1. Simplify your product and marketing.
Steve Jobs understood the importance of keeping it simple. He didn’t only apply this to Apple’s product design but in their marketing strategy as well. Simplicity is evident in Apple’s products with its sleek and minimalist designs. They utilize simple color schemes with clean and uncluttered styling, resulting in gadgets that appear modern and elegant.
As for their marketing strategy, Apple keeps it simple there too. Complex marketing campaigns often overwhelm existing and potential customers, whereas simple and straightforward campaigns make people remember your brand. Apple’s marketing ads don’t focus on product feature lists, price, special effects, or voice-overs. Instead, they use a minimum of content and simple graphics that let the product speak for itself.
Top Tip: Move away from getting too technical with your ads. Instead, show what your product can do and how it can solve your customers’ problems.
2. Provide an optimal user experience.
Steve Jobs knew that to capture a consumer’s interest, you have to focus on giving them the ultimate user experience. Most companies focus on creating a great product alone and forget to consider how the user experience works in each aspect of the product. Apple, on the other hand, has created a customer experience that goes beyond purchasing the product.
The company has made extreme efforts to create an exciting experience in every aspect of the purchasing process, to include the comparison of different product versions, testing, buying, receiving, unboxing, and setup. Few brands have created their very own stores in the way that Apple has. Visiting an iStore or Apple Store is an experience unto itself: you enter and stay for hours just toying with and testing out their product and often end up purchasing before you go.
Top Tip: Create a cross-functional team and discuss with your engineering and marketing team on the best way to present your product/ service to the market. You may opt to focus on one aspect of your marketing campaign.
3. Create a powerful narrative.
Steve Jobs is not just the man behind Apple’s success, but also the face of overcoming challenges and leading Apple to greatness through innovative products. This narrative connects people to the brand and appeals to the consumer’s emotions. Apple uses powerful stories that provoke an emotional response in its audience. Their ad images, for example, feature happy and comfortable people using their products, illustrating how easy and relaxing the Apple experience is meant to be.
Aside from Apple’s interesting history, Steve Jobs built the company around a specific set of core values that the company and its employees live every day. The company makes it a point to show that they stand for something in every aspect of their operation. These values get delivered to Apple users around the world, too. No matter where you are, you get to have the same experience you’d expect from Apple.
Top Tip: Send out survey questionnaires to your customers and ask how your products have helped them. Once the results arrive, sit down with your team and brainstorm on how you can make the positive feedback into powerful narratives of your own.
