Case study 6: Dell gets closer to its customersthrough its social media strategy Dell is well known as a technology company, offering a broad range of product categoriesincluding desktop computer systems, storage, servers and networking products, mobility products, software and peripherals, and services to manage IT infrastructure for large organisations. Dell business strategy Dells vision is to strive to provide the best possible customer experience by offering: superior value; high-quality, relevant technology; customised systems; superior service andsupport; and differentiated products and services that are easy to buy and use. The core elements of the strategy that are evident in Dells marketing communications are: We simplify information technology for customers. Making quality personal computers, servers, storage and services affordable is Dells legacy. We are focused on making information technology affordable for millions of customers around the world. As a resultof our direct relationships with customers, or customer intimacy, we are best-positioned to simplify how customers implement and maintain information technology and deliver hardware, services and software solutions tailored for their businesses and homes. We offer customers choice. Customers can purchase systems and services from Dell via telephone, kiosks and our website, www.dell.com, where they may review, configure and price systems within our entire product line, order systems online and track orders frommanufacturing through shipping. We have recently launched a retail initiative and plan to expand that initiative by adding new distribution channels to reach additional consumers and small businesses through retail partners and value-added resellersglobally. Customers can purchase custom-built products and custom-tailored services. Historically, our flexible, build-to-order manufacturing process enabled us to turn over inventory every five days on average, thereby reducing inventory levels and rapidly bringing the latest technology to our customers. The market and our competition has evolved and weare now exploring the utilisation of original design manufacturers and new distribution strategies to better meet customer needs and reduce product cycle times. Our goal is to introduce the latest relevant technology more quickly and to rapidly pass on componentcost savings to a broader set of our customers worldwide. We are committed to being environmentally responsible in all areas of our business. We have built environmental consideration into every stage of the Dell product lifecycle from developing and designing energy-efficient products, to reducing the footprint of ourmanufacturing and operations, to customer use and product recovery. Dells sales and marketing Dell sells products and services directly to customers through dedicated sales representatives, telephone-based sales and online at www.dell.com. Customer segments include large corporate, government, healthcare and education accounts, as well as small-to-medium businesses and individual consumers. Dell stresses the importance of its direct business model in providing direct and continuousfeedback from customers, thereby allowing products and marketing programmes to be developed and refined for specific customer groups. In its SEC filing, Dell emphasises how it listens to customers to develop relevant innovative technology and services they trust and value. Evidence for using the participative nature of Web 2.0 is that customers can offer suggestions for current and future Dell products, servicesand operations on an interactive portion of the Dell website called Dell IdeaStorm. It says: This constant flow of communication, which is unique to our direct business model, also allows us to rapidly gauge customer satisfaction and target new or existing products. For large business and institutional customers, Dell maintains a field sales force throughoutthe world. Dedicated account teams, which include field-based system engineers and consultants, form long-term relationships to provide our largest customers with a single source of assistance and develop specific tailored solutions for these customers. Dell also maintains specific sales and marketing programmes targeted at federal, state and local governmental agencies as well as specific healthcare and educational markets. Dell Premier For its large organisational customers, Dell offers Premier (www.dell.com/learn/us/en/04/premier), which is a secure, customisable procurement and support site or extranet designed to save organisations time and money through all phases ofIT product ownership. The main benefits of Dell Premier are described as: Easy ordering: a custom online store ensures access to your products at your price. Easy tracking: view real-time order status, online invoices and purchase history details.Easy control: custom access groups define what users can see and do within Premier. Marketing communications Dell markets its products and services to small-to-medium businesses and consumers primarily by advertising on television and the Internet, advertising in a variety of print media and by mailing a broad range of direct marketing publications, such as promotional pieces, catalogues and customer newsletters. In certain locations Dell also operates stores or kiosks, typically located within shopping centres, that allow customers to view its products inperson and purchase online with the assistance of a Dell expert. Dell online communications The management of the consumer site was presented to Econsultancy (2008). Dell has athreestage order funnel: marketing communications execution measured by site visits; site merchandising measured by consideration % (site visits to e-store visits);store merchandising measured by conversion % (e-store visits to e-receipts). The presenter explained how Dell aims to understand and act on customer behaviour basedon identification of a series of consideration drivers: the quality of online advertising; path quality through site; merchandising/offers and conversion drivers: configurator ease of use; accessibility of decision support tools; and consistency of message through the entire path. Dell will invest in strategic improvements to the site to improve these levers examples mentioned included new merchandising approaches such as customer ratings and reviews, videos and major path or customer journey changes created through decision support toolsto Help me choose. There are also more tactical initiatives to help deliver the right messageto each customer including customisation/personalisation, real estate optimisation and message balancing. More tactical persuasion of site visitors is based on price moves/optimised price position to market and the mix of product features. A wide range of different offers need to be managed.Tactical promotions, which are driven by promotional end dates that are weekly or bi- weekly, include varying: free shipping; money-off discounts; free upgrades (e.g. additional memory);free accessories; finance offers; service upgrades. The presenter also noted how, across Europe, the promotional mix has to vary to reflect the differences in buying psychology. He summarised the main differences between customers asfollows: UK all about price; CH add value over price; DE all about high-end products in mix;IT design is important(!); DK cheap is good; NO added value is key;FR tailored for France. Dells use of digital media channels The main digital media channels used by Dell.com in Europe are: Paid search through programmes such as Google Ads, which are used to promote value through timelimited offers related to the phrase searched upon. For example, a Google search for cheapest Dell displays an ad: Discount Dell Laptops www.dell.co.uk/laptop Save up to 300 on selected Dell Laptops from 329. Buy online now! Display advertising for example, advertising on technology websites is particularlyimportant for the corporate market. Affiliate marketing used to protect the Dell brand by enabling affiliates to bid on termssuch as Dell laptops and to target niche audiences such as owners of gaming machines. Email marketing an enewsletter is used to keep in touch with existing customers and deliver targeted offers when their hardware may be renewed. How Dell use social media marketing Cory Edwards, director of social media and reputation team (SMART) at Dell, has explainedDells approach to social media marketing. He stresses the importance of commitment from senior managers, which is exemplified for Dell by CEO Michael Dell, who frequently emphasises the importance of social media marketing to Dell. Edwards (2011) contains this quote from Michael Dell: Engaging in honest, direct conversations with customers and stakeholders is a part of who we are, who weve always been. The social web amplifies our opportunity to listen and learnand invest ourselves in a two-way dialogue, enabling us to become a better company with more to offer the people who depend on us. Edwards simply says, If content is king, then listening is queen. As an indication of the importance of social media listening to Dell, Dell has created a SocialMedia Listening Command Centre, which has six wall monitors tracking what Dells most influential customers are saying, trending topics relating to Dell, market performance including share of voice and ratings of sentiment expressed about Dell. Around 25,000 postsin 11 languages are monitored daily by Dells Ground Control Team. Dell has a social media governance workflow that reviews the potential importance of these customer comments and identifies those it is worth following up. The Ground Control Teamis tightly integrated with the @Dell-Cares Twitter team who engage around 1,000 customersper week. Their role is to reach out to people complaining about Dell on Twitter. Edwards notes that the team has a 30 per cent rate of converting ranters to ravers. As well as responding to negative mentions as part of customer service, Dell has created an Online Influencer Relations Program. This is managed by identifying influencers across business unit, region or topic area. Key influencers are identified using a conversation tracker, which is part of Dells social media listening tool Radian 6. Influencers are provided with content and products that they may review or share. Dell has gone beyond virtual relationships, introducing Dell Customer Advisory Panel (CAP), which Edwards describes asa ranters and ravers event. Invitees are prioritised based on size of social media reach and their affinity with Dell. Relationship owners are designated and involved with ongoing efforts to build advocates. Within CAP days, Dell not only listens, but gives feedback on how problems are addressed. For example, Dell heard that there were too many dropped calls and unnecessary transfers, so it explained how ePhone CRM software is being launched across sites, which will improvereporting capability to track telecom issues and queue mergers to eliminate certain types of transfer. The reputation management we have described is only part of the social media marketing activities. If we review these activities according to the RACE framework (Chapter 1), we can see that Dell is involved in social media marketing activities across the customer lifecycle: Reach: Research, network and advertise to reach and interact with customers and prospects on the social outposts, communities and blogs relevant to your audience. (Inter) Act: This involves determining your goals and then working out the engagementtools that will encourage your customers to interact and will inspire them. Dell has cleargoals around a number of financial and non-financial measures. They look at measures including operational savings through paid search and support savings and boosting customer loyalty measured through the Net Promoter Score. When customers interact with Dell, their experiences are shared via their social graph offollowers or fans, so there is this viral effect that helps customer acquisition. Convert: Here Dell is trying to leverage initial interaction to go through into real value ofleads or sales. At a practical level, Dell has a clearance channel, Dell Outlet, that it uses tosell through Twitter. It may also offer promotional coupons through social media such as Groupon or deals sites to encourage sales. Engage: This is the big challenge with social media: how to keep customers engaged. For Dell, engagement occurs on several platforms, but in particular within community forums, which are userto-user support postings where topics range from support to pre- purchase or enthusiast discussions. There are millions of members with tens of thousandsof discussions and accepted solutions each week. The Direct-2Dell Network is also used for B2B customers, with separate blogs for Enterprise IT, Small Business, Education, Investors, etc. They encourage guest influencers to join the discussion. Finally, another big part of engagement for Dell is IdeaStorm one of the best examples of crowdsourcing through social media, which encourages ideas, feedback, innovation and dialogue. Over tens of thousands of ideas have been generated, with around 100,000 comments added, and a viral effect occurring through a Facebook app. Only several hundred ideas have been implemented, but the secret is that Dell closes the loop by feeding back to customerswhat has worked and what hasnt. Source: 2011 SEC Filing Econsultancy (2008); Dell case study; Online Marketing Masterclass, presented at the Royal Institute of British Architects, November 2008. Edwards (2011); Tackling corporate reputation with social media, presentation by Cory Edwards, director of social media and reputation team (SMART) February 2011, available to view online at www.slideshare.net/KerryatDell/dell-social-media-nma-event-london-v2-feb-2011; See also: www.slideshare.net/KerryatDell/dells-social-media-journey-econsultancy-masterclasses- november2009; http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/our-story-company-timeline.aspx

Question Describe approaches used by Dell within its site design and promotion to deliver relevantoffers for different types of online customers.