Next-Mark adds staff to meet growing demand

The Sarasota-based marketing and communications firm announces the addition of three new team members as it expands client footprint and new services

---

SARASOTA, Fla. – Next-Mark, a full-service marketing and communications firm serving clients in Florida and nationwide, announced today the addition of three new team members to meet demand for its growing roster of clients and expand its service offerings.

New team members joining the downtown Sarasota-based agency arrive with varying and distinguished backgrounds, which span agency and corporate settings alike.

“We’re excited to welcome each of our new, talented team members and feel strongly that through them, our clients will continue to benefit from the top-rated marketing and communications services Next-Mark is known for,” said Next-Mark president and founder, Joseph Grano, Jr. “By bringing on top talent, we’ve bolstered our strategic marketing communications and design capabilities and added new, highly demanded service offerings as a Certified Salesforce Partner. We see this as a significant opportunity for further expansion this year and the future.”

---

---

Strategic marketing and communications were never more important than in 2020, as strategy drove tactics as never before. After 16 years in business, we found ourselves evolving quickly to help our clients take on the challenges in the path of moving their brands forward. We are proud of them and the work we did together last year and in years past, as different times dictated different measures.
It is in that spirit that we introduce our newly updated digital LookBook, which outlines the various tools we leverage and combine to create effective marketing that endures and propels, fashioned to fit the needs and goals of each client.
These include:

• Branding, with examples from refreshing the look of a popular destination to driving a stake in the ground for a new era in a financial firm’s history.
• Strategic content that starts with strong messaging and is molded to resonate with target markets.
• Web and digital strategy that creates an image and helps clients stand out visually and come across clearly amid all the noise.
• Creative design that draws the eye so the message can be heard.
• Public relations through earned media, careful placement of content and use of a variety of platforms.
• CRM services and Salesforce, bridging the gap between strategic content and full utilization of the powerful Salesforce application.
• Trade shows and events, as they migrate to new forms and concepts.
• Infographics that deliver high impact in few words.
• Video production, the ongoing wave, make that the tsunami, of the future of message distribution.
• Social media, which is a must for every enterprise seeking to connect with audiences today.

We invite you to take a look at what we can do – and what we could do for you. As always, we’re here to help, always collaborating, always communicating and always dedicated to our clients’ continued success. To learn more, view our 2021 LookBook or contact us 941.544.2765.

Today, Next-Mark president and founder, Joseph Grano presented via Zoom to the Florida Public Relations Association’s Tampa Bay Chapter, discussing the steps required to build and sustain a successful thought leadership program.
The presentation was predicated on the assumption that no matter where a person is in their career or a business is in its evolution, there is a wealth of experience, passion and knowledge that probably isn’t being promoted to its full potential. When it is, those elements can combine to create an environment in which an individual or organization becomes a recognized authority and source of valuable information. This, in turn, creates an affinity for the personal or business brand, creating conversations and relationships.

About Thought Leaders

Thought leadership is a serious pursuit. However, that doesn’t mean that the voices behind it are grandstanders, self-appointed gurus or pontificators. Rather, they are trusted, informed, go-to sources in their fields of expertise. Moreover, they are influencers who are both inspirational and aspirational, while providing credible, notable and sustainable content – both their own and that curated from others. Their goal is to provide their audiences with the best answers to their questions.

Benefits of Thought Leadership

Good thought leadership (1) creates an affinity for a brand; introduces that brand as part of the conversation early in the consumer journey; creates a new level of intimacy with targeted audiences; is extremely cost efficient.

A Journey of 10 Steps

1. Build Your Thought Leadership Platform; Create/Curate Content that Drives Results:

• Identify topics that align with the brand
• Identify opportunities to gain share of mind.
• Identify questions customers are asking and answer them in multiple formats.
• Create value in the process, that is, provide something valuable to receive something else that’s more valuable to you.

2. Create a “Sphere of Influence” With Three Simple Questions:

• Whom do you want to reach?
• What will resonate with the audience?
• How will you do it?

3. Make it Personal:

• Your message is inseparable from who you are.
• Your transparency will translate into an authentic and sustainable message.
• Your unique story must resonate.

4. Map the Leadership Conversation:

• Tell your story.
• Align your leadership message to your brand.
• Be consistent.
• Be ethical.

5. Build an Arsenal of Thought Leadership Assets:

• Information from trusted sources, including media and influencers
• Social network posts
• Blogs
• Case studies
• Infographics
• White papers
• Executive briefs
• Videos

6. Stand Out in the Crowd:

• Create and curate thought leadership content that drives results.
• Take measured chances, don’t be afraid to surprise the audience.
• Add value to existing content that is memorable, shareable and sustainable.

7. Select the Optimal Channels, Platforms and Outlets; Go Where YOUR Audiences Are:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Digg
• YouTube
• Etcetera and so on

Visionary Marshall McLuhan once famously said, “the medium is the message,” interpreted to mean that the way we send and receive information is more important than the information itself. He was talking about television and radio. But think of it in today’s digital world: Where we once were consumers of information, we now also are producers, creating our own information, as well. That’s a lot of opportunity – and responsibility.

8. Always Be Strategic:

Work toward goals and plan well. Thought leadership is more than throwing all you know at an audience, depending on the laws of probability that something might stick.

9. Measure Results Through Routine Audits:

• Online metrics
• Response rates
• Monitoring formal and informal conversations about your brand

10. And Always Communicate Your Success:

And all along the way, seek to showcase excellence through engaging, thought-provoking content; be authentic, concise and fact-based; and enjoy the journey to becoming an acknowledged thought leader.

If we can collaborate with your thought leadership initiatives or provide any other marketing communications solutions, please contact us directly at 941.544.2765.

In these times of resource conservation for many businesses, some marketing tools may have fallen off the radar. If one of those is video, that’s neither good nor necessary. Even if your marketing budget is challenged at the moment, it’s important to remember that videos are what consumers prefer, and some versions don’t cost a lot – or much of anything – to create. Video has been climbing the charts of effective consumer outreach for a number of years. In a recent article for the American Marketing Association of Chicago, award-winning producer Tony Gnau noted some of the HubSpot statistics that have propelled video to its current ranking among marketing tools: – Video marketers get 66% more qualified leads yearly than those who don’t focus on video. – Video marketers see a 54% increase in brand awareness with their content among audience members. – Product videos can increase purchases by 144%. He then laid out three types of video that he believes businesses can – and should – produce during these unprecedented times. First was the company value proposition video. Short and to the point, it involves simply telling customers and prospects your brand story and how you’re conducting business at this time. We love this idea, as it is humanizing and honest and, we believe, could create personal bonds at a time they’re in short supply. We caution you, however, to make the video your own, with personal touches that set you apart and reflect your authenticity. This can easily be accomplished with tools like Zoom for recording content along with added branding including transitional graphics and video bumpers. This can be reinforced by the second suggested production: animated content videos which tell your story with animated motion graphics along with voiceover. These do not require camera crews or studios and can be disseminated via direct marketing, social media or other promotional tools or platforms. Finally, we come to testimonials, which are a double-edged means of strengthening existing relationships and creating new ones. That said, these should be testimonials with a twist, that is, with the focus on the customer, how they are doing and, where appropriate, how you’re helping. Again, they don’t have to be fancy. They do, however, have to be heartfelt. As noted recently in Forbes, studies show that 80% of consumers have ingested more content since the coronavirus outbreak than they did before, and video is their preferred type of getting that content. By 2022, in fact, it is estimated that 82% of all content creation will be video. Putting it all together, companies need to revisit their marketing plan to assure misgivings didn’t lead to miscalculations in the cost and value of tactical tools, among which are videos, which can help them through the pandemic and keep them on track for an increasingly digital future. If we can help, give us a call at 941.544.2765 or email us directly at info@next-mark.com.

Congratulations to our president and founder Joseph S. Grano, Jr., MBA for being awarded the 2020 Ginnie Duffy Troyer Award of Professionalism. Named in honor of former Central West Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (CWC-FPRA) and Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) president, Ginnie Duffey Troyer, APR, CPRC, this award is presented to a member who displays the highest level of professionalism in the public relations field.”

When a disaster happens, the first reaction for many is “how can I help?” That certainly has proven true during the current pandemic, with people drawing on their individual talents to contribute to the greater good.

Among these altruists are graphic designers, using their skills and insights in creative arts to boost awareness and promote safety measures.

In the United Kingdom, according to Design Week, this effort has included simple, yet effective, door drops and “post cards” that can be slipped through mail slots. Designed to reach the isolated elderly, these pre-designed slips show the volunteer’s name and the services they would be available to do. The missives also include reminders regarding social distancing, hand washing and other precautions.

Skilled in attention-getting, graphic designers are using all the tools in their toolbox to help spread the word and stem the spread.

As noted by artist Juan Delcan in Dezeen, “. . . we artists can help by creating something useful that can make a difference . . . Through powerful and telegraphic images, we can convey the sense of being responsible in a global crisis.” Using strong visuals, animations and even humor, artists worldwide reportedly are seeking to educate, promote unity break the chain of COVID-19.

And their efforts are being acknowledged and encouraged.

As We-heart.com reports, in acknowledgement that visual communication can elicit an emotional response that drives social behaviors, the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization have called on creatives around the world to help stop the spread of misinformation, promote public health precautions and act in solidarity.

The UN believes creatives have “the power to change the world” and has implored the global design community to translate “critical public health messages into work that will engage and inform people across different cultures, languages, communities and platforms.” It also stated that visual imagery has been especially important in reaching the more disadvantaged parts of society, including the illiterate and marginalized.

As a result of this initiative and independent efforts, graphic designers and illustrators have created powerful images, animations, visual representations of symptoms and comic representations of self-quarantine to drive action.

Academia also is actively involved. For instance, at Eastern Connecticut State University, students in the Graphic Design History class have created digital artwork to spread awareness about how to stay safe during the COVID-19 outbreak. Instructor Yulia Tikhonova instigated the project, which supports her belief that the job of artists is to be the emotional “first boots on the ground.”

In the face of COVID-19, she noted: “Academic galleries nationwide are sharing the power of art to inspire and console.”

The stories and the artistry continue.

For those wishing to see the level of creativity the pandemic has generated, we recommend a visit to the Viral Art Project, a depository for posters designed to raise awareness of virus-related challenges and promote unified action, commitment and cooperation.

They’re inspiring. And uplifting. And proof that we’re all powerful in our own ways.

We hope you enjoy them, heed their advice and stay safe.