Introduction

Today, as digital technology such as social media offers new opportunities as well as challenges for organizations while presenting a customer-focused marketing strategy, this platform is becoming fundamental in today’s vibrant business environment to uphold. Through marketing technologies, Apple Inc., an American-based company, has been able to execute its business operations in a global market place. Established back in 1976, Apple Inc. has grown over the years to become one of the leading brands globally. The corporation designs, manufactures, and sells a wide array of consumer electronics (Yoffie & Baldwin, 2018). The company’s success has baffled many people because apple decreased the market dominance of many successful brands in the consumer electronics market.

Consequently, the company has gained unrivaled market dominance in significant consumer market segments. At the core of its marketing strategy, the company uses its website as its main marketing platform through which it reaches its target online consumer groups (Johnson et al., 2012). This paper explores digital marketing at Apple Inc. In so doing, an analysis of how Apple Inc. uses its website in marketing and the strengths and weaknesses of this digital marketing platform is brought forth. Finally, the paper details a recommendation of modification to this platform.

Apple’s Market Summary and Target Markets

Since its inception Apple Inc. has grown to be a key reformer and innovator in the personal computer as well as in consumer electronics market. Generally, Apple retails its products globally through its online stores, its direct sales force, its retail stores, resellers, and third party wholesalers. The corporation experiences substantial competition from its rivals, such as Samsung, Microsoft Sony, HP, and Google. Nevertheless, it utilizes rigorous digital marketing through its website and exploits its principal competencies to be the leading firm in the technology industry. The company develops and designs its own hardware and operating system (OS), unlike its competitors, which use Google’s OS – Android. Advertising adopted by Apple Inc. is aimed at ensuring that the company reaches its target markets, which include; Students, middle and upper-class consumers, and specialists in media and design (Odaymat, 2018).

Summary of the Current Use of Digital Technologies for Marketing

In the prevailing competitive environment, especially in the technology industry, some facets have become essential for spawning a competitive advantage in the industry. Among these facets is highly reputable brand that can be accomplished via effective digital marketing. As a result, digital technologies have turned to be a multifaceted solution for numerous marketing and branding prerequisites. Subsequently, business organizations are employing social media, among other tools and platforms, to run their marketing campaigns, to connect with their customers and for various discussions (Johnson et al., 2012). All large brands are smartly making use of social media to realize their objectives of marketing. Social media accounts have become a solution for lots of marketing related needs because of their reach and efficiency.

Business organizations have been using their social media accounts to connect with their target customers, incite discussions as well as running their campaigns. Apple, being one of the biggest technology-based corporations across the globe has not overlooked the significance of social media though its strategy is quite different compared to any other brand. The brand has used these channels with caution. Precisely, Apple rarely does it use social media for marketing or promotions instead, the company makes use of the platforms for customer engagement. For instance, Apple does not use Facebook for active marketing strategy as most brands do. This is despite the fact that Facebook stands as a crucial tool for marketing for a majority of business organizations especially, those in the technology industry. Even though its Facebook account shows no action, the brand largely uses its Twitter, YouTube and Instagram accounts for engaging its users. As explained in the following context, Apple uses its website to stage an incontestable customer-oriented marketing strategy.

Analysis of Apple’s Use of Website in Digital Marketing

As highlighted above, Apple Inc. uses its own website and blogs more than social media platforms for marketing purposes. This makes the company unique as most large companies use the social media platform in their marketing activities. The foremost purpose of the website is to advertise and sell products. The brands’ website meets the modern-day standards as it is well designed and very responsive. The website’s homepage, for instance, is modern, simple, and clean, enabling the brand to show and make its products the main focus.

The website design mainly uses white and black colors. It also uses grey color in the footer area with dark grey text. The homepage is designed in such a way that it has practical use of the white space, ensuring that the customer’s attention is drawn to the product on the image slider. It is also relatively short, making it easier for people visiting the page to find what they are looking for easily without scrolling. If page one is looking for is not in the menu bar, it will probably be in the footer or as a link in the main content page. Without a doubt, the images and user experience help make the Apple website modern and attractive. The photographs used in the site draw users’ attention to their products that look new and shiny.

The Strategy Used Through the Website

Apple is one of the most successful brands in the world. Almost everything the company puts out turns out to be successful. However, Apples’ success is not just a matter of selling a lot of products or making a lot of money. As a matter of fact, Apple’s marketing has interested many and has become a benchmark for other companies that are up to reaching similar heights of revenue growth and recognition. The company achieves its success by keeping the following strategies in place;

Simplicity

The Apple Company has greatly mastered the art of minimalism, where advertising has narrowed down to the fundamentals. The company ensures that their marketing is as simple as possible. On their website, there is no detailed form of information on how or where to buy the products. The advertisements and other marketing messages are very straightforward, that is, showing the product and letting it speak for itself. They only have the product name and a clear picture of the product. Again, the apple website has a very reliable support page. The support offered through the site is similarly seamless as the targeted software counsel is provided to customers in seconds.

Leverage Reviews

Over the years, consumers of Apple products and services have made a fairly close-fitting community that comprises of all kinds of people. It is this seemingly dynamic community that aids in promoting the products within customers and active users as well as potential prospects outside. Apple is very good at getting reviews from its customers through its website. Apple influences its community by taking advantage of the testimonials and reviews as the published testimonials, especially from satisfied clients, help influence prospects to convert into clients (Yoffie & Baldwin, 2018).

Unique Value Proposition

One of the most impressive things about Apple is that they don’t get into constant price wars. They stick to their pricing even though it’s undoubtedly higher than any of the competition. Apple consistently emphasizes its value propositions over price and features, and despite being the most expensive brand for most products, it continues to outdo its competitors.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Use of the Website in Digital Marketing

Websites play a crucial role in digital marketing. The Apple company is aware that people in most cases visualize the business of a company based on its website hence went forth to design an attractive, good looking and mobile-friendly website. The use of the website by the company has mostly impacted its sales and profit (Chaffey & Smith, 2017).

Strengths

• The Apple Inc. website is user-friendly. Apple has its main focus on the customer experience hence designed its website in a way that users enjoy using the site. The website gives users a good experience as it is very easy to use. Users can find and click all links on the website, and the loading speed is very fast (Chaffey & Smith, 2017).
• The apple website reaches a vast audience. The utmost apparent advantage of the site is its ability to reach a broader audience. According to Chaffey & Smith (2017), today, the internet is used by literally millions of people across the globe. The rise in internet shopping allows the apple company to focus on the growth in order to expand its business.
• Keeping it fresh- Apple Inc. Ensures that it keeps its website updated to be relevant to its business, thus encourages potential sales. The company is always up to the task to bring about innovation in its market and always ensures an update on its website to keep its customers well informed.
• Easy access to business information. With the website, the Apple Company allows its customers to access their information easily. Customers can see the products and services offered once they visit the website.
• The use of the website has enabled the Apple Company to provide accessibility around the clock. Most people today use the internet so much in their day to day activities. The Apple Company took advantage of this and decided to use its website for marketing its products and services. The company has made it possible for anyone to have access to information and details about its products and services at any time in any part of the world. This is made possible by the fact that the internet is online throughout. Users can visit the site 24 hours a day, seven days a week to get whatever information they may need (Yoffie & Baldwin, 2018).

Weaknesses

• Difficulty in reaching target customers- Owing to the nature of the internet, the company, through its website, might find it challenging to reach its target audience. Apple products have premium pricing; thus, they are considered luxuries. This means that high and middle-income consumers mostly afford the products. Reaching specific people through the website is impossible as the internet is free to access by everyone (Chaffey & Smith, 2017).
• Bad Publicity- use of a website risks the apple company drawing negative publicity. In the case a customer is does not find an Apple’s product or service appealing as advertised on the website, they may vent their frustrations online and reference the website in their reviews. This could possibly bring about negative publicity which can threaten the company’s business (Chaffey & Smith, 2017).

Use of Digital Analytics to Measure Success

For a successful application, it is always important to scrutinize the audiences’ behavior within the app to find ideas on where to make improvements. Apple Inc. uses its very own analytics platform called the Apple App Analytics. This is a tool that enables the company to analyze payments by users based on Apple IDs instead of devices. It is believed that App Analytics provides more reliable data that no other analytics platform can. The tool also has crash filters per operating system and app version and can see the number of paying users on a particular day (Chaffey & Smith, 2017).

Hence the company can evaluate the impact of possible changes on price generated by campaigns. The App Store in Apple App Analytics shows impressions like the times the website is viewed, and the product page views where the number of times the product page has been viewed are shown. The tool has many other features like; filters by the source, which helps identify the particular website or campaign new users came from. It is also able to link two measures for a better understanding of how the marketing campaign or app is performing, active device sessions, and rate conversion (Yoffie & Baldwin, 2018).

Metrics

Marketing metrics are performance indicators that are used by businesses to evaluate the overall performance in marketing to help achieve accuracy in business activities. In most cases, businesses’ marketing ability is responsible for defining its success. Some of the marketing metrics include; financial metrics, mental and memory metrics, behavioral metrics, among others.

To begin with, financial metrics are figures that are driven from financial statements that help the company determine its position in the market with regard to its revenues, sales, and profit. Generally, Apple has a huge revenue base that gives them room to put its focus on new innovations (Chaffey & Smith, 2017).

Mental and memory metrics mostly deal with customer satisfaction and awareness of the brand. Many are times, consumers identify themselves with the brand they consume. Apple has succeeded in gaining many follower customers who identify themselves with the brand. The company’s ability to come up with innovations has inspired and interested its customers in identifying themselves with the brand “Apple,” hence beating its rivals. Apple has done well in customer satisfaction, with most of its customers impressed by the services they are provided with. The company also has a high customer retention rate as they always fall in love with the products offered by Apple (Odaymat, 2018).

Behavioral metrics– These relate to the market share of a company, its market penetration, the products sold, etc. Apple has thrived in its ability to retain its customers as it promotes more exceptional customer experience with its products. In the share market, Apple comes after Lenovo and is facing a lot of competition from Samsung, which takes up a significant market share on the smartphone. Due to premium pricing on Apple products, customers have flocked to their competitors who place reasonably low prices for comparable specifications (Johnson et al., 2012).

Recommendations

Apple is a substantial market competitor. The company’s use of its own website ensures a strong advertising program that successfully helps the company develop its reputable brand image. In today’s marketing environment, things are changing very fast for marketers. Social media popularity and an increase in technology have generally affected the way companies do their marketing. It is, therefore, recommendable for the Apple Company to try and engage itself more through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Most large brands that happen to be the Company’s competitors are largely using social media platforms like Facebook for active promotions and to continuously interact with their fans. The use of such platforms will allow for customer engagement, an effective marketing campaign that will ensure that the customers connect with the messages by the company.

Conclusion

The apple company has won the hearts of millions of people as its customers. Its unique marketing strategies has enabled it to remain the most leading brand that has outdone its competitors. Although I have recommended the company to put more effort into the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, its use of the website cannot be overlooked as it has dramatically impacted its business. The website has helped the company gain and retains so many customers due to its effectiveness. The company already has many loyal customers, and adaptation to the use of these social media platforms will only add customers to the many customers the company already has.

References

Chaffey, D., & Smith, P. R. (2017). Digital marketing excellence: planning, optimizing and integrating online marketing. Taylor & Francis.

Jing, J. (2018). A case study on Apple, Inc. which affecting the world of Smart Technology Leader or heading down?

Johnson, K., Li, Y., Phan, H., Singer, J., & Trinh, H. (2012). The Innovative Success that is Apple, Inc.

Odaymat, Rommy. (2018). MARKETING PLAN FOR APPLE INC. 10.13140/RG.2.2.31248.25605. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333465587_MARKETING_PLAN_FOR_APPLE_INC

Yoffie, D. B., & Baldwin, E. (2018). Apple Inc. in 2018.