To say that 2022 was an instrumental year for the Belfort Group (BG) would be a severe understatement. New client partnerships, new talent, media coverage, a progressive people-first culture, personal wins, and a ton of fun and memorable times. It’s going to be hard to top 2022, but if any team can do it, it’s BG. We asked our team to reflect on 2022 and take a glimpse into 2023.

Here’s what members of BG Digital, BG Strategies and BG Creative had to say

AI and Digital Marketing

Joe Davis, Digital Marketing Manager, has his mind on artificial intelligence and its impact on digital marketing: “I see more automation and AI being part of digital marketing in 2023, but expect they’ll still need to be used sparingly to achieve client goals.” 

PR is Alive and Well

Steve Sisto, BG Strategy’s Account Executive and former TV broadcast assignment editor has enjoyed the creative license PR provides in helping clients tell their stories: “My proudest moment at BG this year was getting a Thanksgiving cooking segment placed at a local TV station. I had only been here for a couple months, and having not worked in PR previously, it was hard sometimes to know if I was doing anything right. But this placement really solidified the fact that I was at least doing something right and that I belonged here. I think that most media outlets, the respectable ones at least, are very reluctant nowadays to move on PR pitches because they don’t want to feel as though they’re making an ad for whatever company is pitching. And so, when writing pitches, it is crucial that they are as newsworthy and impactful as possible. It’s important to convince journalists that we’re helping them tell a news story and not an ad for a client. 

Hitting the Ground Running in a Minimalist Way

One of BG’s newest talent acquisitions is Ben Wetherbee, who is part of the BG Creative team and the agency’s resident soccer expert. Being a recent college graduate, Ben tackled the job like a seasoned designer and has a great insight design trends in 2023: “My proudest moment was from my three-month review and being told by my team that they need to remind themselves I’m fresh out of school. Knowing I’ve transitioned well into working and having them consider me a fellow professional, was great to hear. The fact that I joined BG in August and knew nothing about video editing, outside a few basics, and now have multiple video projects on my plate, is exciting. I’ve learned a lot about that process from our senior designers and have seen that minimalist design continues to take over the corporate world. Slowly I’m seeing more of a push back against it. Look for minimalism to continue, but also for the push and counter movement against it to grow as well.

Crossing Over to Continue Learning

Maddie Wildes, one of BG’s newest account coordinators, has had her hands full on both the BG Digital and BG Strategies teams. She’s a successful crossover talent, who has enjoyed working with new and traditional media: “Working with both the BG Digital and Strategies teams, I have recognized these areas are extremely similar and symbiotic when it comes to making impacts with an audience. Sharing digital content to increase brand awareness for a client relies on good PR stories for credibility and to take a campaign to the next level. On the flip side, digital marketing allows a news story or article to be leveraged to reach an online audience beyond its original form. In 2023, I think we will continue to see the importance of interpersonal engagement through organic posting on social media. Whether this be through interactions in comment sections, engaging in popular trends (especially when it comes to short-form video trends), or adapting casual, everyday language in posts, the more relatable the content is, the better.  Ahead of the transition to Google Analytics 4, I am looking forward to continuing to expand my knowledge of this platform to best serve our client needs. I also cannot wait for another year of teamwork, collaboration, and fun times with #TeamBG!”

Internship Sprint

Chris Burroughs, a rising senior at Endicott College, has interned with BG for half of 2022 and will be returning in 2023. As he put it, not everything you learn is in the books, “As an intern I learned a lot but one of the main things was learning how to adapt to client preferences in terms of tone, language, and overall message in content. This can be vital depending on industry and client values.”

It’s a Wrap 2022

The BG team is thankful for our client partnerships and the trust they have in our team to help grow their respective businesses. We entered new spaces this year, expanded our scope of work agency wide, and worked hard to continue to be leaders in our areas of expertise. What we are most excited about is the expansion of our services, which is a direct correlation to the great talent we’ve added to #TeamBG—digital pioneers, media advisors, expert marketers, talented creatives, rockstar interns and more. In fact, the firm grew more than 40% this year and that growth is because of the hard work and dedication of our team and the trust our clients put in us.

Watch out 2023, BG is coming. You don’t stand a chance.