HEART APPLE REPAIR
Heart prides itself on being the only Peoria company with an Apple Authorized Service Provider status. This means that Hear has been approved by Apple, and that Heart's standard and quality of service is in line with the quality and standard of service Apple provides its customers. If someone was to call Apple and need service that could not be done through a phone call with Apple, then Apple would recommend Peoria-local customers visit Heart to get their product serviced. While this is an accomplishment, no one knows what Apple Authorized Service Provider means. In addition, Heart lacked a strategy to get this service noticed and encourage customers.
As Marketing Coordinator, I took it upon myself to do my part to increase the community's awareness of Heart's Apple services and its distinguished title. Seeing as a local mom-and-pop shop may be able to fix the problem at a lesser cost, it is important to demonstrate that our service is worth any extra cost because it is the only service recommended and approved by the manufacturer. My strategy included web, social media, business directories, and guerrilla marketing.
website
To begin, I looked to the company website. I adjusted the website SEO to hone in on terms like "Apple" and "Peoria" so that Google searches for these two focus keywords would provide a higher chance of being noticed. Adding a website redirect allowed for faster information for the customer. The original path to Apple Services page was to go to Heart's home page and click on the tiny Apple icon. With the redirect URL, we are sending people directly to the Apple Services page, not through loops which can confuse or lose the audience.
In addition, I wrote blogs about Apple products, software, tips, and more. These all link readers to Heart's Apple Services website. I also wrote a post describing what it means to be an Apple Authorized Service Provider, and why an Apple customer would choose an Authorized Service Provider over other non-authorized competitors. This post is linked directly on Heart's Apple Services website. When a viewer sees that we are Apple Authorized, they can click the link to learn more.
social media
As a B2B company, our social media has little impact on a lead's decision to choose Heart. Instead, we have devoted portions of our scheduling to Heart's Apple Services promotion. We tweet coupons, links, and more daily while spreading the word of our Apple Services on Facebook and Google at least twice a week. LinkedIn followers receive a branded Apple Services message weekly. Heart finds many more people are hearing of the Apple Services they provide through posts on social media.
business directories
Before I signed on, Heart used no business directories to promote Apple Services they provide. I took the time to go through local and big-name business directories, such as Yelp, Google, Yahoo! Local, and Chamber directories. As a result, Heart has seen an increase in Apple customers who learned of their services through these outlets.
guerrilla marketing
Heart's strategy of promoting Apple Services was to give 250-500 coupons away locally: Chamber expos, 5k swag bags, local newsletters, etc. While it's great to support local, there was no strategy behind this. The lack of strategy resulted in little to no ROI.
I saw great opportunity in the local school systems. With Bradley University and Peoria-Notre Dame High School both implementing a Mac-only policy to some or all of their students, this low-hanging fruit was basically begging to be picked.
I created handouts to be attached to the coupons. These handouts were written for the target–one for high school students, another for college students–that explains what Heart does and why to take your technology to Heart. We then attended popular student events, such as Bradley's activities fair. While one Heart employee stood at the table passing out handouts coupons, I went to each booth and found Mac users, students in colleges that required Macs, and other Mac-using students to give handouts and coupons to. In these guerrilla marketing instances, we gave away 200 coupons (less coupon printing = cost savings on production) to only students who own a Mac or MacBook–all target members.
Not only did we see customers rolling in from these events a mere week later, but I also found more brand recognition in the community. At an event for Bradley Homecoming, I spoke with an undergraduate student who asked where I worked. When I replied, "Heart Technologies," she immediately knew it was the Apple Repair location in Peoria. That's effective advertising.
