Apple’s Success in Brand Loyalty

Many know about the battery glitch of the iPhone 4s back in 2011; but did that stop customers from buying the product? Nope. Even though it was a few weeks before Apple even publicly recognized the issue, consumers were still forgiving and couldn’t wait to get their hands on the newest Apple product.

So how does Apple keep it’s customers loyal? If you know anything about the late Steve Jobs, you would know that he thrived on making his product the very best. He made sure each design was of the highest quality. People are thinking about him when it comes to issues with current Apple products. Apple created an emotional connection with its consumers long ago, and now has long lasting loyal customers.

This is the key to brand loyalty. First, developing a relationship with the client and building a connection of trust. You have to believe in your product and let them know why they need it, not just want it.

Apple’s mission statement reads: “Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.”

You have to find your jive and what works for you. Whatever you are doing or selling, be the very best at it. Believe in what you are offering from the very beginning and never give up. Sometimes you have to fail before succeeding; but in the end, it’s well worth the everything that was put in to it. Create a mission statement, or if you already have one, live by that statement everyday and through every struggle and success.

If you ever plan to start your own business, Apple would be an incredible example to study and mimic.

Convenience Shopping

Walmart remains the number one brand when it comes to the convenience of online shopping. Although the brand value has decreased over the past two years, Walmart brings in about $260 billion with over 180 million consumers. In an effort to keep customers coming back, they continue to market everyday low price guarantees. Stores have evolved and improved to make the shopping experience a more favorable one. With their effective marketing efforts, Walmart continues to show it’s dedication for constant improvement. Why do people shop online? Convenience. It’s as simple as that. No long lines, no hassle, no getting through people or fighting over products. With just a few clicks, you can have the things you want come right to your door.

Sometimes, price is even better online than it is in stores; and you get it directly from the manufacturer. Online shopping offers a better variety in products. No more searching for colors and sizes because they’re all available right in front of you. You can send gifts without having to pick it up and taking it to the post office. Just put the receivers address on there, and it goes right to them.

Consumers tend to spend more money when conventional shopping because they get distracted by other items they must pass in order to get to the one they’re looking for. So I guess we can also say that online shopping can save you money.

What most people like about online shopping is the privacy. No one else can see what you’re buying. Whether it’s sexy lingerie or adult toys, you don’t have to worry about running into someone you know and have the feeling of embarrassment.

What’s going on with Social Media Sites?

For a while, Facebook has helped many brands with the promotion of their businesses and now Twitter is helping with that too. With promoted tweets and news feeds, these sites have gained a lot of attention to many brands.

Don’t forget about LinkedIn. They’ve made some pretty big changes recently and are slowly moving up in the advertising scene. LinkedIn serves more for business type people, making it easier for marketers to engage with high quality audiences.

Pinterest got popular really fast with retail brands, but what’s next for them? Eventually they will have to come up with how they are going to make money from these brands that are pretty much getting free advertising.

Each social media site is different in it’s own way, offering services to benefit a certain group of people. They each have their own unique advertising opportunities, which targets different demographics.

Brands need to be where their consumers are; but you have to know where to find them. Study sites and see what people are talking about related to your brand. It is well worth the time and effort put in to researching if it gives you positive results.

So where is social media headed? You will hear many different opinions on this subject, but still think about it. As social media advances, more brands will take advantage of what it has to offer. With most people using the convenience of online shopping and researching, brands have no choice but to be on social media if they want their brand to be known other than just the competition.

One important thing to remember about social media and something that will not change in the future; communication is key. You have to engage with your audience.

 

Online Influence Matters

Social media is getting more popular in todays society, whether it’s shopping, communicating with friends/family or just browsing; online influence is out of control. And you have to be too.

You have to care about what people are thinking of you. Be a leader, not a follower when it comes to social media and advertising for your business. Track your social media influence on Klout to see the areas you need to work on and what you are best at.

Social media has such a huge influence on consumer behavior and buying habits. If you are interesting, people are going to stop and take a look to see what you are about. Studies have shown that 3 out of 4 minutes an individual spends on social media, is spent on Facebook. Find your target and find out which sites they are socializing on.

To gain loyalty to your brand through online influence takes time. It’s not an overnight process. You have to first interact with your customers. Let them know you are a real person and help them with questions they may have. Tell them about your product or service and how it works. Don’t make them guess. Offer incentives and giveaways to get more fans to your site. Make your fans the stars.

It is imperitive that your online influence be a positive one. If it’s done right from the beginning, then it more likely to be successful. Look to see what other companies are successful and find out what they are doing. You have to keep your brand interesting. Be creative.

Don’t mess up your social media campaign

Many businesses try to dive right in to using social media for their businesses, but only a few are really successful at it. When it comes to advertsing for your company, you have to think of it as more on the ‘social’ side than the ‘media’ side.

Think like the customer. If you go in with the business like attitude, you may bore people and they won’t be interested in what you are saying. You have to present your social media like you are the customer. What would you want to see? You have to be likeable, not boring.

Here’s a few tips on how to be successful:

• Listen to what people are saying: Take a look at the social media sites and see what people are saying about the same type of product or service you are offering. Find out what they want, and give it to them.
• Make consumers want to follow you on Twitter and like you on Facebook, without having to ask them: Give them a reason to want to stay connected with you on social media. Don’t just say “Follow me” or “Like my company”. What’s in it for them? Be more creative and say something like, “Find the best deal’s on apartments right here!” or “Get rid of acne now.” More catchy, right?
• Social media is all about engagement: Don’t just put up and statuses all throughout the day and wonder why no one is commenting. You have to START the conversation. Ask a question. You are more likely to get a response by asking a question over stating an opinion.
• Post pictures and videos: Pictures tell stories, and people are more likely to view your page if you have interesting stuff on there. As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
• Spend time on social media: If you’re watching a movie, more than likely, you are not going to stop in the middle of it and never go back to it. Spend time on your social sites and research what people are doing. Talk about interesting and current topics. Try to spend at least 30 minutes a day on social media.

Think about it like this when you are creating and updating. If you were a consumer, would you click “like”, “follow” or “share”? Be honest.

Why Victoria’s Secret Bras?

I think that most would agree that Victoria’s Secret is probably one of the top brands when it comes to lingerie and women’s underwear. Victoria’s Secret is successful for many reasons. Even though it is quite more expensive to shop the brand, the quality of the products makes it well worth the extra money.

Victoria’s Secret knows how to market their brand. They use sexy women to sell their products, and it works. This goes back to the post from earlier when we talked about how ‘sex sells’. They use social media to promote their brand to all consumers. Even if someone is not interested in the product, they will still talk about it. Don’t you?

So why their product over others? Would it not be cheaper to just go to Target or Wal-Mart? Of course it would, but it’s not Victoria’s Secret. Just to own a bra from this brand makes certain women feel sexy. They tend to compare themselves to the models and think that if they just have that piece of lingerie or bra, they will be sexy too.

Take a look at their Facebook page. With the constant updates and endless promotions, they have gained over 21 million fans. And that’s just the fans that are on Facebook. Imagine what they are doing with all of the other social sites. If you want to know how to market successfully using social media, Victoria’s Secret is a prime example of success.

Be creative. Be different. Make people talk.

How Businesses Succeed Using Social Media

Social media takes time and effort, sometimes more than what businesses and marketers want to put into it. But it has to be done. Social media can have such a huge impact on your business if you use it correctly.

Social media is not going anywhere; it just keeps on advancing. Marketers and owners must embrace it. It takes more than just updating simple statuses every other day. You have to make it interesting so people talk about it and share it with others. I’ll share a success story with you that I recently did with my business. My company is big on social media and getting people to like our property Facebook page, so we did a contest with Greek Life from our local University. We offered $300 to the philanthropy that got the most people to like and share the status about their house. In return, we got over 400 new likes in just 5 days. My point is, you have to work at it. Be creative.

There are so many social media sites, so how do you know which ones would be more effective? Don’t try using all of them and trying to keep up a bunch of different ones everyday. Decide who your target audience is, study which sites they use the most, and be good at those sites. Do not waste time and overwhelm yourself dealing with those that will return no results for you.

Because of the constant change and advancement of social media, you have to take risks. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. To be good at it, you have to experiment, and sometimes that means failing before succeeding. Find out what works for your company and make your profile creative. Sometimes it can be challenging, but what you put into it is going to depend on its results and effectiveness. The results you want may not happen right away. It takes time and sometimes growth is slow, but worth the wait.

Take a look at support sites. Sites such as Socialmouths.com,  Socialmediaexaminer.com or Mashable.com are great sites that have articles and content to help inspire your imagination. Social media takes commitment and time, but the results and success you can achieve from it, will be well worth the effort put in to it.

Enhancing Consumer Behavior

Understanding how individuals’ process and filter information can help marketers determine the correct strategies and tactics to motivate consumers. When consumers are comfortable and understand a message clearly, they are more likely to act upon it. This helps build rapport and brand loyalty, which will motivate higher performance.

If you want your product or brand to be known, you have to make it stand out from everyone else. Do something different to make people remember you. Let’s take the Allstate commercials. We may not care about the insurance company or what it offers, but every time we hear that man’s deep voice, we know it’s a commercial for Allstate. Come up with a catchy slogan, so that every time it’s said, people know who it is.

It has been said that there is much that can enhance motivation. One of the most effective ways is creating a message that will have a positive affect. Positive communications methods result in more attention and affective responses.

Even though all publics are not responsive, the communication must be created for an equal opportunity for all publics to process the information. It takes sufficient effort to reach certain audiences. Opportunity in the public relations field is creating multiple messages in different ways so that people can easily process them.

Consumers are not going to even take a second look at your product if they can’t comprehend what it offers from the beginning. Big words are unnecessary. Just get to the point and make your message clear.

 

The Role of Public Relations Professionals

Public relations is the prime role between an organization and its publics. Public relations is the core communicator in helping business develop strong relationships with customers. The practice includes managing the flow of information in communication between a business or organization and its publics.

The practitioner gains audience exposure of the organization by using news items that do not require payments. The professional’s job is to create a positive image for the organization or business and keep that image in the public eye. Common activities of a public relations professional include speaking, press and employee communication.

The job of public relations specialists is to maintain a mutual understanding between an organization and its publics. It involves supervising and assessing public attitudes. Functions include improving communication and instituting new ways of a two-way communication understanding. They have to make sure the message is clear and honest so that the target audiences understand the message being given.

Public relations professionals have to be very talented and look at an organization through the eyes of the media and know what material to give at the right time, whether it is a speech or product. The strategy of an organization is determined after analysis.

Many people, other than just public relations professionals, contribute to this decision making process. Once the strategy is in place, it is then communicated and implemented. Professionals have to be aware of the environment they are targeting, depending on the location of the organization. As long as the environment is clear and there is an appreciation for the area, the audience will be better understood.

In the end, public relations professionals bridge the gap between the organization and the public. Representing views and decision reactions are vital parts of strategic planning. They provide intellectual communication to the strategic process and are major influences of the decision-making processes. Public relations professionals have a complex job and depending on the location and situation, determine how a specialist runs the operation.

 

 

What is Social Media?

Social media is seen everywhere and being used in some way all over the world. Let’s break down what social media really is. Media involves communication, such as radio or newspaper; so social media is communication through a social instrument. Social media is very broad and covers many websites. It allows people to interact with the website and other people on that site as well. These online sites encourage people to interact with each other, as well as companies on the sites.

Social media is ever changing as technology and the networking sites advance. Many companies use social media to promote their brand or products, just because so much traffic and attention is gained through social media sites.

Every social media site is designed for a certain action. For example, Facebook allows users to share photos and updates, and helps friends and family stay connected in what’s going on in each other’s lives. Businesses also use it to promote activities and events. Twitter allows people to share short updates and discuss topics of the same interest.

Social media is a very useful tool in the marketing world. It feeds in discovering new content and helps build Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts; which is the process of getting traffic from listings on search engines. If social media is used correctly, it can be a very beneficial tool.