One of the greatest schemes in content marketing history was pulled off in the early 1930s… And it all goes back to content.

It was a risky move – yet one that ended up putting products for one of today’s most prominent companies in front of a national audience of their best buyers.

In fact, the plan worked so well that it played out for more than 80 years -and in the process, helped turn a small Cincinnati company into a $200-billion brand.

Here’s what happened:

In 1933, Procter & Gamble launched its first soap opera on NBC Radio. The plan was to produce a daytime program with steamy storylines that appealed to the company’s primary demographic: housewives.

Their reasoning was brilliant.

You see, P&G used commercial breaks to advertise their consumer goods, especially soaps and detergents. These were popular products to promote because women were often cleaning during the day, while listening to the radio.

When televisions starting replacing radios in people’s homes, P&G simply moved their soap operas to the new medium.

The strategy worked so well over the years that P&G started its own production company. P&G Productions created 20 soap operas on radio and television, becoming a pioneer in producing daytime programs like As The World Turns and Guiding Light.

In fact, Guiding Light still holds the Guinness World Record for the longest running show in broadcast history.

So, what’s all this soap opera stuff have to do with your business?

Well, look at P&G’s strategy and you’ll see it’s pretty easy to replicate. All they did was consistently create and distribute content that attracted their best buyers.

Plain and simple.

Now, it wasn’t until they had the attention and interest of an audience that they then presented their products.

Unfortunately, too many businesses go about this process the opposite way – and it messes up their marketing. They pitch products and services first, before there’s any attention or interest.

The other benefit of P&G’s strategy is that they controlled the communication to their audience. P&G didn’t have to keep paying to get in front of potential buyers.

They had a built-in audience that craved their content and talked about it with other people.

Keep these concepts in mind as you review your marketing efforts. And if you haven’t already, start creating a content plan that gets your message in front of your best buyers.

By Tom Trush