HispanicBusiness

Today Dell announced Social Media Services to help organizations across a variety of industries develop real-time customer insights, engage audiences and better understand their customers and the market. Dell Social Media Services are built on the company's own leadership and experience using social media to listen to and engage with its customers, and are coupled with a deep understanding of customers' business needs and enterprise IT environments.

The suite of social media services, developed by social media experts from a cross-functional team in Dell Marketing and Dell Services, incorporates feedback from several early adopter customers.

For example, the American Red Cross and Dell launched a Digital Operations Center or "DigiDOC" earlier this year, the first social media-based operation devoted to humanitarian relief. Dell also partnered with Clemson University to launch their Social Media Listening Center or "SMLC" as the first academic organization to adopt this technology and approach.

Laura Howe, Vice President, Public Relations at the American Red Cross, said, "The use of social media during disasters has grown exponentially in recent years, and this partnership with Dell enables us to better understand and anticipate disaster needs and help connect people with the resources they need during emergencies. With recent disasters like Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Sandy, we've been able to monitor social media conversations in order to help allocate resources to the places where people are in need."

"Clemson University teamed up with Dell to create a social media resource that is used for both teaching and research," said Jim Bottum, CIO and Vice Provost at Clemson University. "Our students have been able to monitor thousands of online conversations to understand how marketing is changing, and to use as research for their own individual projects in other subjects. This really puts us ahead of the curve in recruiting new students and talent into our university."

Dell's Social Media Services offerings include:

Listening command center build-outs - Dell works with the customer to design, build and operate a social media command center integrating it across the business as a foundational listening function for all customer facing departments.

Advisory services -- This hands-on strategy planning includes an assessment of a customer's current capabilities and critical needs. Recommendations, timing and goals are provided in an effort to align the social media programs to the corporate strategy.

Listening and insights services -- Conversations are monitored on a customer's behalf”for brands, industry or competitors. Reports are then provided with key data insights allowing the customer to take action.

Best practice seminars -- Participants learn from Dell's experience on topics such as gaining executive support, building a training program, embedding listening across business units, experiencing a day in Dell's Social Media command center.

"Organizations of all types and sizes recognize the value of integrating social media into their enterprise processes, but implementation of social media can be very different for each company," said Allison Dew, vice president, global corporate & consumer marketing, Dell. "We work with our customers to understand their needs and challenges and design an approach that is right for them, whether they need consultation, tools and solutions, or simply want Dell to manage it for them."

"As a practitioner in the social media space for several years, we are in a unique position to help enterprises develop and manage their social media initiatives with our innovative solutions for specific business needs," said Raman Sapra, Executive Director & Head of Strategy, Technology Themes & Consulting, Dell Services. "Our offers have foundational relevance for all industries and our experience allows us to tailor them to various vertical needs."