Challenges in Social Media by Big Companies

One of my favorite company is Dell.  I would like to share about some interesting facts that I have come across when dealing with the social media statistics stuff with the high-end companies. Dell has made significant progress since launching its social media strategy in 2006. They are regarded as a pioneer who took the risk of exposing themselves to customer feedback which most often than not is negative, and was able to turn it into their strength. At this point, they need to continue to evolve their social media program by having a presence wherever their customers are.  For example, it is known that individuals aged 14-22 drive 70% of family computer-buying decisions. This demographic spends on average 6 hours a day on their phone digesting content. To appeal to this demographic, Dell should engage in social sites they visit such as Snapchat and Instagram or music apps such as Spotify or Tidal.

Concerning communication, most people communicate with each other via text on a regular basis. Perhaps Dell should create specific emoji’s, or bitmoji’s showcasing their brand and products. This would help take their awareness to the next level by fueling endless conversations and allowing Dell to stay top of mind with current and potential customers.

            Another step could be turning the tables on their social listening.  Currently, Dell uses all the listening being conducted to better themselves from a product and service perspective.  They use sentiment analysis to proactively solve customer issues and monitor consumer trends to assist in R&D. They also analyze their industry’s social stream to stay up to date on their competitors. This “listening” alone results in a higher “demoter to promoter” score which has led to increased customer loyalty, higher resolution rates which give them a competitive edge. Imaginably, Dell could create a podcast where customers could listen to Dell speak about technology and innovation and create a platform where there is 2-way communication for ideation.

Here pops up a new question.

Could Dell’s social media model be transferred to other companies? 

            Dell is one of the few Fortune 500 companies that have been early adopters of social media and have turned it into a viable source of sales. They have indeed evolved over the past ten years into a “Social Enterprise” and are currently one of the few companies that have gotten the social media marketing right.

 I believe their model should be transferred to other companies who should adopt the customer centric mentality. Dell has created a platform where they can tap into exactly what their customers want regarding service and product and deliver to meet those needs and expectations. Their “Social Outreach Services” group converts clients who come online to rant to ravers and mostly ambassadors of the brand.  The results of this effort are evident in their sales. 

       However, companies must keep in mind to successfully become a “Social Enterprise”, there needs to be a complete adoption from the company to support the social media initiative. In Dell’s case, the adoption of social media is top down. It starts with their CEO, Michael Dell, who is fairly active on social media and transcends to all of their employees globally. Dell employees are trained to use social media in every aspect of their job particularly technical support and customer care. The success is in the numbers since to date they have over 10,000 employees who are certified social media ambassadors.

This movement transcends to their customers who in turn for stellar service, promote and support Dell in their social networks. Social media has today become an extension of their brand since it allows them to be a better company by delivering first class products and solutions to their customers.  To date, few companies have been able to achieve this success and Dell can be seen as one of the world’s most social companies.

For more information on Analytics, please visit http://olgaazina.blogspot.com/2017/04/status-and-future-of-big-data-in.html
Source Case Study from Building a Social Media Culture at Dell by Michael Norris & Rohit Deshpande