Objectives
The company pursues many objectives with the marketing plan. The objectives will be specific, measurable, attainable and timely (Trika, 2010). In other words, Apple Inc will follow the SMART model in developing and implementing its objectives. The marketing objectives of the company includes
- To improving the customer engagement and relationship with the company and its products by 50%
- To increase the company’s website traffic by 45%
- To increase the presence of the company’s brand across the social media channels by 50%
- To improve on the positive feedback concerning the company brand by 40%
The objectives must be attained within three years. However, increasing the website traffic as well as the presence of the company’s brand is expected to be attained within the first year of the plan. In fact, the presence of the company’s brand will be attained by increasing the number of times the products are mentioned on the social media. In addition, the number of comments as well as the number of followers within the social networking sites applied by the company will also measure the brand presence.
The numbers of comments are expected to reach 1000 by the end of the first year of the plan while the numbers of followers are expected to reach 1650 in the same year. The number of individuals and the companies that have visited the website will measure the objective of increasing the number of traffic. The objectives are attainable given the set targets against the period. In addition, given the past trends, the results can be achieved within the given time.
Content
Most of the information will be retrieved from the company website. However, other related marketing journals will also provide valuable information concerning the marketing plan. Most importantly, the marketing researches that have been conducted will provide valuable information to be applied in this plan (Wild, 2012). Moreover, the reports from the promotions, conference presentations as well as other events will provide valuable information on the company’s performance. In essence, the external sources of information will includes
- The websites including the applied social media websites as well as the search engine websites.
- Articles written concerning the company
- Journals both academic and non academic concerning the company and its brand products
- Marketing research reports that have been conducted concerning the company and its products
- Reports from the company marketing activities including promotions, presentations and events
- Blog posts regarding the company products, brand and activities
- Press releases concerning the company brands as well as the products
- Video records on the company events
- Text messages and e-mails received by the company regarding the products and the brand.
Networks
Depending on the objectives and the target clients, Apple Company will explore various innovative social media platforms to promote its services in order to reach its targeted users. The social sites have offered new opportunities for the company to promote its products and services as well as reach the target users at reduced costs.
The main social networking site that the company will utilize is facebook. Currently, facebook is the largest social networking site in the world (Hemley, 2013). Facebook will allow the company to reach the target market through users’ profile information such as different age brackets as well as their attention altitudes.
For example, most of the younger generation use of phones and ipads for online socialization. Studies show that people between the ages 21-24 are the biggest users of facebook at about 17% (Bowker, 2013). Because of this popularity, the social site provides a good site for the company to increase its presence as well as the brand to the target market.
Another important social networking site the company will utilize is LinkedIn. Primarily, LinkedIn promotions target people with certain aptitudes and designations. Therefore, it is considered a complex form of experts’ social networking since allows communication between professionals such as accountancy and legal services among others within the Apple Company (Close, 2012). Due to the proficient information LinkedIn uses in its commercials, it is useful in adverts targeting the professionals.
Twitter provides the best platform for the company to increase its presence among the users of its products (Jacobson, 2013). Twitter is currently developing self-service commercial methods targeting an array of people particularly the company’s target group. In addition, the twitter target enthusiasts of the open and common social site handlers. Twitter mostly target users within the age bracket of twenty-five and above. Therefore, Apple Company that intends to attract the age groups will embrace the use of twitter to increase its presence.
Implementation and monitoring schedule
As indicated, the objectives and goals of the plan will be implemented within three years and the expected the result will measured against the set targets (Gamse, 2012). Within three years, the overall results of the marketing plan are expected to be attained and benefit the company. Moreover, the set objectives will be monitored and evaluated against the expected results (Zarrella, 2009).
Upon realization that the expected results cannot be attained, the goal will be redefined and oriented according to the needs of the market. However, such circumstances are not expected since the situation has been analyzed through the application of SWOT and PESTLE models reducing the chances of any eventuality. The evaluation of the progress will conducted on six months interval within three years period.
The implementation and monitoring schedule indicated will be applied in the evaluation of the expected results.
As shown in the implementation and monitoring schedule, the attained results will be measured on half-yearly basis pegged on the expected results. In the period covered column, the number of months will be recorded and checked against the expected timeline as well as the progress in the attained results.
In case the attained results rise against the increasing number of months, then the results are positive. However, in case the attained results decrease with the increasing number of months, the results are negative. Under the circumstances that the results are negative, a timeline may be prolonged or the objective may be redefined depending on the practical feedback.
There are several activities involved in the implementation process. The activities are critical in the attainment of the set objectives (Baron & Shane, 2008). Activities such as training of the staff, engaging with the target audience and developing the content are significant in the implementation of the marketing plan. Such activities will also be taken into consideration during the implementation process.
Measuring the success of the goals
As mentioned before, the performance of the goals will be measured on their performance against the set targets. In addition, the success of the goals will be measured based on the SMART model. In other words, the goals of the company will be deemed successful when the expected results are attained (Ash, 2013). In this case, however, once the goals have reached or surpassed the set percentage, then the goal will be deemed successful.
The first objective was to increase the customer engagement by 50 % across all the social media the company will utilize. The number of posts on the company’s social media page as well as followers will measure customer engagement (Ash, 2013). The company expects to increase the number to 10, 000 within three years.
The number will account for an increase of 50% of the total number the company currently have. In case the targets are attained within the specified period, then the objective has met the requirement and is deemed successful.
Similarly, the presence of the company’s brand will be measured by the number of times the products are mentioned on the social media. In addition, the number of comments as well as the number of followers within the social networking sites applied by the company will be used to measure the brand presence.
The numbers of comments are expected to reach 1000 by the end of the first year of the plan while the numbers of followers are expected to reach 1650 in the same year. The number of individuals and the companies that have visited the website will measure the objective of increasing the traffic. Under the circumstances that the set targets are achieved, then the goals and objects are deemed successful.
References
Ash, M. (2013). Understand the real value of lead generation to generate the greatest return. Web.
Baron, R. & Shane, A. (2008). Entrepreneurship: A process perspective. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Bowker, S. (2013). A summary of what marketers can learn from the Data-Driven Marketing Survey 2013, Europe. Web.
Close, A. G. (2012). Online consumer behavior: theory and research in social media, advertising and E-Tail. London, UK: Routledge.
Gamse, P. (2012). 42 Rules for a web presence that wins: essential business strategy for website and social media success. Washington, DC: Happy About.
Hemley, D. (2013). 26 tips to create a strong social media content strategy. Web.
Jacobson, J. L. (2013). 42 rules of social media for small business. Washington, DC: Happy About.
Trika, J. (2010). Buyer’s guide on choosing the right search engine marketing agencies and tools. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse.
Wild, M. (2012). Social media marketing strategy report. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(12), 67-73.
Zarrella, D. (2009). The social media marketing. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media.