Founded in Kingston, New York, in 2009 as Katy Dwyer Design, KDD Marketing has grown into an award-winning full-service boutique marketing firm, specializing in developing brands, building websites and strategizing and executing holistic marketing plans to help clients reach and engage with target audiences.
If that sounds like a whole lot of marketing-speak to digest, Westfair’s Westchester County Business Journal recently talked with Katy Dwyer to have her explain the finer points and to learn more about her business journey:
Katy, KDD expanded from a design company in 2017 to include numerous auxiliary services, evolving into KDD Marketing in 2024. What spearheaded these transitions and advances?
“My business had been a solopreneur business until about 2015 when I took on a partner. I found that my strategies for growth and his didn’t match up. I realized that I didn’t need a partner for growth. I could grow the business on my own. So in early 2017, I ended the partnership and restructured as an S Corp, implementing the many changes I had desired. We quickly evolved from a design business to a full-service marketing agency.”
What would you say is the core business of KDD Marketing – that is, what are you best known-for, and what’s the main source, your “bread-and-butter” if you like, of your revenue?
“Although at one time, we were known for our graphic design and our websites, our bread and butter is now long-term marketing plans. To our best clients, we are their external marketing department. The work we do is supported by high-quality design, and we still build many websites, but the bulk of our business comes from lasting relationships that we build with our clients. I’m proud to say that our average client tenure is 54 months.”
Marketing your own marketing business might seem to be something of a no-brainer, but perhaps it presents special challenges. Can you tell us how KDD markets itself, promotes its services and attracts new clients?
“We do have to practice what we preach when it comes to marketing. The best way we can do that is by doing for ourselves what we know makes for a good client – prioritizing our marketing. We treat ourselves as a client, scheduling meetings to discuss our marketing, building a strategy, executing campaigns and analyzing results. KDD markets itself by building referrals, networking, digital advertising and having a consistent presence online through our website and social media, and we’ve recently invested in PR.”
“ What’s your demographic? You’re based in Kingston but how wide an area would you say you actually serve?”
“We primarily work with businesses regionally in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, though we have a couple of national clients as well. The businesses we work with are small to medium in size, and while we purposely keep the industries we serve diverse, we do have some specialties in health and wellness, education, real estate, tourism and nonprofits.
Katy, we’re sure no day is typical, but can you nevertheless describe a “typical” day for you as founder and creative director of KDD?
“My favorite thing about running a business is that my days are never boring. My days may include internal meetings, an intro call with a potential client, getting some administrative work done at my desk, networking, reviewing a logo presentation with our designers or learning about a new client’s business and their pain points while also strategizing on how we can help them meet their goals. The best days involve seeing a team member have a personal success, culture building at KDD and positive feedback from a client.”
And next for KDD?
“I’m not a five-year-plan kind of person. But at any given time, I have a good idea of what I’m trying to cultivate at KDD. Right now, we are up-leveling our team by bringing on more multiskilled experts so we can continue to grow our capabilities for our clients. We’re also busy rebuilding our website to better reflect our current marketing strategy. Finally, we are always testing new ways to enhance our visibility online, regionally as well as in the local marketplace.”
