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Between the Lines

Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King

Dell's Twitter outlet generates millions in revenue

By | June 12, 2009, 10:44am PDT

As Twitter continues to grow and companies tap into is as a means of sharing their news, engaging with customers or promoting their products, others are looking for ways to turn tweets into dollars.

Dell, it seems, has found one.

In a blog post this week, the company revealed that it has generated more than $2 million in revenue from @DellOutlet, one of its many Twitter sites. Late last year, there were some headlines about Dell crossing the $1 million mark via Twitter. It’s only gotten bigger since then.

The secret formula for Dell has been to use Twitter as a way to extend exclusive offers, discounts and other forms of savings. Everyone loves a bargain, right? Before you knew it, thousands of people were following @DellOutlet -and it’s numbers are now in excess of 600,000. (see chart below) The company wrote in a blog post:

Deal-hunters are especially attracted to Dell’s Twitter presence. Dell Outlet sells refurbished Dell products at great prices, but inventories fluctuate, making it difficult to know when products are available or on sale. Dell Outlet uses Twitter as a way to message out coupons, clearance events and new arrival information to those looking for Dell technology at a discounted price.

And while not everyone jumps on a deal for a refurbished machine or other outlet-style bargains. the company has been able to track sales that originated from a Twitter click and led to other parts of Dell.com. If you count those sales, @DellOutlet has led to more than $3 million in revenue for Dell.

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Sam has been a technology and business blogger for more than 18 years.

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Sam Diaz

Sam Diaz has nothing to disclose.

Biography

Sam Diaz

Sam has been a technology and business blogger, reporter and editor at ZDNet, the Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News and Fresno Bee for more than 18 years. He's a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and a graduate of California State University, Fresno.

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RE: Dell's Twitter outlet generates millions in revenue
elizardbeth 2nd Aug
No bones about it, there's money to be made on Twitter. If you're interested in how it's done, check these folks out: http://venpop.com/2011/the-top-5-twitter-outlets/
0 Votes
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Fad
Christian_<>< 12th Jun 2009
See what it looks like in a year.....

flat
Brilliant!
0 Votes
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Stats can be a little misleading
techrepublic@... 16th Jun 2009
Of course, what they can't measure is how many of those
people who bought from @DellOutlet would otherwise have
gone and bought a new PC from Dell anyway, and have
therefore spent _less_ money as a result of the site - I
don't know what kind of percentage those people would
represent, but the hype doesn't necessarily equate to
real profit.
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It's going to tough for twitter to monetize..

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I never thought that twitter would ever get so huge!

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It's interesting to see if google will try to buy them out

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It's no surprise that they are making tons of money

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No bones about it, there's money to be made on Twitter. If you're interested in how it's done, check these folks out: http://venpop.com/2011/the-top-5-twitter-outlets/

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