Dell seems to have achieved a very good understanding of Twitter and social media in general.  This morning, a representative shared some statistics regarding the hardware manufacturer's achievements, and by most standards, they're extremely impressive.

Back in late June, Dell announced that its presence on Twitter had generated $3 million in sales.  Lionel Menchaca, the company's chief blogger, wrote on Direct2Dell today, "In total, Dell's global reach on Twitter has resulted in more than $6.5 million in revenue."  Obviously, that's a significant increase.

Menchaca also wrote, "If you look at our aggregate presence on social media networks plus our own community sites, our worldwide community has grown to more than 3.5 million people across the social web, including places like Twitter, Facebook, Direct2Dell and IdeaStorm.  That's roughly a fan base the size of the population of Chicago."  Which is impressive.

It's only when you put these statistics next to other Dell-related numbers that they look a little weak.  Dell claims to have 2 billion contacts with customers every year "via phone, e-mail, etc.," for example, so 3.5 million's not much in comparison.

Also, Dell brought in $61.1 billion in revenue last year, making $6.5 million not even a drop in the bucket (or about 0.01 percent of that sum, if you want to get specific).

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