Biz Stone, Twitter’s cofounder and CEO, continues to look for ways for the micro-blogging Web site to make money. While he’s looking for the best business model, other companies are using Twitter to make millions.
Computer maker Dell has cashed in on Twitter’s popularity by posting deals on Twitter.com/DellOutlet and several other Twitter accounts, and it has not cost the company a single penny.
Dell Outlet uses Twitter as a way to message coupons, clearance events, and new arrival information to those looking for Dell technology at a discounted price, according to Dell’s Stephanie Nelson, who blogged about Dell’s success with Twitter.
“Since we started back in 2007, we’ve earned more than $2 million in revenue at DellOutlet, attributed directly to our Twitter activity,” Nelson said. “We’ve surpassed $2 million in revenue in terms of Dell Outlet sales, but we’re also seeing that it’s driving interest in new products as well.”
Dell’s Twitter site is also moving people to Dell.com, Nelson said. When those sales are factored in, Dell has actually reached $3 million in overall sales just from tweets on Twitter.
Creating Buzz
Dell employees saw the impact tweeting had on Dell’s sales, so they decided to tweet more regularly and offer more Twitter-exclusive offers through its now-34 Twitter accounts. The move created even more buzz for Dell and helped the company lure a follower base that grown to more than 600,000.
“Our followers responded by re-tweeting DellOutlet messages to their followers, and our numbers rose even more,” Nelson wrote in her blog.
The number of followers has made Dell one of the top 100 most-followed accounts on Twitter, according to TwitterCounter. The account is now climbing close to the top 50 accounts.
