Disposable diapers are a $5 billion per year business in the U.S. alone. Procter & Gamble, the manufacturer of Pampers, can attribute 12 percent of its total sales to the diaper, making it their largest brand. P&G controls 30.9 percent of the North American diaper market, and lags only Kimberly-Clark’s Huggies at 38.7 percent. Yet, a Google search for “potty training” yields first-page search results from websites of both Huggies and Pampers. So why do Huggies and Pampers want to help potty train our kids?
What is not lacking – information
There are literally thousands of resources for those trying to potty train their children. The Mayo Clinic, Babycenter.com, and even Wikipedia all have tips and tricks on their sites. Most say the same things in a slightly different way, and all the methods eventually yield the same result. So, there’s no lack of resources available.
Step one – attention
What’s the thing most lacking when it comes to sales & marketing, however? Attention. How do we get people to listen to us? Super Bowl TV ads sell for such an incredible sum because of the huge audience, right? So how do we compete in the online space to gain attention?
By targeting our demographic. Parents with small children are interested in things consistent with that lifestyle. As an example, the following Google searches would NOT come from parents of newborns and toddlers –
- What do I do with all my spare time?
- How do I discover myself through 4 weeks of solitude?
- Should I replace my convertible with a new one?
However, the following questions would come from parents of small children –
- What easy and healthy meals can I prepare quickly for my family?
- What is the best workout I can do in 15 minutes?
- How do I potty train my toddler?
Huggies and Pampers both understand the importance of the last query. If their companies are not answering the questions coming from their customers, then someone else is. Said another way, if they’re taking the time to educate their target demographic, they’re going to earn the attention of that audience.
Step two – trust
After the Google search for, “How do I potty train my toddler?” a parent clicks on the helpful article from Huggies. Guess what? It’s actually really good. It’s not a commercial for diapers, or an advertorial. The folks at Huggies have taken the time to actually research the answer to the question, and have written a well-crafted response.
As a result, the parent now trusts Huggies to answer questions he or she has. Huggies is seen as a purveyor of high-quality content directed relevant to his or her needs. Now that the parent is on the Huggies website, the real work begins.
Step three – engagement
Huggies has the ideal person visiting their website, and that person has read an article. How does Huggies keep that visitor on their site? By assuring that other important content is easily found as well. The article could conclude with links to other relevant articles, as well as a coupon to to try Pull Ups, Huggies intermediate product for the period between diapers and no diapers.
By simply investing the time to write one article about potty training, Huggies and Pampers both have visitors coming to their site that wouldn’t have ventured there before. After all, who would expect a diaper manufacturer to help potty train your child?
Another example – a real estate agent
A typical real estate agent might invest marketing time and money through large “open house” placards, magnetic signs for the sides of his or her car, or baking cookies during the open house. What if the real estate agent used the same strategy that Huggies and Pampers did, though? As opposed to concentrating on the act of buying houses, that agent could write articles like –
- What are the best school systems in Dane County?
- What are the best restaurants in the city of Madison?
- What are the best neighborhoods to live in in Madison?
This agent would be answering questions from his or her ideal demographic and earn the trust and attention of that person before meeting to discuss the house-buying process.
Produce great content relevant to your audience
Did you know 57% of due-diligence is done before your customers even contact you? By concentrating on the needs of your ideal customer, your customer will be much, much more apt to find you through relevant Google searches, and you will be seen as a trusted resource instead of a commodity. Contact us if you’d like help with finding indirect – yet relevant – ways to capture the attention of your customers.