Dell Computers announced today that it has now sold more than $6.5 million in product through links broadcast out to its Twitter followers. The company has more than 1 million followers on Twitter, a handy gift from Twitter Inc. via prominent placement of Dell on the Suggested Users List shown to all new Twitter users. The news will no doubt be celebrated by social media marketers all the world over but I believe there's reason to be very skeptical of this tidbit of information. Sponsor Specifically, such celebration of sales through social media broadcast is unrealistic for most firms, it's overstated in Dell's case (if all $6.5m was made in one year that would mean 1 million people opted-in to get these ads and only delivered .015% of the company's annual revenue) and most importantly: such seductive facts detract from the real, much larger value of social media. That's listening. We offer below our article written in June, when Dell was heralding the number $3m. Much of the research is based on interviews we did for our ReadWriteWeb Guide to Online Community Management . Social Media ROI: Dell's $3m on Twitter and Four Better Examples Dell Computers announced last night that it has surpassed $3 million in sales via links from one of its Twitter accounts, making one of the most high profile examples of social media Return on Investment (ROI) all the more juicy. Telling your reluctant boss that social media is worth using because Dell made $3 million on Twitter, however, runs the risk of encouraging e-commerce broadcast as the model for engagement in conversation. Other, more conversational, examples of ROI make important additions to c The @DellOutlet account has more than 600k followers on Twitter and frequently posts links to discounted computer hardware. Revenue from those links is great to be able to point to, but there is a risk of reinforcing traditional business thinking where it is not fully appropriate. New media is a new world and while the ultimate bottom line is important, many participants argue that the greatest benefits of engagement do not draw a straight line to the cash register. Building a strong community of customer advocates, listening to community concerns and discovering new business and product developement opportunities are softer benefits of social media engagement that skeptics often don't see when they presume that old-school methods of pushing calls to buy is what should be done on these new channels. Hard and soft ROI are matters we focused on extensively in the ReadWriteWeb Guide to Online Community Management , our first premium report for businesses. Dell itself does a lot of listening and conversation from this same Twitter account. The public benefits of that conversation have been all but lost now that Twitter has changed its policies regarding the visibility of public @replies . Dell followers no longer see public replies sent to other followers they themselves aren't following. That's a major lost opportunity for public education and good will. As Pandora community manager, Lucia Willow, told us in an interview for the Guide: "I intentionally respond to most customer service messages with private direct messages. If it's a question that a lot of people have, then I answer back publicly with an @ message." Shhh...those public conversations are now invisible, for Pandora, for Dell and for all the rest of us. Though Dell reports good results from Twitter over the last two years, changed policies over the last two months may require a change in the way the company uses Twitter if it wants to keep seeing those kinds of results. Four Better Examples of Social Media ROI That Dell has made $3m from Twitter links is cool, and it's a good arrow to have in your social media advocacy quiver, but here are a number of examples we think better capture both the bottom line and some of the soft benefits of conversation. Joe Cothrel, Chief Community Officer at enterprise online community vendor Lithium , gathered these numbers in 2007 and we included them among other resources in the RWW Community Management Guide. These examples reference older related forms of online social interaction, but they also concern far greater sums of money than $3m. A Cisco study in 2004 found that 43% of visits to online support forum are in lieu of opening up a support case through standard methods. Cost per interaction in customer support averages $12 via the contact center versus $0.25 via self-service options. (Forrester, 2006) Jupiter Research (now Forrester) reported in 2006 that customers report good experiences in forums more than twice as often as they do via calls or mail. Ebay found in 2006 that participants in online communities spend 54% more than non-community users. Better customer experiences, far lower support costs and more buying activity in the long run. Those are observations that can help provide context to the high-profile example of Dell pushing e-commerce links out over Twitter. Dell is clearly doing a lot of the same kind of customer service via social media that the companies above cite, but watch out for falling into the trap of telling your reluctant boss that Twitter is important because Dell bagged $3 million there. Interested in learning more best practices for online community? Check out the ReadWriteWeb Guide to Online Community Management . Thanks to Ben Parr for sharing the Dell Community announcement link. Discuss

See the original post here:
Don't Tell Your Boss: Dell Made $6.5m on Twitter

Gartner has acquired AMR Research for $64 million, further tightening Gartner's grip on the analyst world. Gartner is the leading IT Research firm with annual sales of $1.28 billion. AMR Research is a long time research and advisory services that specializes in serving supply chain management and IT professionals. It's a far smaller operation than Gartner. Last year the firm did $40 million in revenues. The firm has 40 analysts. Sponsor Bruce Richardson of AMR points out that Gartner is about 32 times the size of AMR with 60,000 clients inside 10,000 organizations. What this means for Gartner is an expansion of tis research offerings. Gartner says it will also extend the company's consulting and events business. AMR is reaching out to its customers today, saying it will be business as usual until January 1 when "integration," will begin in earnest. That's according to a l etter from Tony Frisca, president and CEO at AMR. Richardson points out that benefits will come with scale. AMR will write to a much larger audience. They will have stronger global reach. They will reach into more verticals. Richardson, who is generally viewed as AMR's most high profile analyst, will stay with Gartner which he looks forward to in an amusing way: "While it will be a bit odd not to have the Advanced Manufacturing Research or AMR Research logos grace my business cards and PowerPoint templates, at least I will never again be introduced as being from "American Market Research" or "ARM." Everyone knows Gartner." The acquisition is expected to be completed later this month. Discuss

More:
Gartner to Acquire AMR Research for $64 Million

The newest premium research report from ReadWriteWeb is available for purchase and download now. Titled The Real-Time Web & its Future , the report is based on 50 interviews with engineers and executives building or leveraging real-time web technology. This is about far more than Twitter and Facebook. From a little startup called Nozzl Media delivering real-time public records to newspaper websites, to Aardvark's building a "real-time web of people" using social networks and IM, to the way the Red Cross uses the real-time web to save lives - this report will give you a broad and deep understanding of the state of the real-time web, directions things might go in the future and some of the key personalities advancing these technologies. Sponsor Compared to traditional analyst reports, we believe this product is more affordable, more in-depth and more effectively forward-looking than anything you'll find elsewhere. The report features: In-depth case studies of 10 organizations leveraging real time in a way that illustrates best practices or demonstrates inspiring innovation. Examples include: Warner Bros. Records, The American Red Cross and Superfeedr. Profiles of 20 people you should know and understand in order to understand and participate effectively in this market. People like John Borthwick, Ron Conway, Chris Messina, Monica Keller and Brett Slatkin. Sector overviews of the most heavily populated parts of the real-time web: search, stream readers and text-analysis middleware. Charts, graphs, visualizations and more. You can download the Table of Contents and a sample chapter at no cost, to get a feel for what's included. This report represents the best wisdom from thousands of hours of industry experience, compressed through hundreds of hours of interviews, now available to help you get a jump-start in this big new direction the web is moving in. 84 compact pages of research, all for a mere $300. Below is a matrix of big issues discussed in various parts of the report. We trust you'll find this research an invaluable resource. Purchase The Real-Time Web & its Future here. Discuss

Follow this link:
Now Available: The Real-Time Web & its Future

It's rare to look at a bookmarking tool and feel convinced that it's going to win a design award. Pearltrees is such a product. The French site offers us a new way to explore and contextualize the web. In what looks like a mind map structure, users collect "pearls" (links to articles, videos and web pages) and drag and drop them to form a body of knowledge that folds and expands upon itself. In an interview with Pearltrees CEO Patrice Lamothe, ReadWriteWeb found that company already has a loyal user base including our friends at ReadWriteFrance. Sponsor Said Lamothe, "We wanted a type of game play that was playful to use and map the web...and the fact that you can group and ungroup content easily means that you can re-catalogue it and keep it current." Rather than looking at the web as a series of linear pages, this service lets us build tree graphs of connecting arguments, share them and then break them at any time. Using a browser bookmarking tool, we can add and connect related pearls or ideas, place them within other pearls or start a new pearl tree (or train of thought). Rather than displaying a list of items, your pearls connect to your profile. You are literally the center of the universe and your thoughts follow you wherever you go. Naturally, as a newly anointed God of information, other great thinkers will gravitate towards you. Shared pearls connect you to others and allow you to view their collections. From here you can choose your favorite content and omit the noise. From here you can email your pearls, embed them in your blog or broadcast them to Twitter and Facebook. The Future of Touch Interfaces Given the unique user interface of Pearltrees, Lamothe expects that the company will roll out feature releases and enhancements on an ongoing basis. Says the CEO, "Once we've launched the web interface, the potential of a touch product will be very exciting." At this point, I almost fell out of my chair thinking about the possibilities. Using Pearltrees in conjunction with a touch interface would be extremely practical. Rather than swiping down long lists of links to find articles, images or videos, users could tap on their desired pearl and follow the connectors to the information they wanted. Not only would this greatly improve the research experience, but it could also change device design. For some reason, many touch interfaces mimic the experience of the first personal computers. We are offered a series of boxes from which to start our applications with little room for reorganization or prioritization. The Pearltrees model may prove to be the most efficient way to navigate period. To try the product register at pearltrees.com or click on ReadWriteFrance's pearl below.