On SmartCompany Paul Wallbank said, in an article called "The real value of Twitter", that:
The beauty of Dell's $US3 million in revenues from Twitter sales is that the Twitter account has cost them nothing but the time of one of their marketing people.
Twitter isn't going to replace Facebook or Google any more than it's going to replace direct mail or the local classifieds. It's simply a different channel to get your message across.
Actually I don't agree with most of this post and in particular the various conclusions.
1. Marketers approaching Twitter "as simply a different channel to get your message across" are going to do a disservice if not great damage to their brands and reputation. The #1 message for marketers should be that social media such as Twitter are not just another push channel.
2. To imply that Dell used Twitter this way, and it was the cause of their "success" is just completely wrong and conveys the wrong ideas to those wishing to learn from Dell.
Dell took a very well thought out approach to engaging with their customers through social media. Their goal with Twitter and other social media sites is to gain share of mind and branding with influencers - not to push a message through a "channel". They set about creating conversations with consumers that were important from a branding perspective. That starts out by listening - not by pushing out marketing messages.
3. The notion that it "cost them nothing" is also misleading as unless you think though the consequences of beginning such engagement, say through Twitter, then it can cost you a lot more than you are prepared to give. How will you engage? What will be to dialog topics? How will you manage and respond to people who respond? Which parts of the organisation will need to be aligned with this initiative and how will that be socialised and supported? Dell thought this through, and then tacked it on at marginal cost to an already well-oiled machine. This well-oiled machine does not exists in most organisations.
Engaging with social media is changing the whole marketing and sales world, and it can be tried in incremental steps and improved and refined as we learn. But like most things a short sharp plan and realistic expectations are the key to its business success.
