As technological advancement has increased substantially the use of the Internet in business practices has become so familiar. These advancements further allow new marketing tactics, especially in social media marketing. Social media marketing is using social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. A specific strategy that I will explore is Inbound Marketing and how it influences Apple marketing.
Inbound marketing is a strategic approach to creating valuable content that aligns with the needs of the target audience and helps cultivate long-term customer relationships. They can attract consumers through the use of media such as blogs, social media, advertising, podcasts, email, and online advertising.
I will explore three ways in which Apple has effectively used inbound marketing. When exploring Apple’s marketing strategies, it’s important to note the use of inbound marketing and how they use that to improve sales, customer relations, and loyalty.
One of how Apple uses inbound marketing in its advertising strategy is by emphasizing the human element of its products. Most of Apple’s commercials depict people being brought closer and connecting with droves of people. In 2019, Apple released an ad titled “The Surprise”. The ad highlights how the Ipad can ease holiday and travel tensions, and bring families together after a tough year. The ad depicts the family traveling to their grandfather’s house for Christmas. The family learns of the grandfather’s struggle with the loss of his wife, acting erratically and snapping at the children when they act up. The father calms the children with an Ipad. To cheer their grandpa up they go through their photo albums and all their old memorabilia and with the Ipad they created a sentimental gift. Christmas morning they present their grandfather with a slide show of him and his wife. The ad emphasizes the Ipads ability to bridge generations together. Apple features reliable life moments that emphasize the warmth and happiness their customers love and crave, creating a positive brand identity.
The Second way in which Apple uses inbound marketing is for its product launches and releases. Apple does a good job releasing content that teaches about the technology used in the new products. They will introduce a new feature and focus a campaign on that concept making it easier for the customers to understand it and pick it up. Apple has a major event in September every year in which they release information about the latest iPhones and other hardware they are going to release.
Finally, the last way Apple uses inbound marketing is in retaining customers. Apple is one of the greatest brands at enticing consumers and creating loyal customers. One way they have done so is by listening to their customer’s needs and creating complementary products. Complementary products are their Apple Tv, Home app, Apple Music, Siri, and Airplay to name a few. Other examples are downloading music from iTunes onto Macbooks, then transferring their music to the phone and storing it on iCloud.
Sources:
https://www.eternalworks.com/blog/6-ways-apple-uses-inbound-marketing
https://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/inbound-marketing/#section-2