Just one social media profile may be all your company can handle, but sometimes it makes sense to have multiple profiles in order to effectively reach the right people with the right content. Many big companies use multiple profiles on the same social network as part of their larger social media strategy. When you have an audience which may be interested in different types of content or you have different audiences which don’t share the same needs or interests, multiple profiles may be the way to go. Let’s take a look at how Dell uses multiple accounts on Twitter…
Advertising & Promotions
On the DellOutlet Twitter profile, they only post promotional material for sales and deals. There are no conversations or retweets, but the profile is clearly popular with 1.5 million followers:
Customer Support
Meanwhile, on the DellCares profile, they are busy helping people with customer support problems. While there are some posts with information and links (support related), most of the content is interaction with people who have problems.
Blog Content & Conversation
The Direct2Dell profile is the feed from the official Dell corporate blog, along with conversations about the content. It is staffed by LionelatDell (currently) who identifies himself in conversation tweets.
Personalization
Some of Dell’s employees also have separate Twitter accounts where they interact with customers (LionelatDell, RichardatDell and StefanieatDell — notice how each clearly has the Dell name in the profile). Each of these profiles has a specific name and picture, which really helps to put faces to Dell’s brand and make it easier to interact with the company. For example, here’s LionelatDell’s profile, who is Chief Blogger at Dell:
Corporate Identity
Tying all these different profiles together is Dell’s corporate Twitter profile, which mentions all the other profiles and what they do in its profile. Dell uses this profile to have conversations with customers, retweet posts from outside sources, post Dell information and generally support the brand on Twitter.
When Multiple Accounts Make Sense
In Dell’s case, they have several different audiences who are interested in different content and interaction. People follow their Dell Outlet profile for information on deals and promotions, their Direct2Dell profile for interaction with their Chief Blogger, DellCares for customer support, and Dell if they want general information about the company. People who want to interact with Dell or get customer support don’t care about the promotions Dell is giving (and vice versa). Having different profiles allows Dell to reach the right people with the right message. While dividing up profiles may take additional resources (or at least time), it can create more effective communications in some situations.
What do you think of Dell’s Twitter strategy? Have you interacted with Dell on Twitter (please share your experience)?