Deborah Garry is president and CEO of BBG&G Advertising & Public Relations, based in Campbell Hall. Last year, she was a winner of the 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Award presented by Enterprising Women magazine. She recently joined the magazine”™s board of advisers.
In this edition of Suite Talk, Business Journal Senior Enterprise Editor Phil Hall speaks with Garry about her new board responsibilities and the opportunities for women in today”™s challenging economy.
Congratulations on your recent appointment to the advisory board of Enterprising Women. What will your duties encompass?
“We have a weekly Zoom meeting where we provide input on the events of the Enterprising Women organization, the content of their magazine and the blog. There”™s also a foundation that works towards providing scholarships and educational opportunities to young women in disadvantaged areas.”
What are the opportunities for young women in today”™s advertising and marketing field?
“I think there are great opportunities. It”™s a fascinating time because there”™s so much that”™s changing and I think if someone is a good communicator there”™s a lot of opportunity either on the vision side ”” in terms of graphics, web development, advertising ”” and on the strategic and content side for developing the content that goes out through websites, social media and digital marketing.”
Verizon recently commissioned a survey to measure female workforce trends during the pandemic, and the survey found 68% of women said they left the workforce since the pandemic began due to burnout and 72% of women planning to return to work being concerned about finding a job matching their existing skill set. What can be done to bring these women back into the workforce and not just back to where they were when a pandemic started, but to a higher level within the economy?
“I think it really depends what sector they are active in. I would imagine that probably many of them were in the hospitality and tourism sector ”” that”™s the sector that really got the hardest hit by the pandemic.
“Fortunately, there is a resurgence, beginning within the tourism industry and those skills gained by working in the service sector can be translated into the corporate world. I think human resources departments and corporate managers have to be willing to see how those skills can translate in a very effective way into the corporate environment.
“Certainly, when you”™re working in the service, tourism or hospitality sector, you have to be good with people and thinking on your feet. And you have to have good communication skills, good team-building skills, good personal skills ”” and all of those can translate into the corporate environment or other small businesses.”
How has your business been impacted over the past 12 months?
“We did have some tourism clients that were hit by the pandemic and it was critical that we were able to very quickly pivot ”” to use a word that”™s been really overused ”” to reshape and refashion their messaging and their images.
“For instance, we work with a winery. And in one day, they could not invite people to come for tours. But they still had outdoor space and a store through which they could sell their wine. And they still had their online sales. So, we had to turn all of their images and messaging around and say to people: ”˜Don”™t come for a tour, but do come pick up a bottle of wine and picnic on our grounds in a socially safe manner. You come into our online store and order some wine for your dinners.”™ We helped them create revenue streams and their online sales went up. They came out of the year in really quite good shape.”
Your website has a blog post called “How to Set Up a Social Listening Strategy.” What is social listening?
“It”™s paying attention to what”™s being said in the social space by listening to the customers you”™re selling to and also listening to what”™s being said in a competitive space.
“The pandemic changed so many things for so many people. And the brands that were successful were ones that either quickly figured out that people”™s needs changed or how they could access services and products in a different way. Social listening gives you that kind of finger on the pulse to get a sense of what”™s happening. We use that as a form of market research.”
It often seems that many people use social media as a one-way communications platform without actually listening to what”™s being said. Is that a fair assessment?
“I would say that”™s a fair assessment of what happens a lot in social spaces. We work really hard to allow for a give-and-take engagement. We”™ll do polls, we”™ll do contests, just to get people to interact and give feedback. We”™re not just talking at them, but we”™re responding to them.”
A lot of companies had put their marketing budgets on hold during the pandemic. Now that things are starting to get better, do you see companies coming back to where they were before or are they still cautious about spending money on marketing?
“We are seeing a return. Many companies were smart enough to continue to market during the pandemic, but for those who paused I think they are returning to previous levels or even a higher rate because they have catching up to do.”
What do you have on your agenda for the remainder of 2021?
“Well, we”™re going to be kicking off our 25th year in business in July, so we”™re starting to plan kind of a yearlong celebration. We are always growing in terms of the kind of partnerships and collaborations that we”™re forming. I look forward to an exciting year.”
