We’re celebrating a big anniversary this year – 10 years in business! After a decade-long journey, Global Marketing Solutions is thrilled to be thriving as a company. We are looking back with pride at all that our clients have accomplished, and looking ahead with anticipation of what’s to come.
Our story begins in 2005 when founders John and April Boone saw the need for affordable and innovative solutions in marketing. Their first client was a Jamaica-based company, so the name Global Marketing Solutions was selected to signify the company’s reach, and the practice was born. In the last 10 years, the company has experienced exceptional growth in both clients served and solutions offered.
In 2007, Global Marketing Solutions’ growth exceeded the company’s capacity in both content development and graphic design production, so additional assets were brought on board to fulfill client needs and expectations. This ensured GMS could continue to offer exploratory and exciting products for clients.
GMS has had many long-time clients, including Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism. In 2008, we managed a six-month social media experiment with the tourism agency’s MySpace and Facebook pages. Throughout the years, this partnership has led to the creation of mobile apps and successful online promotions, from sweepstakes to digital influencer outreach. In August 2014, GMS held the first Twitter Chat for Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism. This hour-long chat garnered more than 3.5 million impressions for the Alabama Gulf Coast.
As a result of successful social media crisis management for numerous hospitality and tourism-based companies and agencies following the Gulf Oil Spill in 2010, Global Marketing Solutions experienced tremendous growth in 2010 and 2011. We operated with transparency and an on-the-ground approach for our clients, ensuring Alabama Gulf Coast fans that their beaches were safe and offering daily beach status updates. This meant an additional expansion in staff to monitor social media and cover the action 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In 2014, we launched Social Media University, a professional development program consisting of courses aimed at training businesses on how to start and manage their social media presence. This has proven to be another successful venture and is a strategic move to create a more socially savvy destination on the Alabama Gulf Coast.
Throughout the years, the Global Marketing Solutions focus has been on exceeding client expectations for the services we provide. Lee Kramer, a long-time client and the Mandoki Hospitality director of marketing, recently said, “One of the best things about doing business with the Global Marketing Solutions team is that they have our company’s best interests in mind at all times. They truly want to make us more successful through using their services.”
Today, Global Marketing Solutions creates approximately 5,400 social posts a month and has more than 30 contractors covering marketing solutions from photography to video production, and content creation to website design and more. In addition, we were humbled to be named the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year – a major accomplishment earmarking our 10-year anniversary.
“It’s humbling to reflect on the past ten years and the level of trust and faith our clients have placed in us. When your relationships with clients are often more than two decades long, they become part of your family,” says CEO and founder, April Boone. “While we’re excited to celebrate with our clients, friends and family, we’re even more jazzed about what’s ahead. This is such an exciting time to be a marketer, and we have big plans for the years to come!”