Interview with Dell Global VP: Increase China's micro-blog marketing Investment

As of March 8, Dell's image is increasingly appearing on social networking sites and micro-blogs, and in China, Dell will also invest more in this area. From product development to customer support, employees at Dell's various departments are encouraged to identify themselves on the web and become part of the company's marketing and communication program.

"Online conversations with customers are a natural part of our business processes. "Manish Mehta, Dell's global vice-president for social media and the community, is interviewing Sina technology to introduce Dell's social media (Social media) marketing," said Manish Mehe.

Dell Global Vice President Manish Mehe (Manish Mehta)

Adhere to frank and two-way communication

For many Dell, Dell is a pioneer in E-commerce, and in social media marketing, it is a matter of course to take the forefront. Dell's Twitter account @delloutlet has been seen by the global media as an example of the success of micro-blogging marketing. The blog now has more than 1.5 million followers. According to data from Dell, the company has directly created nearly 7 million dollars of turnover through Twitter.

"Dell chose Twitter only to know and focus on what the customer was saying, and didn't expect to get so many users ' attention and sales business. "We believe that Dell's biggest gain on Twitter is a close, direct relationship with customers," Manish Mehta said of Sina technology. ”

And the key to success, Manish Mehta, is that "we insist on openness and two-way communication." "Of course, support from the highest level is also very important." ”

"The online conversations between these clients are always going to happen, whether the company likes it or not," Manish Mehe quoted a paragraph from Michael Dayer's interview with Businessweek. The question is, do you want to join these conversations? My view is, of course, to join. You can learn from it and speed up your reaction time. By listening and joining the conversation, you will become a better company. ”

Social media Marketing effectiveness evaluation must have new thinking

How to assess the return on investment in social media marketing is a problem that bothers many marketing executives and is why many companies hesitate to respond to social media marketing. "Of course we have to look at social media metrics and performance, but we need a whole new way of measuring return on investment," Manish Mehe said. You can make a cumulative assessment of each project. But if you do, you may be wasting too much time, money, and energy on defining the return on investment. ”

"At Dell, we care about the overall business goals of the company, and then see whether social media marketing helps us achieve these goals, which is most important." Manish Mehe stressed.

Manish Mehe promises that Dell will continue to increase its investment in social media in the future. "We will continue to expand globally, especially in areas where the social media is so highly developed in China." We will follow users regardless of which language they choose or which platform they prefer. ”

Three years ago, Dell opened the Dell through train in China, the first Chinese-language corporate blog in the computer industry. Dell's Chinese Micro blog @ Dell China after a period of trial run, will also be officially online, in Renren, Dell's public homepage will soon be online.

Social media team Many people "never done marketing before"

Dell has a global department dedicated to social media and communities, which is responsible for the company's social media strategy, investment, training, assessment and globalization. Manish Mehe said the department's staff will work with local Chinese staff to explore local social media strategies and strategies that fit China's overall strategy, and then collaborate and implement across departments.

In Dell, social media marketing has been an inter-departmental task, so the composition of the team has also subverted the traditional marketing team concept. Manish Mehe said: "Our Chinese team has both skilled and geek engineers and marketers who are familiar with media operations." Everyone's background is very different, bringing a different view. Many people may have never done marketing before, but now they communicate on behalf of the company and their clients in social media.

Manish Mehe that the biggest advantage is that their mentality relaxed, natural real, representing the company's new image. "The goal of Dell as a social media is to involve all departments in the company," he said. We are working in this direction. ”

Encourage employees to "clear identities" on social networking sites

Manish Mehe said that at present, Dell's social media marketing can be divided into four areas: first, the integration of business Web site and social media content; The second is to build Dell's community, and the third is to work with outside communities, including Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Common social media sites such as Flickr, as well as the Dell Weibo microblogging service set up in China, are encouraging ordinary employees to join social media.

Many companies are wary of employees posting their job information on social networks, and some have even imposed strict restrictions on how employees talk about work in social media, micro blogs, and so on. Manish Mehe does not agree with this: "In Dell, in addition to corporate social media accounts, we also encourage employees to light up their identities online as corporate image ambassadors and users and exchanges." ”

"We currently have more than 3.5 million total users on global social media sites," he said. "Only when social media really becomes the work of every member of the company does it play its most important role." "Manish Mehe said," Enterprise personality, is not the sum of thousands of employees personality? ”

"In China, there are already a lot of Dell employees active in Sina Weibo," said Tony, general manager of consumer Business direct sales in Greater China. Our next plan is to further develop the potential energy of our employees. Dell has tens of thousands of employees in China and who knows more about our products, brands and customer needs than they do, who would be a better Dell brand ambassador? "(Wen)

The following is the full text of the interview:

Sina Technology Zhao Wenyuan: Dell's success on Twitter has been widely reported, is it really so successful? What does Dell do as a social media marketing Social?

Manish Mehta: Since the first day of Michael Dayer's inception, we have established direct contact with our clients, and we have always been proud of it. Twitter and other social media tools help us to further strengthen this direct link with our customers. We are taking a multidimensional and all-round strategy on Weibo. There are currently 6 languages, including English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese, which cover the needs and interests of different customers at four levels: promotional information, news, blogs, and communities.

Our most popular account on Twitter, @delloutlet, has more than 1.5 million followers. Through Twitter, we have directly created nearly 7 million dollars of turnover globally.

Dell chose Twitter only to know and focus on what the customer was saying, and did not expect to get so many users ' attention and sales business. However, we believe that Dell's biggest gain on Twitter is a close, direct relationship with customers.

We have been actively engaged in social media since 2006, and we have gradually expanded our social media business and achieved some success. But our goal has not changed, that is to maintain a frank dialogue with customers-no matter where the customer, the language used. The more we participate, the more we learn, the more we can serve our clients.

Sina technology: Where do you focus on social media marketing, and bring sales revenue is your direct purpose? Is the effect now beyond your expectation? What do you think is the key to success?

Manish Mehta: Dell do social media marketing can be divided into four main aspects: first, the integration of business Web site and social media content;

The second is to build Dell's own community, we currently have Dell Community forums in 4 languages, Dell's official blog in 5 languages, brainstorming website, etc.

The third is the networking of outside communities, including Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Flickr and other popular social media sites, and the Dell Sina Scarf, which was established in China.

The other is to encourage ordinary employees to join social media and listen to the voice of users. We currently have more than 3.5 million total users on global social media sites.

The idea that we use social media is not sales revenue, we want to use this platform to listen to the views of users and get all these new businesses, some of which we are surprised, but we certainly welcome such results.

The key to Dell's success in the social media arena is our adherence to frank and two-way communication. Of course, support from the highest level is also very important. "The online conversations between these customers are always going to happen, whether the company likes it or not," Michael Dayer said in a Business Week interview. The question is, do you want to join these conversations? My view is, of course, to join. You can learn from it and speed up your reaction time. By listening and joining the conversation, you will become a better company. ”

Sina Science and Technology: How to measure the effect of social media marketing, some business owners see, this is a puzzled thing. How much does Dell currently invest in social media marketing? How do you measure the return on investment?

Manish Mehta: Of course we have to look at social media indicators and performance, but we need a new set of methods to measure the return on investment. You can make a cumulative assessment of each project. But if you do, you may be wasting too much time, money, and energy on defining the return on investment. At Dell, we care about the overall business goals of the company, and then see whether social media marketing helps us achieve those goals, which is most important.

Dell's investment in social media marketing has focused on changes in human, financial and organizational structures that benefit the entire company, and unfortunately we cannot disclose the exact numbers.

Sina technology: In Dell's view, micro-blogging and social media marketing is the icing on the cake or may become a major channel in the future?

Manish Mehta: The impact of social media on corporate business is critical. At Dell, it has become an integral part of our marketing. We have been in the online sales through dell.com since 1996, and have been keeping contact with our customers on the Internet, and have taken the lead in establishing the user community on the Internet, so that users can communicate with each other. Online conversations with customers are a natural part of our business processes-from product development to customer support.

Sina technology: What does Dell think of micro-blogging, social media, etc. to the enterprise marketing communication ideas brought about by the change? If more companies were to follow suit in this area, would Dell be able to maintain its edge? What are the ways in which Dell's social media marketing will be strengthened in the future?

Manish Mehta: Social media is constantly changing the way users interact with each other. It has radically changed the way companies and customers communicate. Dell believes that if we listen and participate in a two-way conversation, our customers will benefit and we can become a better company. We believe we can do better than our competitors at this point, which will also be a magic weapon for us to win.

Dell will continue to increase its investment in social media and innovate in the future. One example is our social business. When customers browse the business Web site, they also consult social media friends about their products. How can we simplify this process for our users and make the user experience more considerate to Dell?

We will continue to expand globally, especially in areas where social media is so highly developed in China. We will follow users regardless of which language they choose or which platform they prefer.

We will also rely heavily on our regular staff. Dialogue with customers should not be one or two departments of the company. It is only when social media has become the work of every member of the company that it will play its most important role.

Sina Technology: What is the current focus of Dell's social media marketing in China?

Manish Mehta: First of all, I would like to say that China is a pluralistic market, has its own unique culture and people, we are to learn. But the motivation for users to surf the web and talk to companies is that they are similar to other customers around the world. Customers want to buy excellent products, enjoy good service, I hope the company can listen to their views. Listen, join the conversation and listen to the views of the users to help us succeed in the United States, we will bring this successful experience to China. In China, however, we do not choose to copy the material directly from the United States, we localize the content and communication platform, even the implementation level.

Three years ago, we opened the Dell through train, which was the first Chinese enterprise blog in the computer industry. This blog brings us closer to our customers and helps us to listen, learn, and communicate with local customers on a multidimensional basis. We have a Chinese technical support BBS, these years accumulated a lot of users, when customers encounter problems, you can ask for help. We started to focus on online user discussions, and customer service and technical support staff proactively contacted online customers to help them solve practical problems and difficulties. We have a user product scoring feature on the Dell China website to help users make smarter purchase decisions.

Soon, we will also be on the social media network SNS on Dell's public homepage. In short, we will continue to explore new ways of communication, welcome attention.

Sina Science and Technology: what is the unique point of social media marketing in Chinese market, in your opinion, enterprises need to pay attention to which problems?

Manish Mehta: China is a unique market, its social media platform pattern and the rest of the world are very different. First, China has the world's largest Internet population, which is more than the second-most populous nation in the country. Second, China's internet users are very interactive, BBS forum such a platform is still the main birthplace of Chinese online opinion. Third, internet bosses such as YouTube and Facebook have been frustrated in China, and local social media platforms dominate.

Any company that comes to China must be aware of these differences and operate in a localized way. Of course, the most important thing is to listen and join the real conversation.

Sina Technology: Dell China's social media marketing what is a team doing? What position does this department occupy in the company? What was the background of the team members ' previous backgrounds, and how did it feel to be different from previous marketing in social media marketing?

Manish Mehta: Currently Dell's social media marketing in China is a cross-functional team that includes the corporate communications, marketing, technical support, customer service and sales departments.

Globally, we have a department dedicated to social media and communities, which is responsible for the company's social media strategy, investment, training, assessment and globalization, The department's staff work with local Chinese staff to explore local social media strategies and strategies that fit China's overall strategy, and then collaborate and implement across departments. So our Chinese team has both a very geek engineers and marketers who are familiar with media operations.

Everyone's background is very different, bringing a different view. Many people may have never done marketing before, but now they communicate on behalf of the company and their clients in social media. The biggest advantage is that their mentality is relaxed, natural and real, representing the company's new image. The goal of Dell as a social media is to involve all departments in the company. We are working in this direction.

Sina Technology: An organization or a company as an independent image in the social media, in the end the image of what kind of temperament, if too official, it becomes a press release new place, but if the personalized expression, will not make people doubt whether or not to represent the views of Dell, What kind of personality and expression is appropriate, Dell how to grasp the propriety of this?

Manish Mehta: The ultimate goal of Dell's involvement in social media is to close the gap between business and users. Before the advent of social media, enterprises and users to large-scale communication, only through the media such intermediary, so the image is often more serious.

But with social media, communication between businesses and users has increased dramatically. Enterprises can break the traditional image, to more natural and easy and lively side and the user exchanges, more humane.

In Dell, in addition to corporate social media accounts, we also encourage employees to shine their identities on the web, as corporate image ambassadors and users and exchanges. And the enterprise's individuality, is not the sum of thousands of employees personality?