How Dell Powers Its Social Side With Analytic

social listening tools to monitor conversations and mentions across numerous networks, including blogs and forums. “Depending on the nature of an issue, we can have a corporate response prepared in a matter of hours and can reach out to an individual to resolve an issue within minutes,” says Melinat. In addition to offering immediate, actionable data, listening tools let Dell gather more in-depth information than its scorecards provide, giving the social team a well-rounded picture of social performance.
Like many big businesses, Dell also deals with customer service issues on social. “Providing customer support and issue resolution over social media helps reduce response time and increase our resolution rate,” says Melinat. “These listening tools help us proactively spot hot issues that may be growing organically in the conversation based on volume, reach, and sentiment. Depending on the type of issue, our team will then reach out to the appropriate Dell teams to respond.” For smaller — or individual — customer support problems, there’s a dedicated Social Outreach Services (SOS) team that monitors the Dell Facebook Page and @DellCares account on Twitter. The SOS team fields an average of 3,500 issues in 14 different languages every week — and has a 97% resolution rate.
Using Social Analytics for Market Research
twitter-chats-businessWith so much effort put into gathering and analyzing social data, it’s no surprise that Dell uses social insights beyond its social networks. “So many people express their opinions and needs on social media today that there is a wealth of valuable customer information available,” explains Melinat. “To tap into that data, we primarily use our social media listening tools to pull the conversations that relate to a specific topic we are researching.”
Social data goes to research analysts who review and summarize it for product feedback, competitive comparisons, or general insights into market trends. This research may be in addition to, or a complete replacement for primary research methods like surveys or focus groups. “It can usually be turned around faster and for less money,” says Melinat. “And social media research adds another perspective.”

Fortunately, your business doesn’t have to be as large as Dell to take away lessons on how it manages its social media properties. No matter how large or small, keeping a close watch on your social metrics will help you respond to customer issues and build on social success — a sure path to social media victory in the long-run.