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Social Media is a double edged sword – it either kills you or drives you up to fame.
Why is this so?
This is because companies don’t wholly own their brand anymore.
Consumers own most part of it. Back in the old days, we could only share our experience and thoughts verbally; either face to face or through the phone. Now we have the power to generate our own content and have influence over the people who view it. Our content about a brand affects others’ perception of it. With a tweet or a status update, hundreds will see our views instantly. Not forgetting that an “interesting” content would spread like wildfire.
A company that does not know how to effectively turn this revolution to its advantage would eventually suffer.
2 years have passed since Dell Hell dwelt in the social media world. Back then, Dell’s customer service was heavily criticized via Social Media. Be that as it was, with an open mind and willingness to change for the better, it has raised from the dead to become #2 in web engagement and a true social media winner.
Most of us would have heard of @Delloutlet’s success – making $3 million revenue over the course of 2 years through Twitter alone! Managed by @StefanieatDell, @Delloutlet tweets about existing promotions and answers customers’ queries. But Dell didn’t just stop there. It moved on to ride the Twitter wave, creating various Twitter profiles to target different customer segments.
An unfocused scatter approach you might call it, but Dell is allocating manpower to each existing Twitter profile, showing how this PC maker giant values Twitter. As a Twitter user, you would realize how quickly information could be disseminated and received. Dell understands the value of connecting with its consumers; and managing crisis, answering queries, listening to how consumers promote its brand and discovering their wants became so much easier with social media. Twitter has proven to be a great choice for Dell.
It is no easy task crawling out of hell alive but Dell has definitely learned a lot from this dreadful experience. To prevent other businesses from reliving the same mistake, Dell has devoted a page to teach small businesses about social media. Although this page has no direct linkage with its core business, it serves as a powerful subtle marketing tool for Dell.
And of course, Dell also has its own fan page.
IdeaStorm
IdeaStorm was created by Dell to allow everyone to share their ideas, collaborate with other users and see their brainchild become a reality. It follows the Reddit concept and hence, works like it. As a member, you can promote, demote and comment on the ideas. There’s perfect transparency as the status of an idea is clearly displayed so that everyone is aware of its progress.
The reason for IdeaStorm is obvious – Customers know what they want best. Such a platform allows lead users to better voice their opinions and echo good ideas that Dell could have missed out.
With Starbucks and Dell as leading examples of user generated idea input, could focus groups be irrelevant one day?
Conclusion
For a huge company like Dell, it is not easy to admit (especially when pride is at stake), listen, learn and change. Not forgetting that they teach as well. Because Dell is willing to do all that, it has become one of the most successful companies in the social media world.
Say bye to Dell Hell! Dell bounced back stronger, creating a better experience for its consumers. That is exactly what we, the consumers, want all companies to do.
Note: Check out how Starbucks does it
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Tags: Branding, Business, Dell, Social Media, Top Brands
