Social Media Marketing, or SMM, is a type of web advertising that actualizes different online networking systems with a specific end goal to accomplish showcasing correspondence and brand objectives. Social media marketing primarily involves activities that involve socially sharing content, videos and images for marketing purposes, as well as paid social media ads.
Every company must plan, because building a social media marketing plan is essential. Considering keyword research and ideas that will interest your target audience.
Also, must be consistent with other areas of online marketing, as content is vital when designing a social media marketing strategy. The content must be of valuable information that ideal customers will find interesting.
By creating a variety of content by implementing social media images, videos and infographics, as well as classic text-based content, it can attract the audience.
Likewise, the use of consistent brand image such as the use of social media for marketing allows the company to project their brand image across a variety of different social media platforms.
Blogging is a great social media marketing tool that allows companies to share information and content with readers.
While using social media marketing is primarily based on your business sharing their own original content to gain followers, and devotees, it is also excellent for linking to external articles. Linking to external sources improves trust and reliability, and you can even get some links back.
It is always important to follow competitors as they can provide valuable data for keyword research, where to get industry related links and other social media marketing ideas.
Measuring success with Analytics is useful because you can not determine the success of your social media marketing strategies without tracking data. Google Analytics can be used as a great social media marketing tool that will help you measure your triumphant social media marketing techniques as well as determine which strategies are best abandoned. Attach following labels to your web-based social networking promoting efforts so you can screen them legitimately.
Apple is “the world's largest information technology company by revenue, the world's largest technology company by total assets, and the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer, by volume, after Samsung. In November 2014, Apple became the first U.S. company to be valued at over US$700 billion in addition to being the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization.”-1 The great multinational company uses strategic SMM moves in order to reach a wider audience when advertising its products. It is a wealthy multinational corporation that “has enjoyed almost unparalleled revenue growth from 2004 to 2014 — $8 billion to $180 billion.”-2
But how does Apple work in regards to Strategic Media Marketing?
First of all, Apple wants to create awareness of its brand: Of course, a good marketing is fundamental for raising awareness. The web composition is characteristic for the image personality, as is the signage outside each area, the uniform that representatives wear, and how they address their clients, every one of these parts of their business are basic to building their image personality. They already integrate consistently a lower case "i" on new computerized items (example: iPhone, iPad, iPod…) This predictable utilization of a key marking segment guarantees that customers can without much of a stretch recognize another item as originating from us, Apple, regardless of the possibility that they've not known about it by any means. They want to feel in our customer's shoes so that they can exactly know what they need and like. Apple’s company’s reputation makes them become surrounded by talented people, and thus increase their quality as a brand. Even so, they want to keep on creating and raising their brand.
The image Apple gives and the confidence they want to transmit to customers is crucial for the company, this is part of their strategy to gain clients and keep old ones.
Although, “Apple does social media differently than its peers in the tech world, and though it isn't ignoring social to the extent it did in the past, you shouldn't expect to see any official @Apple account on Twitter anytime soon.”-3 Also, “While Apple generally distances itself from social media on a corporate level, the company's CEO Tim Cook and many of its flagship services, including the App Store, Apple Music and Beats1, take a more active and meaningful approach to the medium.”-3 In order to create a closer link with its clients and give a more personal touch to the company.
It is important to target the right people, the correct audience, and Apple does this in several ways by answering this questions in regards to their target audience:
How old are they? - Between 15-35
What is their income? - From 2.000 euros upwards
Do they have children? - Normally are more young people that buy these products but we are starting to increasing in small children with iPad use, so really we can apply to families and single customers.
What do they like or dislike? - They love the sophistication of Apple products, the design, the innovation it emits.
What motivates them?- Motivates them the need of having these originalities and what it means to have them, power, elegance.
Using social media in order to attract and engage customer to the Company would indeed be beneficial for Apple.
For example, with RSS that is an XML format to syndicate or share content on the web, used to disseminate updated information frequently to users who have subscribed to the content source. The format would allow Apple to distribute content without the need for a browser, using programs called news aggregators, designed to read RSS content such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, among others. (Although Apple has Safari, still RSS would be helpful.)
Also, microblogging is used, but not directly by Apple. Microblogging, is a service that allows its users to send and post brief messages, usually text only. Options for sending messages vary from websites, through SMS, instant messaging or applications. Apple does keep in contact with its clients in a number of ways, but microblogging would give the large multinational a closer link with the audience.
Truth is the most valuable company in the world does not engage in social media environment, and although Apple’s CEO Tim Cook stated during an interview on PBS: ““We have no plans to be in the social networking business” Apple is not a complete holdout of major social media platforms. “Many of its related services, including iTunes, Apple Music and Apple Store, take an active approach on social media (Kapko, 2016), whereas the company’s Twitter account has zero tweets, its Facebook page has 9,286,411 likes but no visible activity, while Apple’s LinkedIn page with 2,826,301 followers, it is treated as a mere job recruiting platform, with no shared insights on the company or products, making Apple’s pages appear as digital ghost towns.”-4
Therefore, Apple bases its Social Media Marketing in being transparent in social media, following it’s private policy for example, Apple keeps the upcoming products hidden from its competitors, having a good personal contact with client, and “Despite Apple does not interfere in their conversations and contribute with content, it provides two online forums where to share solutions or ask questions to other users: Apple Support Communities and Apple Developers Forums.”
Apple now has 72% of the world's mobile phone subscriber base covered with 375 carriers supporting iPhone. In recent years, Apple has benefited greatly by adding carrier distribution partners, such as NTT DOCOMO and China Mobile. Apple is still seeing a positive impact from China Mobile despite it being a full year after launch as Apple continues to work on expanding distribution points in China, both in terms of brick-and-mortar retail as well as online. The easy growth phase may be over in terms of carrier expansion, which is why appealing to Android and feature phone users may represent most of the iPhone's near-term growth potential. Nevertheless, countries such as India and Brazil represent untapped sales potential. While such markets are not as established compared to China, there is room to expand iPhone's reach.
Apple is positioning iPhone into critical aspects of our lives (home, health, car, finance) using HomeKit, HealthKit, CarPlay, and Apple Pay. Such efforts are not only to prevent Android from establishing insurmountable positions in key parts of our daily lives, but also to increase the iPhone's value proposition. The Apple Watch may also come into play as an ancillary device meant to break complex tasks into simpler, more manageable ones, may prove to increase iPhone loyalty and serve as a catalyst for driving news users to iOS.
With approximately 80-85% of iPhone unit sales coming from previous iPhone owners, it is crucial that Apple maintains a healthy iPhone upgrade cycle. Assuming a 2-3 year life cycle and relying on a few data points from Apple's recent earnings call, I estimate that approximately 185 million iPhone users are likely to buy a new iPhone in 2015, up from 165 million users in 2014 and 130 million users in 2013.
Android represented approximately 80% of global smartphone sales in 2014, depicted in Exhibit 2. In order for Apple to achieve 50% iPhone unit sales growth within three years, Apple needs approximately 40-45 million iPhone unit sales annually to come from new users who currently don't own an iPhone. Android would be positioned as the most likely target for these platform switchers given Windows' low market share and Blackberry's lack of sales.
Considering that Apple sold 20-30 million iPhones to new users annually since 2012, it is achievable to grow this to 40-45 million new users a year (the range required to grow iPhone shipments 50% by 2017). China Mobile alone may represent 15-20 million new iPhone users a year.
With a target of acquiring 40-45 million new iPhone users each year, Apple would be aiming for the top 4% of the Android base, which is a plausible goal. In terms of the most appropriate Android competition, 40-45 million represents less than 15% of Samsung's annual smartphone shipments. The high-end Android phone environment is quite different in 2015 as Samsung has lost momentum and Apple has a more competitive phone in terms of screen size. Samsung still has 20-30% share of the smartphone market in many developed countries, and those users will eventually be ready to upgrade their phone. Samsung has loyalty rates close to 60% in its strongest market (U.S.). Apple has a 90% loyalty rate. While 60% loyalty may seem high, the other way to look at it is 40% of Samsung's base will likely look at what else is in the market when it is time to upgrade phones. This trend may represent Apple's best opportunity to convert Android users to iPhone in developed markets. For the first time, premium Android users will walk into a mobile carrier store and compare similar-sized iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones.
Apple (AAPL) has over and again expressed that it has an extremely fulfilled and steadfast client base. In monetary 1Q16, Apple encountered a high change rate from Android (GOOG) to iPhone and anticipates that a similar will proceed later on. Few clients likewise changed from other cell phone working frameworks, for example, Microsoft (MSFT) and BlackBerry (BBRY) to Apple.
Late client overviews by 451 Research measured a 99% consumer loyalty rate for iPhone 6S Plus and a 97% fulfillment rate for the iPad Air 2. The study additionally recommends that the unwaveringness rate for the iPhone is twice as solid as the following most elevated brand.
According to Apple, a growing portion of its revenues is driven by its existing installed base. Since the customer engagement rate is high, Apple spends a lot of time on devices to purchase apps, content, and other services. Clients are likewise more inclined to purchase other Apple items or supplant the ones they right now possess.
Subsequently, Apple's introduced base is developing at a quick pace and as of late crossed the 1 billion dynamic gadgets point of reference interestingly. Driven by noteworthy development in its introduce base, Apple has seen expanding interest and development of its administrations business portion, which is additionally an imperative wellspring of repeating incomes.
Development from contenders is urging buyers to desert from the Apple biological system, yet Apple keeps on making it hard to pull far from the incorporated exhibit of items and administrations.
With the iPad Mini, Apple has entered the little tablets advertise. This is both a protective and hostile move for Apple. Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7 are great looking little tablets with respectable substance environments, separated OS highlights extraordinary to Android, and a neighborly $200 sticker price. Apple's had no little tablet offering to date, which has abandoned it helpless against Amazon and Google to take buyers in this new class. Mac probably observes the iPad Mini as a chance to draw in more customers to a more extensive scope of tablets and further appreciate the advantages of its biological community. The iPad Mini is another item from Apple that will additionally pull in and bolt shoppers into its developing biological community of items, administrations, and substance.
Notwithstanding experts' reactions, numerous buyers will in all probability spend the additional cash at the $329 passage cost for the iPad Mini and appreciate the advantages of remaining in Apple's biological system. This is demonstration of the energy of Apple's biological system, not quite recently the apparent nature of the item. Indeed, 21% of iOS buyers say they'll never leave Apple's biological community. Most iPhone proprietors appreciate environment incorporation of other Apple gadgets, for example, the iPod, Apple TV, and the Mac PC. iCloud permits shoppers to flawlessly share media crosswise over gadgets. Macintosh TV's Airplay permits music or recordings from the iPhone or iPad to be easily shared over WiFi. Also, the bother of exchanging media records to Amazon Cloud Player or Google Play additionally deters iOS buyers from exchanging.
This prevention is called exchanging costs, which are the negative impact purchasers bring about while changing items or administrations. Exchanging costs come in many structures and organizations make them to hold clients. For instance, versatile bearers bolt customers into two-year decreases by charging contractually allowable charges. While this debilitates buyers from changing from bearer to transporter, it additionally makes disdain from numerous shoppers towards their mobile carrier.
Apple has taken a different approach, though. They've created desirable offerings and features to create consumer lock-in and switching costs, but this hasn't been due to a master plan laid out years ago. It's not like Steve Jobs rolled out a calculated product roadmap ten years ago. Rather, he set a strategic target for Apple to be the digital hub for consumers. In hindsight, it’s easy to see that ten years ago, Apple had only a few ideas on how to do this. The rest came from a long series of experiments that created the ecosystem effects it desired. iTunes initially permitted shoppers to play CDs and tear them to mp3s to be played on their iMac. It established the framework for the mix of iTunes and the iPod that made Apple's problematic computerized music store. iMovie and iPhoto are programming offerings that permit buyers to view and share video and photographs over their own gadgets, and those of loved ones. Macintosh TV, since quite a while ago considered a side interest for Steve Jobs, has turned out to be progressively well known. While not an enormous cash creator, it leverages Apple's substance understandings by offering films and music and reconciliation with other substance suppliers, for example, Netflix and Hulu. It likewise has its well known Airplay include which permits Apple proprietors to effectively play recordings and music from their iPhone or iPad.
A large portion of Apple's examinations have bombed, as well. In 2000, Apple propelled iTools, offering customers web administrations, which later moved toward becoming .Mac, and in the long run the notoriously fizzled MobileMe. Be that as it may, these fizzled administrations gave basic figuring out how to Apple's iCloud advertising. To develop music deals, Apple propelled Ping, a social music benefit that likewise fizzled and as of late close down, making Apple save to its unique iTunes advertising. While this isn't a comprehensive rundown of Apple's endeavors, it uncovers a lengthy, difficult experience of triumphs and all the more significantly, disappointments that prompt achievement.
Look at competition: which social networks they’re active on? Is it funny or serious?
What kind of cultural references do they use?
Do they talk about their product primarily, or do they focus on other things?
Apple's various range of item offerings implies that it contends in a wide range of business sectors, each of which may have other real makers that have a huge piece of piece of the overall industry. In the shrewd tablet advertise, for instance, Apple to a great extent overwhelms with the iPad starting at 2014, yet Amazon and Microsoft are as yet rivaling their own keen tablets that have cut out a specialty in Apple's predominant piece of the pie. Microsoft additionally stays one of Apple's rivals in the PC working framework advertise, which has endured with the decay of the PC showcase starting at 2014. Aside from Samsung, Apple's biggest challenger In the cell phone advertise, different contenders incorporate Motorola and additionally other telephone organizations that create Android or Windows good cell phones. Google is a noteworthy Apple rival in numerous fronts, including distributed storage, with the Google Drive against Apple's iCloud benefit and also in the wearable innovation item industry.
The range of items and administrations offered by Apple Inc. (AAPL) is expansive, and the organization is a wild rival in a few businesses, extending from PCs to excitement media to portable installment frameworks. Here is a rundown of the innovation mammoth's primary rivals by industry.
PCs
While the PC running on Microsoft working frameworks has remained aww most loved of shoppers since the 1980s, Apple has kept up a faithful after of clients who report high fulfillment with the organization's Macintosh PCs and Safari working framework. Real rivals in this space incorporate Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Acer and Lenovo (LNVGY).
Portable PCs
The iPod altered the Apple plan of action and prodded a whole industry of versatile figuring imitators. Apple is by a wide margin the most gainful and greatest offering organization in this industry. Contenders incorporate Google (GOOG), Samsung, Nokia and Asus.
Cell phones
The cell phone industry was once overwhelmed by Canadian mammoth Research in Motion. That changed rapidly with the presentation of the Apple iPhone. The iPhone has actually devastated Research in Motion's plan of action and made the organization rebuild a few times. Google delivers the Android working framework, which is introduced on most non-Apple telephones created by Huawei, Samsung, Sony (SNE), HTC, Lenovo and others.
Excitement Media and Applications
The two noteworthy players in this space are Apple and Google, with the Apple iOS running on its iPhones and iPods, and Google Android running on most contender telephones and tablets. Each working framework interfaces with iTunes and the Google Play Store separately, permitting clients to buy music, books, applications and other media.
Versatile installments
Entering the versatile installment industry in October 2014, Apple is a relative newcomer to this region. As per CEO Tim Cook, the organization went up against more than 1 million clients in its initial 72 hours, making Apple Pay bigger than "all contenders consolidated." Key rivals in the versatile installment industry incorporate PayPal and Google.
Online networking is a vital piece of Samsung's procedure. They have a solid nearness on Facebook, Twitter and additionally YouTube on the name of their online networking system.
When you will open Samsung's Facebook page, you will see that Samsung has more than 3 Million fans and their cover picture obviously demonstrate about the most recent forthcoming dispatches of Samsung.
Looking down will lead you to the posts being shared by Samsung on this fan page. Samsung does not permit anybody to post on their page. However, clients can remark on their posts and give criticism moreover. They are very general with their posts and ordinarily they get tremendous remarks on each of their post.
Samsung is controlling through its Facebook page as well as holds a decent fan taking after on Twitter also. Recurrence of posts here is very high.Twitter is fairly similar to Facebook as you can utilize pictures alongside a tad bit of content. Simply include an engaging picture alongside little captivating substance and tweet. This is the thing that Samsung is doing. One tweet is made every day on the off chance that we take it on a normal note.
They are continually attempting endeavors to hold their fame and for that they need to work truly hard as with regards to online networking advertising this will help them in creating great incomes and will likewise have a solid effect on clients and devotees.
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Sources
1- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.
2- http://neilpatel.com/blog/7-key-strategies-that-you-must-learn-from-apples-marketing/
3-http://www.cio.com/article/2979114/social-networking/inside-apples-odd-yet-effective-social-media-strategy.html
4-http://www.brandba.se/blog/2016/4/26/apples-indirect-social-media-strategy-leveraging-on-ewom-through-silence
5-http://www.brandba.se/blog/2016/4/26/apples-indirect-social-media-strategy-leveraging-on-ewom-through-silence