Dell Generates US$9 million In 2009 Social Network Sales

In 2009 computer manufacturing giant Dell said it had over 600,000 followers on the micro blogging social network site Twitter, less than six months ago Dell said Twitter had generated as much as US$3 million in sales.

Underlining just how important social networking has become in the space of a few short months, Dell’s followers have now jumped to more than 3.5 million and direct sales generated from social networks has leapt to US$ 9 million, with Dell increasingly using Facebook and Flickr.

Stephen Felice, president of Dell’s small and medium business group, speaking at a conference said it was important that small business develop a social media strategy, adding that sales are not the only reason for their use.

“We don’t just use them for generating sales. Social media gives you information that you can use in real time, and base decisions on. This is a really powerful tool for SMBs, who don’t have the marketing dollars for traditional advertising. Social media offers a cheap way to form a really personal relationship with customers.” Mr. Felice said.

According to Dell, the company generated $2 million in sales from Twitter in 2008 and the sales figure has leapt to $9 million during 2009 across all social networking platforms, suggesting that social network as a sales tool is a growing and extremely profitable trend. Dell Australia has not released any details of its social media sales figures.