SMART Goals and KPI’s for Apple During a Global Pandemic

APPLE AS A BRAND

When you hear someone say Apple, do you think of the fruit, or do you think of phones, tablets, watches, computers, and music? “Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. It also sells various related services” (Yahoo! Finance, 2020). To be sure, Apple is one of the most iconic brands to date, a company that started out making computers have started the wave of technology by introducing touch screen products like the first iPhone and the first generation of tablets to the market. Apple is a company that is constantly renovating the technology world.

Company Objectives:

Apple’s mission is committed to providing the best innovations and technologies in the world. The company is also committed to protecting the environment to ensure the good health and safety of the company’s employees, customers, and the global communities where they are established (MS.com).

• During this time of coronavirus, Apple needs to have a strong social media presence to help drive traffic to their website while potential customers cannot shop at brick-and-mortar stores.
• To continue to create groundbreaking products. Apple has made a name for itself by becoming a trendsetter in the market with every one of its products introducing something new and exciting to the world (first to introduce a touchscreen phone). Technology is forever changing, and even the biggest and popular companies can get left behind. The consumer will always buy the next big thing, and brand loyalty is hard to come by. This is why Apple must continue to lead the serge of the innovative world.
• To continue having the best products, Apple must study the market to understand what consumers want next while improving their current products by listening to customer feedback. There are few competitors to Apple, such as Samsung and LG; however, Apple was first to the market with many new ideas and improved and renovated those ideas.
• Build hype and anticipation for new upcoming products. There is no better promotion than getting consumers to anticipate your next release, which Apple does by releasing new products around the same time every year. Every great product’s next version will always do great despite its functionality based solely on its previous version’s anticipation. Apple accomplishes this by promoting and hyping up their new product launches; they have social media posts, press releases, and their website’s front page displaying a live update and countdown on new products.

SMART Goals (Definitions from Corporate Finance Institute)

corporatefinanceinstitute.com

Specific: Well, defined, clear, and unambiguous

Apple should increase its engagement on social media by utilizing its largest social platforms to reach a wider audience. On these platforms, they should focus most of the posts on their newest products to promote release dates and pre-orders. Apple should also continue to promote existing products that are currently available as well.

Measurable: With specific criteria that measure your progress toward the accomplishment of the goal

• When researching analytics for post engagement, hashtags, comments, likes, shares, and customer satisfaction are great ways to see how a post reaches customers to direct them to the website and make a purchase.

Achievable: Attainable and not impossible to achieve

• An attainable goal for Apple would be to respond to consumers within 24–48 hours since they will be reaching out on Apple’s on their social media platforms for a specific campaign.

Realistic: Within reach, realistic, and relevant to your life purpose

• Apple needs to effectively use social media platforms to have a positive ROI that can be seen when products are sold due to a new social media campaign. Apple needs to have consistency with its campaigns across all its platforms.

Timely: With a clearly defined timeline, including a starting date and a target date. The purpose is to create urgency.

• Since the new iPad Pro is the new item launching in 2021, analyzing social media campaigns around this new product will provide the best results within the first three months of its release. During this time, they should analyze each post with analytics and observe which posts are working accordingly and therefore adjust those not performing.

What are KPI (Key Performance Indicators) to track for Apple?

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• Cost-per-click
• Hashtags
• Traffic to the website (compare from each social media platform for which works better)
• Engagement (consumer to consumer) (consumer to Apple)

How will social media help me achieve my SMART goal(s)? KPIs?

Social Media is a powerful item in today’s marketing tool bag. Establishing hashtags specific to the sales campaign and new products will help those engaging in the campaign more measurably with the KPI’s. Hashtags are an easy way to track if customers engage on the posts and then head to the website (traffic to the website) to purchase an item or just looking for information.

What are the outcomes I want from my social media efforts?

The main outcome is to increase traffic and conversions from social media during the coronavirus lockdown. Usually, customers shop in-stores, but it is necessary to change these habits and focus on social media and online experiences. Brick-and-mortar stores are on their way out, and many businesses are closing because they don’t have a strong social media and online presence. Hence, Apple needs to keep pace with current social media trends and expand and perfect new social media campaigns.

https://www.apple.com/

https://mission-statement.com/apple/

M. (2021, January 27). Apple Mission Statement 2021 | Apple Mission & Vision Analysis. Apple.Com. https://mission-statement.com/apple/

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/profile/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333465587_MARKETING_PLAN_FOR_APPLE_INC

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/smart-goal/