A Chat with Christine B. Whittemore
Back in 2007, Christine B. Whittemore built a website that embraced the principles of inbound marketing long before the concept itself became ubiquitous within the industry. While the phrase “thought leader” is overused in the professional world, it’s moments like these that prove she has the knowledge and experience to wear that label.
Her digital marketing expertise made her the perfect candidate for Wilde Agency‘s brand new interview series – focused on actionable marketing tips for you, our readers – and fortunately, Christine was kind enough to take a break from her duties as Chief Simplifier for Simple Marketing Now to chat with us about behavioral science, the modern content marketing landscape and much more!
Read what she had to say below, and if you’re craving more, be sure to follow Christine on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or of course, her excellent blog.
Everyone loves a good origin story. Tell us a little bit about how you became “The Simplifier”.
The Simplifier came about as a result of a driftwood sign with “Simplify” on it that I received during my corporate days. I was so taken with how it succinctly captured reducing things to their most basic concept, an approach I take with everything I do. I placed that sign on my office wall so I could always see it.
When I launched Simple Marketing Now, ‘simplify’ kept inspiring strategy discussions. Hence the business name and my title as chief simplifier.
An added bonus is that it’s a great conversation starter.
You write on your site that you’re “constantly studying the world around you”. What’s the most recent lesson the world had to teach you?
Be grounded in the reality of customers. As much time as we spend with technology and social networks, that’s not necessarily where and how they spend their time. Observing and being mindful of those different realities means you are in a better position to simplify and offer relevant solutions that work.
(Retail anthropologist Paco Underhill makes that point repeatedly in Why We Buy, a book worth rereading regularly.)
Don’t forget, too, to be open to new ideas. With the right perspective, you’ll find possibilities in how produce is merchandised at the supermarket or from a totally unexpected Google search.
For example, I love how the official blog of Richmond, Virginia – linked here – creates community and brings a physical location to life. I’m not from Richmond; I don’t live in Richmond. It’s just simply a great blog.
When we last spoke, you were reading up on persuasion. Is there a particular principle of human behavior that you find fascinating?
I’m reading Robert Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, and it is fascinating! Talk about studying the world around you! It’s making me observe, think and wonder about every interaction, including recent conversations with my daughter when I think I’ve gotten an upper hand.
It’s fascinating how social networks are building in so many principles of human behavior.
Birthdays on Facebook become a feeding frenzy of good wishes from people you may not remember that are really hard to acknowledge individually. So, of course you’re going to reciprocate and feel guilty if you aren’t keeping pace.
LinkedIn has started similar reminders about business anniversaries. It’s helpful, but the personalized touch is getting lost.
Now, let’s flip things around and let you teach our readers something! What’s the secret to getting found online?
The biggest secret is that it’s an ongoing process.
Take care of the basics on your website, such as having unique page titles and descriptions, helpful content – including images with <alt> tags – that is relevant to your audiences.
Claim and complete your digital profiles. Start by doing a Google search on your company name. Claim any listings that come up on that first page of results (e.g., Yelp or SuperPages or Google maps listing). Be consistent and complete your LinkedIn company and your Facebook Page profiles.
Keep your site fresh and up-to-date. That’s where a blog really helps especially if you consistently and regularly publish quality articles.
Encourage everyone in your organization to be active in relevant social circles on behalf of the business and regularly invite people back to your website.
Use content on your website for following up with potential customers.
Think of it this way: your website is the 24/7 digital equivalent of your physical location with all its people and resources. Make all of that energy come through so that, when visitors first come across you online because your brilliant content appears in their search results – which is where it tends to happen more often than not – they’ll fall in love with you, your people, your company. They start to trust your perspective and eventually decide they can’t go anywhere else for their business!
And, don’t forget in-real-life opportunities. That drives online traffic, too.
How does a client with a “boring” product or service successfully do inbound marketing?
Well, boring usually means less noise and competition which make for interesting inbound marketing possibilities, especially when you come up with a memorable point-of-view that’s relevant to your prospective customers.
Take fans. That’s boring. Look at BigAssFans.com: boring? Not!
Which social media platforms are most neglected by marketing professionals? How have you used them to drive results for your own business or clients?
I’m not sure about most neglected platforms. There are just too many social networks, and no way to do them all justice, so you are sure to neglect some.
What’s more likely is that marketers may spend too much time on social platforms for the wrong reasons – they go down a rabbit hole and forget why, or they’re on sites that aren’t relevant to their customer base. Or, they may not allocate enough time to the ones that matter – including real life social networks.
Since time is limited, you’re better off having goals for social activities so you get the right results, whether it’s engagement, new leads, visits to your site, feedback for customer service, etc. That way you can strategically pick and choose the platform, be consistent with your activities and then review results to adjust as you need to.
A bigger issue for marketers is how to interact on platforms that are social by their very nature. They are about people interacting with people rather than with logos. So the more human and approachable the brand can be, the more effective that social investment will be.
What is the biggest mistake people make with marketing automation software?
The biggest mistake is ignoring that you still need to do strategy work upfront. Marketing automation software is great. I can’t imagine doing business without it. However, the software is just a tool for doing business and only as good as the thought put into using it to build trust with people, be helpful, etc.
It goes back to being human and approachable to prospective customers. Your tools need to help you do that.
How effective are blogs for business? Given how crowded the content marketing landscape has become, what would you recommend for someone looking to break through the clutter?
Blogs remain hugely beneficial despite how crowded the content marketing landscape has become. It’s your business printing press, your tool for creating fresh delicious content that helps your prospects and supports your business.
To break through the clutter, focus on your customer personas and their issues; avoid short throwaway articles and write high-quality posts that go in depth and educate. And then use that content in emails, for follow up, during real life events. Make it part of how you do business.
How do you keep up with the rapid changes in this space? Where do you see us headed in the future?
There isn’t enough time in the day to keep up!
I scan marketing emails and social feeds in short bursts. I read Fast Company magazine, which is more about innovative thinking than digital marketing. I also attend INBOUND, the MarketingProfs B2B Forum and informational webinars as relevant.
What has been most effective, though, is deliberately silencing notifications, pings and updates so I can focus. When I need to learn more about a topic, I do a deep dive via search.
I see even more change, interruptions and pressure to distract in the future which means more opportunity for businesses to encourage what Google refers to as ‘make time’ rather than ‘manage time’.
Finally, if you could “simplify” everything we’ve discussed in this interview, what’s the one lesson that readers should take away from it?
Stay focused and mindful. Be open to new ideas. Pay close attention to your customers and their needs so you can provide them with value. Simple, right?
CONSIDER ALSO READING – How To Create Persuasive Email Marketing
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