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Thanks for participating!

We hope we gave you some clarity.

Thanks for taking the quiz and for stopping by!

While our Marketing Personality Quiz is not a scientific analysis of your marketing type, it does match what we’ve learned in our forty years of marketing experience. Hopefully, it helped you see that your approach to marketing is not unusual.

There are lots of ways to approach marketing, and most marketing personality types need help to a greater or lesser degree. No matter where you are on the spectrum, BackBurner Marketing can help you meet your business needs. Whether you need a full-blown eCommerce website o, a logo, or a detailed marketing plan, we’ve got your back. 

quiz people

See all the types…

An Expert Marketer
The Architect Marketer
The Builder Marketer
The Floundering Marketer
The BackBurner Marketer
The EXPERT

An Expert Marketer

You can do it yourself!
You and/or your existing staff have the ability and knowledge to not only come up with a solid marketing plan but also build the systems and do the creative necessary to execute your strategies. Once the projects are launched and the results start coming in you have the number-crunching ability to analyze the outcomes. This is an enviable position to be in!

What to watch out for:
While you are well situated to handle your marketing internally, you may want to keep the option of hiring outside help for special projects or when trying new methodologies or technologies that are not in your wheelhouse (yet…or ever). Often, an in-house group gets a little too comfortable with its knowledge base—after all, things are working, right?—and don’t continue to push the boundaries of marketing and learn new methods. Make sure that you or someone on staff keep an ear to the ground when it comes to new technology, apps, programs, and ideas.

How outsourcing could help:
The question to always ask is whether the time invested in some aspects of marketing operations is worth the outcome when your staff time is involved. Put another way, just because you CAN do it in-house, SHOULD you? Are you pulling a writer or designer away from your main business operations to do ad work? Adding capacity using vendors can extend your marketing reach without adding substantially to your long-term overhead: no payroll, benefits, desks and computers to fund. Do a calculation of the time it takes you to do your marketing and how much time it takes from you doing the core responsibilities of your business. Do you make more money if you bring in help than if you do it yourself? Turning some of your production staff into vendor managers can free up a lot of man-hours and expand your workflow volume.

The ARCHITECT

The Architect Marketer

You need a service bureau.
You know WHAT to do but not necessarily HOW to do it…or maybe you just don’t have the time. Having a strong strategic background is critical to getting your marketing done, but the execution is what trips of lots of smart professionals. Some Architects have tremendous strategic understanding, but, since they lack the personal or in-house ability to get marketing action items like copywriting, design, and email marketing done, their company’s marketing can fall flat. The result could be ineffective marketing or, worse, no marketing at all!

But, you can use your knowledge of marketing to its best effect by making a marketing plan and using it as a blueprint for your operations. Not having the resources to do some of the things in-house is not a bad situation. Outsourcing the things you don’t do well to people who are skilled in those areas is smart business!

How outsourcing could help:
Since you know what to do, you need some help getting it done. Hiring a marketing company would be a great idea, and will probably give you a better return on your dollar than hiring a staff person. With an outside, full-service vendor, you will have access to top-flight professional services that will include copywriting, graphic design, social media management, public and media relations, content development, etc. It’s hard to find all that in one person, so hiring to fill that void can be tough. The upshot, too, is that you pay for what you need and won’t have to worry about payroll taxes, health insurance, and the like. Remember, there are costs in addition to salary that can make an employee ultimately much more expensive than a vendor.

What to watch out for:
Be clear with your vendors that you just want them to tackle the “doing” part of the marketing process. Most marketing companies will come in with their own ideas and want to manage more than you, a sharp marketer, will want them to do. From the agency’s standpoint, it’s really good to know that the client will not need those services, so they can devote all of the time to making marketing materials and executing projects rather than strategizing. From the client standpoint, you get more stuff done.

The BUILDER

The Builder Marketer

The builder without plans.
There are a lot of you out there…people who are terrific creatives or great writers who can make just about any advertising or marketing material at a highly professional level. The problem is, you don’t know what to make. It’s easy to respond to an immediate need, like “Hey, we have to put together an ad for Local Contractor Magazine.” Your all-star designer will bang out a winning ad in no time. But, without the impetus of a deadline, the work won’t get done simply because you don’t know to do it. You have reactive marketing operations instead of proactive. More importantly, the deadline came from a magazine who probably contacted YOU in the first place! You and your team make things, you don’t plan them out. Your marketing plan is, at best, out of date. At worst, it’s non-existent.

The result is a lot of great elements—ads, websites, brochures—but none of it tied together by a theme that comes from a professional marketing plan. Two things generally happen, either you get the messaging wrong (and waste a lot of time and money) or you put out a lot of messages at once, potentially confusing your market. A lot of creatives—designers, architects, craftspeople—find themselves in this group. They absolutely hate not being the masters of their own fate…after all, they can DO this stuff…so they shy away from bringing in an expert from outside to help. And, to be honest, people who can make their own materials can be way ahead of the pack in terms of creating a brand look and feel that is personal and spot-on for their companies. The big shortcoming is usually in messaging and positioning. That can make your brand seem disjointed and confused, and sometimes like it’s not all from the same company!

How outsourcing could help:
Marketing companies don’t just make ads and websites. You can do that. They also help craft the messaging, brand profile, and strategies for your company. You can get a marketing company that will help by creating a plan you can use as a blueprint for your marketing. Alternatively, you can get a business coach—specifically one that specializes in marketing—that will provide guidance for your business on a daily or weekly basis. In the latter case, you will still need a comprehensive marketing plan, but you can build it with the coach.

What to watch our for:
You are in a good position, really. Once you get a marketing plan, you can go off on your own—provided you follow it! Many marketing companies will try to sell you services—it’s their business, after all, so you can’t blame them—but you might not need them. Or, depending on what you are capable of doing yourself, you might. Don’t overstretch your capacity out of pride. If you can make an ad then make it. If you can do email marketing but really don’t like the database management and analysis part of it, you can outsource that and still be in charge of most of your activities.

If you get a marketing coach, be sure you are getting your money’s worth every month (or whatever the time frame is). Some coaches try to push some activities or procedures down the road a bit so they can get another month’s retainer. It’s not unethical, really, as there can be legitimate reasons why it would be good to wait a month to see how the dust settles on a new program or to see how an event goes. But, that’s not always the case. If your advisor is always suggesting solutions that take a long time to develop then it might be worth asking for some shorter time frame options.

Shameless self-promotion: BackBurner Marketing, while not making entertaining business quizzes, is a top-notch marketing firm that can handle your smallest marketing project, design and run a specialized campaign, or take over your entire marketing program. Email us at info@backburnermarketing.com to discuss how we can help with your marketing personality!

The FLOUNDER

The Floundering Marketer

Marketing just isn’t your thing.

Believe it or not, you are in the majority of business people. Most are in business because they are really good at a specific thing, and if that thing isn’t marketing then it’s not a shocker that they aren’t necessarily good at the strategic and tactical end of things! Most marketing people aren’t good plumbers, so…yeah. Same thing! Flounders could be amazing at building homes, fixing cars, designing airplanes, farming—anything! Just not marketing. You get the idea. Fortunately, there are those people who do marketing, including the strategy, creative, and management aspects, so that you can get new customers and do what YOU do well!

How outsourcing could help:
Well, how could it not? Recognizing that you need help with marketing will not only free up your time, but it will gain you clients. You will make a heck of a lot more money doing what you do well, concentrating on your craft or specialty, while letting the promotions, lead development, and overall marketing be managed by a full-service firm. Find a marketing team you trust and let them do their job. You will benefit financially and in terms of peace of mind because you will have clients in the pipeline!


What to watch our for:
You need not only creative help but also strategic. Hire a professional marketing firm. We cannot stress this enough!!!! While a design firm might make great logos or brochures, they are not a marketing company. Same goes for web developers. Here’s a little marketing industry insider tip for you, sort of the dirty truth about our business: everybody in ANY part of the marketing world thinks they are marketing experts. There is a tendency for some creative types, notably graphic and web designers, to assert themselves as marketing professionals. That’s understandable, particularly since they tend to see the final product of a marketing strategy come together in their work. The problem is that they are NOT marketers. Our company founder started his career in graphic design, so he knows all about this trend. The difference is that he worked his way up from trained designer to marketing manager to VP of marketing and then Chief Marketing Officer in a three-decade career of high-level marketing.

What about public relations firms or ad agencies? Depending on where you live, public relations firms and ad agencies may do a lot of the same activities as a marketing company. Are they the same? Not really. Despite what PR people will say–and I am sure I will tick off a bunch of them by saying this–public relations and advertising is a subset of marketing. That’s why, in large corporations, the VP of MARKETING generally manages the marketing services, advertising, public relations, graphic and web design (and very often sales, too), as part of his or her team. Your marketing plan may include public relations and advertising (if it doesn’t, you need to ask why), but each are a part of marketing. Ad agencies can come pretty close to a marketing firm in terms of branding and creative, but, again, advertising is a subset of marketing.

The BACKBURNER

The BackBurner Marketer

You may have the ability to do your own marketing…or you may not…but it doesn’t matter because marketing is pretty well off your radar. You are the classic back burner when it comes to marketing. Hey, we get it. We named our company after you!

You know you need to do marketing. You know you should be doing it NOW, but that’s not helping you get it done. Marketing is on the to-do list but it’s pretty far down the list.

That’s not uncommon, but it IS dangerous. When the economy is poor, you need to market your company through the bad patch to a better, more prosperous position. When you are busy, it’s easy to ignore the needs of marketing, but anyone who feels prosperity will last and that customers will always be knocking at the door are the ones least prepared when bad things happen. Hurricanes, floods, riots, pandemics…we’ve had a lot of weird, unexpected things happen in the United States over the past few years. Plan ahead so you don’t have to run like mad to keep up with those who did.

What We Do

Testimonials

what we do

We call ourselves a “creative marketing” firm. For many clients, we do strategic marketing consulting with an emphasis on the visual elements that are inseparable from the modern marketing mix. When not involved in the marketing, we do just about any kind of graphic design work necessary to get a business started or to overhaul an existing business. Richard Williamson has been a designer since 1983, a marketing director and consultant since 1990, and has been making websites since before they were used for business purposes! Michelle Williamson is a web designer and marketing manager. We really enjoy putting an accessible and attractive public face on someone’s business.

So, whatever you are looking for we can generally do it. Typically, we are hired for website design, logos, email and digital marketing, slogans, copywriting, marketing, advertising, direct mail programs, customer loyalty programs, business plans, competitive analyses, and startup business identity and marketing.

You guys did an amazing job with our logo and company image. Kids and adults alike love our look. Everywhere we go we get complements on our awesome uniform designs. Without your efforts with our website and collateral designs we wouldn’t be able to spread the word about lacrosse in our area.

Thank you for everything you are doing to help grow our youth sports league!

Kay-Lyn Renfroe
Ballistic Sports Group, Inc.

What a gift you have…just absolutely great. I am amazed.

Thanks!

Tony Buchwalter
Director of Administrative Services
Children’s Network of Southwest Florida

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Contact Us

BackBurner Marketing, LLC

    239-244-2555

   info@backburnermarketing.com