What is S2? The Future of Marketing Explained!
Hey there – it’s Matt, founder of S2. You might remember me from such blog articles as The 3 Types of Marketing That You’re Using Wrong and Why PR Professionals Need Market Research.
Today, I’m here to talk to you about S2 Marketing – our new brand – and why we’re using S2 to help more clients through, what we believe is, a better approach for the future of marketing strategy!
“But Matt, I thought the brand was called S2 Research. What gives?”
That’s a good question, and it’s actually the reason I wanted to write this article.
What is marketing? And what does market research have to do with marketing? These are questions I’ve been looking to answer my whole career. That’s what we set out solve with S2.
When you think about it, if you have to make marketing strategy defined, it’s best to consider the simplest form: marketing is bringing buyers and sellers together. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re doing – connecting people to the things and services they need.
And then there’s the marketing process, in which we figure out how to bring those buyers and sellers together. If you’ve ever heard me speak on stage before, you probably know this process already: The marketing process begins with marketing research, then leads to marketing strategy, and finalizes with marketing execution.
“Matt, what does any of this have to do with S2 Marketing?”
Another fantastic question! Let me tell you a little story…
The S2 story: our personal marketing journey.
When S2 Research first started in 2019, we wanted to focus on two things:
We wanted to work with other marketers. That’s everyone from agencies to internal marketing teams to business owners, and all in between. We wanted to be a marketing partner that other marketers could rely on.
We wanted to produce some truly incredible market research.
Why market research? Because that’s where this whole marketing process begins! Everything from surveys to focus groups to advanced data analysis simply makes marketing better. S2 Research began because we saw there was a serious need in the marketing world for better market research, and we delivered.
How, exactly, does market research make marketing better? The answer is that market research insights inform better marketing strategy.
Marketing strategy is the lifeblood of marketing. It’s the difference between “just trying marketing ideas” and “making meaningful marketing happen.” It’s placing digital ads when digital ads need to be placed, pitching news media when public relations needs to happen, and moving all of the pieces of marketing together in harmony to work toward an end goal: to bring buyers and sellers together. That’s strategy.
In 2021, we started getting a lot of calls for more marketing strategy work. Our marketing partners didn’t just want insights; they wanted an actionable plan they could put into motion as a result of the insights. And, thus, we started offering a significant amount of strategic services as well.
Finally, at the beginning of 2022, we started to receive some of the most important calls of all: “Hey, can you actually execute a marketing strategy for us?”
This was the moment we realized we needed to offer more to our clients. S2 had grown, at that point, to something bigger than just a research and strategy firm – we were now asking to be a full-fledged marketing partner, for marketers, agencies and businesses.
But now, we’d grown into something bigger than just a Marketing Research or Marketing Strategy agency. We had grown into a full-fledged Marketing Partner!
Which brings us back to S2. Today, we’re proud to be known as S2 Marketing, or just S2 for short. We’re an insights-first marketing agency, devoted to exactly one, very meaningful thing:
We solve complex marketing challenges.
And we’re excited to help so many marketing brands even more, by doing exactly that. That’s the point of this article, in fact; to help more marketers understand how a marketing partner like S2 can help make their marketing better.
S2 is an insights-first marketing research partner.
S2 started as a marketing research firm – the market research partner for marketers – because we’ve always believed that insights are at the root of the best marketing the world has ever known.
Today, we’ve kept the exact same insights-first thinking in our ethos. We’re an insights-first marketing partner, specializing in delivering cutting-edge marketing research insights to solve complex marketing challenges.
Our marketing process always begins with research. We partner with marketing organizations, marketing agencies, marketing teams and private businesses to understand the roots of their challenges, and then devise strategic marketing research methodologies to find the answers we need.
We use quantitative market research surveys to understand, mathematically, how audiences think, feel and behave.
We use qualitative methodologies, like in-depth-interviews and focus groups, to dive deep into the real thinking happening inside minds of customers, clients and constituents.
We use secondary data sources, like U.S. Census data and existing research reports, to discern insights from the information already available.
Whether we’re conducting a full-scale study for a marketing client, or we’re making sense of existing data on behalf of an agency marketing partner, we believe the best marketing begins with meaningful market research, and that’s the thinking we take into every project in which we participate.
First and foremost, we’re an insights-first marketing team.
S2 is a research-first marketing strategy agency.
Think about marketing strategy again, just like we discussed it before. Marketing strategy is all the pieces moving in harmony, together.
At S2, we take strategy seriously, because a true marketing strategy means the right marketing happens in the right succession to solve complex business challenges. That’s why we consider ourselves a research-first marketing strategy agency.
Just like we mentioned, we start all our projects with insights, and the same is true with our strategic planning for our marketing partners.
We use macro and micro data to produce segmentation.
We use audience insights, market insights and competitor insights to generate client personas and messaging maps.
We use marketing journey mapping to produce meaningful top-down marketing funnels.
We coordinate our marketing efforts to sales efforts, ensuring each works off each other in succession.
And, together, research-driven marketing tools like these help produce outstanding marketing. Why? Because they’re real roadmaps toward marketing success, based on the real people marketers are trying to reach.
It’s not based on guesswork. It’s not based on gut feelings. It’s tactical, step-by-step marketing plans, propelled by the data-driven truths that define something as truly, wonderfully strategic.
S2 is a strategy-driven marketing execution partner.
Of course, having a strategy alone is not enough to make marketing work. That’s because the strategy itself does not get the marketing done. A strategy might say “we need outdoor advertising that coincides with a social media campaign,” but now the actual artwork for that outdoor needs to be created, the advertising space purchased, the social media content developed and scheduled…in short, the marketing strategy must be executed.
I mentioned earlier, at the beginning of 2022 we started to have more and more marketing strategy clients ask our team to execute strategic marketing on their behalf. And of course, we were happy to help!
Strategic sales support.
Networking support and planning.
Thought leadership platform development.
Social media content development.
Digital media and backlink outreach.
In-person marketing activation planning and execution.
And more…
At the end of the day, we love the marketing process, and we love helping marketers and businesses make their marketing strategies happen. That’s why we launched an entire division around bringing marketing to life, with the development of S2 Execution.
Learn more the S2 Execution division of S2 Marketing by clicking here.
S2 is a marketing partner for marketing agencies.
Marketing agency thinking is in our lifeblood; it’s our experience, and one of our favorite industries to work within. Today, we work with marketing agencies across the globe, helping them with research, strategy and execution as needed.
Today, more than half of small and mid-sized agencies do not have access to an in-house market research partner. That’s why we partner with agencies all over the world, to help them conduct meaningful market research as part of their marketing strategies.
We conduct B2B market research surveys and B2C market research surveys, and produce creative briefs and audience segmentation analyses as a result.
We conduct market research focus groups and audience interviews, and deliver buyer personas for marketing and messaging briefs to guide communication.
We conduct data analyses and build cutting-edge interactive dashboards, which marketers can use immediately to begin devising strategies based on real customer insights.
We write data-driven white papers, convert primary research into on-stage thought leadership presentations, and create informative infographics to be used in public relations and social media marketing campaigns.
As we’ve already discussed, marketing research is at the heart of great marketing, and we’re proud to deliver the market research marketing agencies need to help them produce the best possible results for their clients.
But now, we provide even more exciting offerings to our agency marketing partners as well!
Strategic marketing planning support.
Marketing message ideation and marketing message testing.
Long-form content development for content marketing.
Short-form content development for content marketing.
Copywriting for advertising, marketing, sales and public relations.
Social media management and sales support.
Email marketing development and digital lead generation.
In-person event planning and hosting.
Sales event planning and hosting.
In-person and grassroots marketing activation development.
And much, much more.
S2 is proud to offer our services to our agency marketing partners whenever they’re needed, in the same capacity in which we have always provided our market research partner services. There’s just simply too much marketing happening in marketing today, and none of us can be expected to do it all, which is why we’re so excited to help so many amazing teams!
S2 is a marketing partner for marketing teams.
With thousands of companies globally conducting much of their marketing in-house, and with so many professional marketers making their careers inside companies rather than agencies, working with in-house marketing teams has been a major part of our growth, and it’s how we plan to continue to help even more marketers in the future.
Through our exciting work with brands including YouTube, Calven, Asite, Brightline, BriteCo and more, we’ve had the opportunity to work with dozens of in-house marketers around the globe, working again as a marketing partner, facilitating the tactical marketing needs of different marketing teams.
We’ve helped in-house marketing teams understand more about their audiences worldwide.
We’ve developed brand positioning thinking to help drive strategy, as an impartial third-party, for in-house marketing teams.
We’ve created web content, sales materials and email content that converts, in service of in-house marketing teams and in-house sales teams who need additional support.
And while in-house marketing teams and marketing agencies are obviously very different, one thing is for sure: we love working in marketing with both groups!
Are you part of an in-house marketing team? Let’s talk!
That’s why S2 is so excited to work with in-house marketing teams around the planet, to help them with their marketing wherever and however we can with the expertise in marketing research, marketing strategy and marketing execution at our disposal!
S2 is a white label marketing partner.
Of course, there might be a chance you’ve never heard of S2 at all. No S2 Research, no S2 Marketing, no S2 Execution nor S2 Strategy. Wow, that’s a lot of S2s!
And, honestly, that might be because we love to play behind the scenes a lot as well!
S2 is a white label marketing agency partner whenever our partners need us. Sometimes marketing teams need the aide of a full-service market research department right in their own office, or to bring the expertise of our experienced marketing strategists to their next client meeting. And, for their strategies, they want to use their brand instead of S2.
We work in marketing, and understand that you do, too. That means you have a plan for your marketing and business at every phase, and we’re so excited to be able to make that strategy a reality, whatever the plan.
When you need us to be a white label marketing partner for your agency or marketing team, we’re there to enhance what your brand can deliver for the client!
Innovative in-person events, produced by your marketing team.
Cutting-edge marketing research, delivered by your company’s expert market researchers.
Breathtaking strategic development, crafted by tenured marketing strategists who represent your brand.
Engaging content, created by your own group of writers and designers.
Simply put, sometimes your strategy dictates a need for your team to have in-house expertise – not S2 expertise. And here we are, white labeling and all that jazz. Because, at the end of the day, it’s all about strategic marketing, and we’re proud to be a strategic marketing partner for teams like yours.
S2 is a marketing partner for businesses.
Of course, some businesses don’t have access to marketing at any level. No agency marketing team, no in-house marketing team, and not enough time to do it yourself.
If you’ve been reading this article in its entirety, you know that one of the major reasons we grew into S2 is because we wanted to help businesses like these execute their marketing strategy.
Today, we’re proud to work with a variety of businesses as their marketing team, providing the following areas of expertise and tactical marketing services:
Fractional CMO responsibility management.
Ongoing SEO and keyword analysis.
Long-term marketing strategy execution.
Day-to-day marketing management.
Sales and networking support.
In-person event and in-person marketing activation management.
Email marketing management.
Content marketing management.
And even more than that!
Every client strategy is uniquely different, and thus every marketing execution plan is unique as well. Yet, at the end of the day, it’s all about bringing together buyers and sellers, and that’s the primary support we provide to businesses like yours.
S2 is your inspiration for better marketing.
When I started S2 Research, I wanted to help marketers understand the creative inspiration that comes from exciting market research. And today, that’s exactly what S2 still does!
We solve complex business challenges through research and creativity.
We inspire better marketing ideas through insight and direction.
We deliver clever, thoughtful and meaningful when modern marketing strategy demands all, and more.
We create that which must be created to ignite incredible marketing programs. We are S2.
And, we’ve grown! We’re now a tremendous team of more than five, and we’ve even brought some new-but-familiar faces to our team.
We can’t wait to share even more about what S2 means in future blog articles like this one. Be sure to keep an eye out, because we have many more exciting things planned!
Have a question? Want to learn more about how S2 is changing marketing for so many marketers all over the world? Learn more about what we do by clicking here!
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