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Dude, Dell's got a new revenue stream!
Cutsie blog post titles aside, we’re not suggesting that you copy another company’s every move – rather that you understand and learn from them. In this case, if there’s anyone in your company who is still bah humbug’ing social and content marketing via Twitter, you might want to direct their attention to Dell.
Why? Because Dell recently announced that they made a total of $6.5 million in revenue through their Twitter activity over the last three years. And what is the media buy to have a Twitter presence? $0. How you like them apples (err … Dells)?
Dell has been a leader in corporate Twitter activity, jumping in with both feet early and steadily. With several Twitter accounts associated with their brand (I stopped counting at 70), Dell has been able to engage directly with consumers on several different levels. The most popular Dell Twitter account, the @DellOutlet provides daily deals and customer service to its nearly 1.5 million followers. Other accounts include the faces behind the brand – like @Kara_atDELL (who handles small and medium business communications/ PR for Dell) and @ChrisBatDell (Dell’s Digital Life blogger) – various departments at Dell’s headquarters and a slew of campus and regional customer service reps.
So how has Dell been able to find success on this still emerging social networking site? We’ve been stalking them and have found the following to be true:
- Commitment. While not every account that bares the Dell name gets continually updated, the main accounts are quite active. There’re no toes in the water with Dell’s Twitter push – it gets full attention from the staff behind it.
- Responsiveness. When someone asks a question, Dell answers. The engagement on the @DellOutlet is particularly impressive. Not only does the customer receive a response, the demonstration of customer service is for all to see. If anything is going to give a consumer confidence in doing business with a company, it’s by seeing a business’s abilities and accountability in action.
- Specializations. If Dell just had one account, it probably couldn’t deliver the personal service it does now to so many different people. Instead, each account serves a special purpose and gets the job done well. This not only allows Dell to work more efficiently across Twitter, but different accounts appeal to different audiences (i.e.: people who are looking for deals vs. people who want to talk about tech upgrades), thus expanding Dell’s reach.
- Transparency. If someone on Twitter is employed by Dell, you know it. While other brands might be paying people to act like unbiased fans (boo!), Dell pays employees while growing good reviews and enthusiastic consumers organically and genuinely. There’s no confusion or dishonesty.
- Personality. Related to the above, we see who’s behind the account and behind the Dell logo on Twitter. While conversations are hardly jumping to hot-button topics like religion and politics, you’ll see some pretty informal and personality-infused chats about technology, the day-to-day and life in and out the Dell offices. Go figure, people like chatting with people.
- Tracking of ROI. How does Dell know Twitter is worthwhile? They monitor their activities, links to their sites and track how promotions spread across Twitter. At the end of the day, they can claim the $6.5 million in sales as a reason for their social media activity to continue.
Twitter is currently free for companies to use (there’s rumblings this won’t always be the case) – so isn’t it time for your company to take advantage of this content marketing tool, too? If you’re not sure how to get started or are looking for freelance writers, a content marketing company can help.
Tags: Case Studies, roi, Twitter
