DELL’S SOCIAL MEDIA JOURNEY

Kerry Bridge, Communications, Dell Inc. Econsultancy – Online Marketing MasterclassesNovember 17, 2009

KEY LESSONS ALONG OUR JOURNEY

1. CUSTOMERS ARE DISCUSSING AND

DEFINING YOUR BRAND EVERY DAY… BOTH ON AND OFF YOUR SITE

4,000 mentions

a day4

OBJECTIVES:

Listen to customersInsert Dell’s Point of viewResolve issues. Engage.

RESULTS:

ONLINE OUTREACH

• Responses on hundreds of blogs• VERY positive customer responses• Negative sentiment online quickly cut in half• > Invite customers to useful content on Dell site.

NO

ONLINE OUTREACH ASSESSMENT

AGGRESSIVEIs the site overly negative and dedicated to

ridiculing others?

NEW BLOG POST FOUNDIs the post positive?

MISGUIDEDDoes the post have the facts wrong?

ACTIONABLE ISSUEDoes the post detail an unresolved customer issue?

NO MONITOR ONLYAvoid flame wars. Monitor thesite for relevant information

and comments.

BLOG RESPONSE CHECKLIST

TRANSPARENCY OF ORIGIN

Your association with Dell is clear. e.g. KerryatDell

A CLEAR GOALYour response aims to

achieve a desired goal.Inform/Guide/

Document/Thank

PERSONALISEDYour response is

not generic. You havethoroughly read the blogand all related entries.

TONEYour response

is conversational andmakes a positive

statement.

CUSTOMER FOCUSEDYour response positions you

as a true customer advocate.

FINAL EVALUATIONBase response on present circumstances, site influence and stakeholder prominence.

Will you respond?

YES

YES

NO

NO

FINAL EVALUATIONYou can agree with post, let it stand or

provide a positive review.Will you respond?

YES

NO

NO RESPONSELet the post

stand.

NO

YES

CORRECT THE FACTSComment with

factual information in comment field.

SUPPORTRectify the situation.

Respond and act upon a reasonable solution.

e.g. Escalate the issue internally.

YES

YES

NO RESPONSELet the post

stand.

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OBJECTIVE:

Peer to peer communications. Unleash Dell fans

RESULTS:

COMMUNITY FORUMS

• More than 1.5 M members engaged in user-to-user dialogue

• 5K - 10K posts a week• Topics range from support pre-purchase enthusiast• 15,000 accepted solutions

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EMPOWERED OUR CUSTOMERS TO SHARE THEIR KNOWLEDGE

Solved button added to Original Post; clicking it will take user to Accepted

Solution

Solved button added to Original Post; clicking it will take user to Accepted

Solution

Accepted Solution Post Turns Green and logo added

Accepted Solution Post Turns Green and logo added

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2. TRANSPARENCY AND AUTHENTICITY ARE KEY

HOW CREDIBLE IS A COMPANY?

DELL CONFIDENTIAL 10Source: http://www.edelman.co.uk/trustbarometer

OBJECTIVE:

Transparent, candid and timely communication

RESULTS:

DIRECT2DELL NETWORK

– Millions page views/week – Available in Chinese, English, Spanish and Japanese– Blogs cover areas of Dell business in more detail –

Enterprise IT, Small Business, Education, Investors etc– Guest influencers join the conversation

www.direct2dell.com 11

3. BE WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE & PROVIDE SOMETHING

USEFUL

OBJECTIVES:

- Direct conversations - Share Dell News - Share Dell Offers

RESULTS:

TWITTER

• @DellOutlet 80th most popular Twitter account with over 1.4M followers.

• Sold more than $2M in merchandise since 2007, $1M browsing.

• Now 35 official Dell accounts + many more personal accounts

www.dell.com/twitter Dell OutletUK

4. OPEN SOURCE IDEAS TRANSFORMED THE WAY

WE OPERATE

OBJECTIVES:

Encourage ideas,feedback, innovationand dialogue

RESULTS:

• >12,000 ideas generated by the community• ~700,000 promotions of ideas• >87,000 comments• ~400 ideas Implemented by Dell• Created a Facebook App and ability to post ideas

directly to a Facebook profile

www.ideastorm.com

IDEASTORM

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CUSTOMER-INSPIRED LAPTOPCOLOR OPTIONSA LITTLE ZING TO BUSINESS LAPTOPS

13.3-INCH DISPLAY COMPACT, BUT BIG ENOUGH TO FIT A FULL-SIZED KEYBOARD UNDERNEATH

eSATA PORT LETS USERS CONNECT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES AT FAST SPEEDS

BACKLIT KEYBOARDFOR WORKING IN THE DARK

FINGERPRINT READEREXTRA SECURITY APPEASES JITTERY MANAGERS

BETTER BATTERY LIFEUP TO 19 HOURS ON A SINGLE CHARGE

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5. DEFINING A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM IS CRITICAL TO

INTERNAL BUY-IN

Blogs– Technorati ranking, Guest bloggers, Traffic, Conversation

index, cost per sale

Forums – Posts and views, Accepted Solutions, VIP engagement, Opex

savings

Social Media– Online Sentiment (positive, neutral, negative), net promoter

score, issue prevention Opex savings

IdeaStorm– Site participation, Ideas implemented

Twitter– Followers, conversation index, cost per sale

A. MEASUREMENTS SHOULD REFLECT OBJECTIVES

DELL CONFIDENTIAL18

Investment action reaction non-financial financial cost of impact gain

B. FINANCIAL AND NON-FINANCIAL IMPACT

DELL CONFIDENTIAL 19

Website visitors

Click-throughs

Positive press

Positive WOM

Customer complaints

Re-tweets

Facebook friends

Blog comment ratio

Social mention

YouTube views

Twitter followers

Impressions

Competition entries

Discount codes used SEO

Online Sentiment (positive, neutral, negative)

Increased call volume

Technorati ranking

traffic

Opex savings

Ideas implemented

Competitor comparisons

members

Paid search savingsSupport savings

Traffic to purchase path

Cost per sale

Cost per visitCost per membership

Cost per call

Customer Loyalty

Net promoter score

Issue prevention

6. SOCIAL MEDIA IS NO LONGER THE JOB OF JUST THE SOCIAL

MEDIA TEAM

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOW PART OF EVERYONE’S JOB

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EARLY DAYSINCUBATION

TODAYDISTRIBUTED MODEL

Incubated all social media activity in Public Relations

Embedded in the businessMarketi

ng & Communication

sSupport

Sales Product Group

Central strategy

Central

Team

DELL CONFIDENTIAL

FINAL THOUGHTS

1. Be transparent about your companies

origin

2. Be where your customers are

3. Add something of value

4. Set time parameters

5. Be clear about your objectives

6. Measure both financial and non-financial

benefits

7. Be a person – have fun!

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