NO TIME TO BLOG

I was quite interested to read all the success Dell was having through Twitter, $3m in sales attributed to the social platform.

Having a little dig around they have done a great job of using Twitter to create a genuine dialogue between the company and their customers.

Are they doing this at the expense at last years big thing? Facebook...because whilst stumbling around Dell's Twitter profiles, blogs, forums I found their various Facebook pages and they don't make for a pretty read. Some examples:

• Dell Consumer Facebook Page: "Dell Taiwan, you suck! Waiting for the decrease of your market share!"
• Dell Consumer Facebook Page: "The world's worst PC manufacturer!" (And 2 people like this)
• Dell Customer Lounge Facebook Page: "Your company sold me a laptop that has injured me three times in the last two years. A cut and burnt hand, and a burnt leg."

If you look back through the posts there is an occasional post from a Dell person trying to help but there are many complaints about Dell in Taiwan and nobody has posted a reply. Has Dell Stopped Listening?

Having the ability to create a dialogue with your customers over the web can be a great benefit to any business but you MUST answer all negative comments and questions.

MySpace was the first serious social network, the first that everyone spoke about but Facebook and Bebo came along and swept everyone up. The reason it happened is because MySpace was a great idea poorly implemented and this wounded them.

Over the last couple of years MySpace has continued to justify its existence by copying all the best Facebook ideas and implementing them badly. First notable copy was the Facebook status, this micro blogging feature was added to MySpace, badly, all it shows is a list of the bands I like and what they are up to? Where are all my friends? They are on Facebook.

I just noticed when logging back in now they have added the chat functionality, but where are all my friends? They are on Facebook. The problem is when Facebook Says Jump MySpace Says How High but by the time they have answered another group of their users have gone.

MySpace is pretty rubbish really, I think most people had an account once but when some of the better social networks developed they moved away. It has many problems but reminds me of those funny briefs you get occasionally that go something like this "I want to setup this new interactive social platform like Facebook but needs features like YouTube and Skype, I don't have a budget but I will consider an equity exchange."

MySpace is trying to be everyone, it is trying to be Facebook with its status updates and it is trying to be You Tube with its video channel but in reality MySpace Is Good For One Thing, music.

There is one reason many people return to MySpace again and again, it is a simple way to go and check out what your fav band is doing and listen to material. Guns N Roses, The Gallows and most recently Kasabian are example artists who have streamed a pre-release of their album.

Forget the social network MySpace is a music portal.

When planning a digital strategy most clients tend to ask the same questions, how do we use Facebook? What is our Twitter strategy etc... The first question to ask is, Are You Doing The Simple Things Right? Yes there is a big opportunity with social media but it is an acquisition tool not conversion.

There are few examples of companies driving significant revenue from a social strategy yet there are many good case studies of companies driving revenue from traditional web and email channels. So remember although this channel is important within your digital communications mix you should first ensure that you Do The Simple Things Right first:

1. Website - is your website maximising the opportunity to convert people?
2. Email - does your email strategy follow standard practice?
3. Search - are you optimised for Google?
4. Measurement - are you measuring your digital stragegy, do you know where your traffic is coming from?

Do The Simple Things Right then have fun with the latest fad.