How Apple Inc Can Increase Its Revenues through Use of Social Networking Platforms - Case Study Example

Social networking Table of Contents: page number 0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………..3 2.0 Main findings ……………………………………………………………………..3 2.1Social networking trends, challenges and applications ………………………..4 2.2 The impact of social networks on business success …………………………..5 3.0 Recommended Action Plan and Conclusion………………………………………7 4.0 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….9 1.0 Introduction The report will describe how Apple Inc can increase its revenues through use of social networking platforms that will enable the company to build relationships with customers and increase the sales revenues. The report will outline the current social networking trends, challenges and applications in business. The report will provide details of the impact of social networks for business transactions and the impact of social networks such as Facebook and You Tube in improving the overall business success of Apple. The last part of the report will be a recommendation of an action plan for a specific campaign that is based on the findings and analysis in the report. Social networking platforms such as Twitter can enable organizations to increase their revenue and build relationships with customers that can will enhance customer loyalty and potentially increase the organizational revenues. 2.0 Main Findings Apple is an American corporation that designs, develops and sells information technology and consumer electronic products such as mobile phones, computer hardware, software, and music media players such as iPod, iPhone and iPad tablet computer. The company has attained high brand recognition and loyalty due to its quality and innovative products. The company has remained committed to Steve Jobs philosophy of continuous innovation and customer relationship building (Albarran 2013). Apple is a global company and the use of social networking sites will be essential in ensuring faster dissemination of product information and understanding customer product requirements. The company can increase its revenues through advertising on social networks since they allow for global reach and allow customers to rate the products. Social sites allow individuals to build online communities based on their interests, location, religion, hobbies and education and thus companies like Dell Computers and Starbucks use social sites to provide information regarding their products, special offers and receive feedback from their customers (Barefoot and Szabo 2010). Hunter (2013) asserts that social Networks have undergone tremendous growth of the recent years due to advancements in telecommunication technologies and computer programming capabilities. Social Networks provide individuals with suitable space to instantly share multimedia information with the social media community. The growth of social Networks signifies the dynamics of the current society that has embraced technology and internet capabilities in production, distribution and consumption of information (Hunter 2013). Social media computing and interaction capabilities of Social Networks are one of the reasons that have led to the high penetration of the Internet. Social Network sites have hundreds of millions of users across the globe, but small social networking sites may target certain geographies or membership. Social Networks such as MySpace, flicker, and Facebook provide for easy sign up due to the openID protocol that allows the members to sign in using their username and password (Hunter 2013). 2.1 Social networking trends, challenges and applications in business According to previous studies, companies that have embraced the use of social networking sites in prospecting for customers, gathering new product information, supporting their customers and improving supply chain relationships have reported improvement in the overall business success. More than 1 billion people across the world have access to largest social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The 21st society has witnessed social-cultural changes since individuals use social networking sites to access information, entertainment and communicate (Fine 2010). Social Networks have a global reach and Apple should use social networking sites to inform and persuade potential and existing customers to purchase the company products. Apple will increase revenues through increasing the brand visibility and growing relationships with customers. Social networks allows for two-way interaction with customers and Apple is able to generate and distribute multimedia content that will reflect the product features and benefits of using the company brands (Weiss 2014). Some of the challenges facing social networks include the disparity of information, trust issues, privacy issues and ownership of the social network content. Criticisms of social networks assert that there is a high correlation between the usage of the social networking sites and antisocial behaviours such as cyber-crimes, sexual exploitation of minors and tobacco abuse. Social networking sites have the ability to disseminate uncensored content to children thus increasing the antisocial behavior among children (McHale 2012). Social networks sites may expose confidential and privacy information of the customers such as names and credit card details and thus Apple should undertake measures that will safeguard the customer identity and confidential information (Schneider 2011). 2.2 The impact of social networks sites in improving overall business success Apple Inc will be capable of integrating the social networks across the customer experience. Social Network sites such as Twitter and Facebook have attained effectiveness in customer support since potential and existing customers are able to get detailed product information and make inquiries regarding the product. Social Network sites act as strategic engagement platforms where the organization can build long-term relationships with the customers through instantaneous responses of the customers (Hunter 2013). Apple should implement social networking sites in its promotional campaigns. Social networks sites have a global audience and Apple Inc will be capable of reaching a high audience due to the frequency and popularity of the social network sites. Wilson (2010) outlines that social networking sites are ideal for modern business advertising since they allow businesses to target specific geographical or niche markets depending on the market segmentation criteria of the advertiser. Apple will be capable of running viral advertisement campaigns that are targeted to specific customer segments or demographic audience. Facebook allows advertisers to target potential customers on the basis of their age, gender, relationship status, interests, education and locality thus facilitating the effectiveness of the adverts in reaching out to the intended audience (Kelsey 2010). The social networking sites allows for instantaneous feedback through actions such as comments, product ‘likes’ and other such actions that portray the reactions and perspectives of the potential customers regarding the product. Apple should implement social networks in its business operations since the product development team will receive feedback on customers’ reactions to newly launched products and estimate the sales revenue potential of the product. The company will be capable of providing information on how to use the product, the nearest service centers and product features (Hunter 2013). Apple Inc should integrate social networking sites to the company website in order to benefit from increased search ranking and high website traffic. The social networks will direct internet users to the company website while the number of comments and shares of the information provided through social networking platforms will enhance the search ranking of the company website (Pride, Hughes and Kapoor 2012). Social networking sites facilitate the recruitment of talented employees and business partners. Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn enable members to recommend each other for employment positions based on the previous business relationships thus removing the uncertainty in initiating business relationships with a certain company (Hunter 2013). Social networks facilitate internal communication and collaboration within an organisation. The networking sites act as informal employee groups that are essential in strengthening relationships among employees thus facilitating teamwork and more productivity of the workforce (Hunter 2013). Social networking sites are cheaper and more effective than the traditional promotional channels such as the television, radio and newspapers (Pride, Hughes and Kapoor 2012). The social platforms will reduce Apple’s marketing expenses since traditional channels of advertisement are more expensive and less effective than the social networking platforms. 3.0 Analysis and Conclusions Apple Inc must integrate social networks sites to its website in order to increase its revenues. The company should open a Facebook page, Twitter account and You Tube channel that will be useful in engaging with the target audience. The company should brainstorm on creative ideas that will interest the target audience. The content is critical and communications with the audience should aim at building and sustaining relationships with customers through offering new product information and responding to customer questions. The company should design images, videos and infographs that will be included in the various social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. The company should create links that will allow the audience to get more valuable information from the corporate website. The company should monitor the audience response in order to gain market intelligence in new product development. The company should measure its social network marketing success through use of analytics that include the number of viewers of various messages, the number of followers and the positive comments of the potential customers. Apple Inc will benefit from implementing social networks in its business operations. Social networkings sites will enable Apple to expand attain global reach in advertising and thus increase the company revenues. Apple will benefit from reduction in the marketing expenses since most social networking sites are free to use. The company will be able to build relationships with customers through faster response on customer queries thus leading to high customer engagement and brand loyalty. The use of social networking sites will enable Apple to attain business and market intelligence that is essential in new product development and continuous innovation of the current products. Accordingly, Apple will benefit from improved revenues due to the ability to provide real-time information to potential customers. Bibliography: Albarran, A.B. 2013. The social media industries. New Jersey: Routledge. Barefoot, D and Szabo, J. 2010. Friends with benefits: a social media marketing handbook. London: Edward Elgar. Fine, R. 2010. The Big Book of social media: case studies, stories and perspectives. London: Yorkshire Publications. Hunter, N. 2013. Social networking: big business on your computer. New York: Gareth Stevens Publications. Kelsey, T. 2010. Social networking spaces: from Facebook to Twitter and everything in between. London: A Press. McHale, R. 2012. Managing social medial legal risks: safeguarding your business. London: Que Publishing. Pride, W., Hughes, R and Kapoor, J. 2012. Foundations of business. New York: Cengage Learning. Schneider, G.P. 2011. E-business. New York: Cengage Learning. Weiss, J.W. 2014. Business ethics: a stakeholder and issues management approach. London: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Wilson, S. 2010. Social media and small business marketing. New York: Cengage Learning. Read More