Nyla Cortes

Apple

One of the most recognizable tech businesses in the world is Apple. This 1976-founded corporation Apple, formerly known as Apple Computer Inc., sells and manufactures personal computers/laptops, computer accessories, cellphones, commonly referred to as iPhones, tablets (iPads), software, and many other products (Levy, 2022). Today, it remains one of the major technology businesses, selling more than only hardware and software.

Apple has been increasingly prominent in the social media sector as technology has improved over the years and with the emergence of social media. Apple originally joined Twitter in 2011, and now has 8 million followers. Following that, in 2013, Apple launched a Facebook page, which today has over 13.9 million followers. Their Instagram, which was started in 2017, has 27.8 million followers, LinkedIn with 16.8 million followers, and YouTube has 15.8 million subscribers. This puts the overall number of followers across all social media outlets to over 82 million, which is a considerable amount. In this case study, I will examine their social media marketing strategy, tactics, and approaches, as well as why they utilize those methods. I will also evaluate any circumstances that caused them to revise their approach and make recommendations to help them develop more personal relationships with their clients in their communities.

Marketing Strategy

People now perceive Apple as a minimalist company with a less is more approach, as seen by its social media outlets (Admin, 2021). For example, there are no tweets from previous years on Apple’s Twitter feed. The sole tweet displayed is a pinned tweet promoting an upcoming event. They keep their feed simple, which is consistent with their minimalist aesthetic. On the other hand, Apple does use Twitter to reach out to customers as a sort of customer service. Their Apple Support profile contains insights, tricks, and valuable resources to help individuals with any questions they may have. They can assist consumers in real time at specified periods of the day to suit individuals who prefer not to utilize traditional methods of communication such as email or phone. Apple is an excellent example of a corporation that successfully utilizes social CRM.

Apple’s #shotoniphone campaign, which presently has 25.7 million Instagram posts, was also a huge marketing hit. This initiative encourages all iPhone owners to share photos or videos taken with their iPhones to demonstrate how good and professionally the photos appear. Professional images are normally shot with a professional camera, and before phones, cameras were the only option, but this campaign demonstrated how comparable the two are. This campaign was successful since there were no restrictions on who could publish images other than iPhone users. It didn’t matter who you were or what you did; as long as you had an iPhone, you could participate in the campaign. Another factor that contributed to their success was that they began to share customer images on their Instagram page. So, if I share a picture with the hashtag #shotoniphone, I may be featured on their page, which is thrilling and keeps me interested. For Apple, this marketing effort encourages individuals to buy an iPhone in order to take high-quality images, while for customers, their work is noticed by a large number of people. It benefits both the client and the company.

Their social media channels are also utilized to advertise their renowned annual events. Apple has annual events to reveal upcoming products and when they will be released. Except for the date and time, these posts don’t include much information. Their event promotion is consistently minimal, and this is a technique to keep people eager to see what comes next and tune in. They have created a strategy that is mysterious which brings a lot of hype to their products.

Recommendations

Apple’s minimalist strategy allows them to stand out from the competition, but it also demonstrates that they do not rely on social media for economic success. They were already successful prior to the invention of social media. If anything, social media allowed the corporation to reach more people, keep people informed about what’s going on with Apple, and stay connected towards its younger demographic, who are the ones who use social media the most. The support page on Twitter alone, in my opinion, is not enough for Apple to use its social media platforms as a customer service resource. What if a person does not use Twitter? Is there somewhere else a customer may go for help than the main site? This is something Apple should think about.

Although I appreciate their simple approach since it demonstrates that they aren’t desperate to get people’s attention, I believe that emphasizing why this product is superior to its rivals would be beneficial. Why should people buy this product when another firm has a similar product at a lower price or provides more? The only time we see this is at their events, which occur maybe two to three times a year. While I understand that less is more, and Apple has been firm in sticking to that philosophy, presenting a bit more may break that predictable feeling.

Apple does have a community area on their website where individuals can ask questions, learn more about their products, share their experiences, and provide advice, ideas, and tricks to others who may be experiencing the same problems or difficulties (Apple, 2022). The biggest difficulty I see is that because the information is so consumer-based, there is no way to verify that these tactics genuinely work without first having the customer test it out. If someone is having trouble with their iPhone and turns to the community for assistance, and their advice does not work, it can be irritating and seen as a waste of time. To foster more intimate interactions, I believe that starting with a one-on-one encounter with an Apple specialist can be beneficial. People want to get information fast rather than reading entire paragraphs. I urge Apple to have one-on-one encounters from the start to expedite the process. Discussions are beneficial, but they might take longer depending on the scenario.

References

Admin, E. (2021, September). Social Media Case Study: How do apple use social media? Giraffe Social Media. Retrieved July 17, 2022, from https://www.giraffesocialmedia.co.uk/how-do-apple-use-social-media/

Apple Support Community. Official Apple Support Community. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2022, from https://discussions.apple.com/welcome

Levy, S. (2022, June 19). Apple Inc.. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apple-Inc