The Pinnacles from the Public Relations Society of America are one of my favorite marketing industry awards out there. That’s why I was incredibly honored to have won one with the S2 Research brand last week, and I wanted to share the results with you!
The Pinnacle Awards
The PRSA Pinnacle Awards are honored to those doing extraordinary work in the fields of public relations and strategic communications. I first participated in the awards when working at an amazing communications firm here in Nevada, and was immediately enthralled by the amount of incredible work that was honored.
A few years later, I was fortunate enough to lead a marketing team that eventually was honored with a Pinnacle, and also took Best in Show that night. It’s one of my proudest marketing achievements from my agency days, and you can still see it mentioned on my resume today!
Public Relations and Market Research
The world of Public Relations might not seem like the obvious place for masterful market researchers to work, but it’s actually one of my favorite industries to help!
Public relations is a facet of marketing designed to hone in on exactly the right message. And, market research is designed to help find and take advantage of that message. That’s why I’m proud to work with many different amazing public relations pros, and offer a variety of public relations market research services as well.
The 2020 PRSA Pinnacle Awards
I’ve met some amazing marketers through PRSA over the years, and several of them in late summer asked if I was submitting for the PRSA’s Pinnacle Awards in the Research and Data Analysis category. Truthfully, I hadn’t considered it at that point, but still being fond of the awards, I realized I might have a chance to make an impact.
I decided to take a look at a project I started earlier this year, the S2 Research Survey of Marketers. In that report, I was able to capture a great deal of incredible marketing information, and share it with a huge audience.
But what many people didn’t know was much of the behind-the-scenes work that went into the report! Not only did I use cutting edge market research and data analysis technology and methods to help make the most of the market research opportunity - I also developed a unique technology stack designed to incorporate several social media marketing technologies, all to pioneer a new alternative to traditional Survey Panel programs.
The results were spectacular, and I was so excited that I had to write it and submit the process to the PRSA Pinnacle Awards!
And the winner is…
To my (and my wife’s) delight, the Survey of Marketers was honored with a Pinnacle Award, the highest award offered for an individual category by the chapters of the Public Relations Society of America.
Winning this award for the first time on my own, and in the Market Research and Data Analysis category of all categories, was an absolutely incredible achievement, and one that makes me so proud of all the hard work that’s gone into S2 Research since the beginning.
Be sure to watch the exceptionally candid video my wife took of me learning that S2 Research had won the Pinnacle award!
Download the Case Study
So, what’s next for a PRSA Pinnacle Award Winning Market Research Partner for Marketers?
Well, I’ve always been a fan of sharing great information with the world, which is why I put together a case study based on the entire PRSA submission!
Rather Read the Case Study Here?
Of course, not everyone wants to download a full case study, which is why I’ve also included the text from the case study below. I hope you enjoy!
Introduction
Founded in 2019 in Henderson, Nev., S2 Research is the brand name for market research and strategy consultant Matt Seltzer. Seltzer works as an outsourced market research partner for small to mid-sized advertising, public relations, digital and other marketing firms that do not have access to an in-house research team.
Since its beginning, lead generation, by means of reaching and building relationships with a national audience of marketing decision makers, has been a priority for S2 Research. However, as the brand has grown, it’s become aware of a challenge: the majority of agencies that do not currently employ an in-house research team also often struggle to see the value of the market research service line at all. As a result, lead generation has proven challenging.
Research
S2 Research set out to solve its lead generation hurdle by analyzing a variety of secondary research sources throughout the marketing ecosphere, focusing on finding tactics that could reach a wider, national audience. Research resources used in this process included information from sources like the American Marketing Association, Hubspot and Content Marketing Institute.
The research findings identified the rising trend of content marketing as means of effective B2B lead generation. Under this strategy, original long-form thought-leadership content, such as white paper articles and primary research studies, is created and published under the brand name. The content is marketed through public relations and digital marketing tactics, and the final product is kept behind a ‘gate’ on the publisher’s website, requiring readers to submit contact information for access. Thus, the process increases both brand affinity while directly, quantifiably impacting lead generation as well.
Based on this information, a thought-leadership-focused content marketing strategy was deemed the optimum plan for S2 Research to achieve new business leads.
Planning
Based on the strategy identified in the research phase, S2 Research set out to publish a thought-leadership-focused market research survey report of its own primary audience, the nationwide marketing industry (including both agency and in-house marketers).
Based on this direction, the following parameters were set:
Project Goal: Increase total database of leads by at least 50 percent.
Objectives:
Increase month-over-month website traffic by at least 50 percent.
Secure at least two articles in targeted media outlets that include a hyperlink to the white paper for download.
Achieve at least a 25 percent open rate in email marketing to existing contacts.
Timeline: Planning for the project began on Mar. 1, 2020. One week was set aside to develop the necessary implementation assets, one month was intended for data collection, and one week was set aside for development of the final report. The white paper was targeted for publication in the second half of April, with marketing intended for four weeks following publication. The final project, including evaluation, would be completed on May 31, 2020.
Based on the timeline, a hybrid quantitative/qualitative market research survey was first developed in the SurveyMonkey platform. The questions addressed a variety of marketing challenges, such as the roles, effectiveness and profitability of various marketing tactics. The study also quantified the perceived value of research within the target audience, in order to identify avenues of discussion for future marketing.
Next, data collection needed to be addressed. This process generally accounts for the majority of a market research budget and always exceeds the $400 project budget. To counter this, S2 Research explored alternative data collection means, eventually settling on Dux Soup, an email marketing platform designed to work with B2B social networking platform LinkedIn. Utilizing LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator tool in conjunction, S2 Research could solicit survey responses from the target audience for a total cost of less than $200, leaving a substantial portion of the budget aside for paid marketing tactics.
Finally, a data analysis tool was developed in the Tableau data visualization software, in order to analyze the survey responses quickly at the completion of the collection process.
Implementation
The survey went live on LinkedIn on Mar. 9, and within schedule, collection was completed one month later on Apr. 10. After reviewing the responses for completion and accuracy, it was determined that a total of 278 usable surveys were collected spanning a nationwide U.S. marketing audience, yielding an accuracy of ±6 percent (meaning if the survey were to be performed again, the responses would be within 6 percentage points – a relatively strong level of accuracy).
The responses were analyzed using the Tableau data visualization tool, and the findings were published in a 24-page market research white-paper report format titled “S2 Research Survey of Marketers.” The report included written analysis, infographs, charts, and top-level findings such as the value marketers placed on market research compared against copywriting, digital marketing and public relations.
The report was published on Apr. 20, with a downloadable PDF available on the S2 Research website behind a lead-generation download form. A press release announcing the top-level findings was written and shared with data and marketing reporters, and a targeted social media marketing campaign, using organic postings on LinkedIn and a combination of organic and paid (using the remainder of the project budget) on Facebook and Instagram was also implemented through mid-May. The report was also distributed through MailChimp to S2 Research’s database of leads and current clients in order to reconnect and also increase distribution.
Evaluation
In the weeks following the Survey of Marketers report’s publication, the total number of leads in the S2 Research database increased by more than 75 percent, surpassing the original 50 percent goal and crowning April 2020 as the month with the highest month-over-month growth in new leads in the company’s history thus far.
Based on the project’s objectives, the following achievements were met:
S2 Research saw an increase in website traffic of more than 100 percent, doubling the original objective.
Marketing news website Marketing Charts publishing an article on the research report’s findings, and Nevada Business Magazine published the press release to help tap into S2 Research’s local market audience, achieving the objective of two media pickups with backlinks.
The email marketing campaign was opened by nearly 1 in 2 contacts, outperforming industry-standard email marketing open rates, and a follow-up email to non-openers captured an additional 16 percent. A third email sharing the Marketing Charts article was also distributed in May to the now larger audience database, and successfully achieved a 1 in 2 open rate as well.
Overall, the project was a huge success, achieving or exceeding the goal and all objectives. The strategy was so successful that Seltzer has continued to pursue and publish three more original market research reports since, each focused on different aspects of the marketing industry. He’s also experimented with new data collection methods beyond Dux Soup in an effort to maximize response rate, as well as new marketing methods to increase interest in S2 Research’s thought leadership pieces.
Moving forward, S2 Research plans to continue to publish original market research white papers and reports as a means of marketing the brand, and is also pivoting to offer similar content marketing pieces as a new service offering for the brand’s clients.