, and knowledge and expertise available to that target. Um, and, and that’s how FEM founder was born.

Lee Kantor: And then that, to me sounds transferrable to a lot of firms where if they come in with a heart of service, we know what our superpower is. How do we become useful and of service to our the people that are most important to us and let’s lean into that. And then if you do that relentlessly, I think good things are going to happen over time.

Kristin Marquet: Agreed. Agreed. But it all goes back to clarity. And it all goes back to figuring out exactly who you want to serve, what your strengths are, um, what you can offer that is different in the market and, um, figure out exactly who it is that you want to target. And, you know, each each product or service can have 1 or 2 personas, but don’t try and sell 1 or 2 products to, you know, 5000 different types of people, because that’s that’s where companies have a tendency to fall short. And then that’s where messaging gets lost and communication just kind of falls by the wayside. Specific. Clear. Strategic. And also make sure that whatever you are doing, you’re going to be able to measure.

Lee Kantor: Now is there.

Kristin Marquet: A simple I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Lee Kantor: Is there a story you can share? Maybe with a client you don’t have to name the name of the client, but that makes this come alive in terms of maybe share the problem they came to you with and how you were able to help them get to a new level.

Kristin Marquet: Sure. Yeah. So we actually had one wellness expert who we had worked with over the years. Um, she started off as a celebrity makeup artist. And then over the years, her brand evolved into fitness, fashion, wellness. Um, so that’s kind of how she became a wellness expert from just focusing in the beauty sector. Um, when she had come to us, she had no idea who she wanted to serve in terms of who she wanted her client base to be. She didn’t know how to take all of her experience, all of her accolades, and package them into something that would be attractive to potential customers because she didn’t know who it was that she wanted to serve. After she and I sat down and had multiple meetings, maybe 3 or 4, we came up with a whole new messaging platform, brand positioning, and then figured out that one person that she was going to target and that one person or that one consumer was women that were 45 and older, that were premenopausal, that were, um, starting to gain weight or had gained weight from, from these hormonal fluctuations. But wanted to lose at least 10 pounds that needed help with weight loss. Keeping it off, fitness, accountability. All this and um, she now her name is Taylor is actually the go to person, um, for wellness for women that are over 45 that need help with weight loss, weight maintenance, healthy eating, accountability, and fitness. Um, and but it took multiple meetings to figure out exactly who this consumer was, um, and why she should serve them. And, uh, now, like I said, she’s the go to person. She’s been featured in Mindbodygreen. I mean, it’s just just trying to think of all the places that she’s been featured. Uh mindbodygreen. Live. Positively elephant Journal, um, the times, uh, a bunch of places. And, um, she has a thriving business now. And it’s great for her because this is this is exactly what she wanted to do, but she just didn’t have any clarity and guidance on who to serve and how to get there.

Lee Kantor: That’s a that’s a great story. Thank you so much for sharing that. Is there. Um, for the listeners, is there any, um, things that you have going on that they should know about any events or workshops that you’ve got that people can take advantage of?

Kristin Marquet: We don’t have any in-person events, but we always have virtual workshops on Founder-ceo. We’re actually going to be at every Thursday. They get updated, so tomorrow we’ll be able to go to a Founder-ceo backslash workshops and be able to see all of the PR and branding, um, webinars and courses that we’re going to have for the month of October into November.

Lee Kantor: And then if somebody wants to connect with you and learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team. Is there a website for that? For the PR firm.

Kristin Marquet: Actually marked company, it’s very easy market company and that’s it. And then they can just kind of scout through, scoot through the website and see if there’s anything there and just shoot us. A message on one of us will be more than happy to to connect.

Lee Kantor: Well, Kristen, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Kristin Marquet: Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed this conversation.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.