That crowd you’re ignoring? They’re a missed opportunity.
When most of us think about Procter & Gamble (P&G), we don’t think of men perusing the aisles for their products. We generally think of moms, with two or three kids tugging at her ankles. And that’s where we’re wrong — so says P&G. And they’re proving our cliché assumptions are incorrect with a very successful ManoftheHouse.com website that caters to “the whole man.”
In an engaging interview with David Germano and Craig Heimbuch, who manage HomeMadeSimple.com for P&G as well as ManoftheHouse.com, David and Craig detail just how they came up with this “why didn’t we think of it” digital success.
Basically, while managing HomeMadeSimple.com, they realized that more men were staying at home and/or taking care of their kids. While there was plenty of digital content aimed at single men, there was very little for men who were assuming more parental and household responsibilities. In the 1960s, only 15% of men handled household duties — today that number is around one-third. One million men are stay-at-home dads and one-third of men are the primary grocery shoppers. This sector was being ignored — and P&G’s research indicated that this “ignored” sector was in hot pursuit of online information. Thus, the launch of ManoftheHouse.com.
Rather than going for advertorial-type content — or just focusing on P&G products — the website offers up genuine, interesting content that engages these fellas. As Germano noted, “It is a brand-relevant site, but it’s not a branded site. What this means is that ManoftheHouse.com does not exclusively feature P&G products on the site…To establish ourselves as a credible resource for our audience, it’s important for us to talk about other brands.” In other words, to recommend competitive products if they’re a good fit for what their customer base needs.
What can we learn from this? When it comes to content marketing — don’t let your biases drive how you define your audiences. Think outside the “we know exactly who our customer is” box. Further, be certain to provide original content as well as third-party content — the goal is to provide your audience with information that is of value, not simply information that comes from within your brain trust. Don’t be afraid to share the insights of other experts — P&G isn’t. They’ll call up resources who have more knowledge than they do in order to provide their readers with the content they want. And finally, don’t blather on about your business and how great your products are. Remember, the point is to become a trusted resource of valued, engaging relevant copy — not to “sell” them on how fabulous you are.
