Computer maker Dell says Twitter has helped the company make
more sales worth more than $3m in the past two years.
The Twitter-related sales are a fraction of Dell's $12.3bn
revenue reported in the first quarter of this year, but it proves
companies can profit from Twitter, according to
Reuters.
Twitter does not charge companies for such benefits, but
analysts believe the success reported by Dell's Twitter champion
Lionel Menchaca could
help Twitter develop a more profitable business model.
Twitter's exponential growth in users of 3,000% in the past year
has led companies to start realising the value of the microblogging
service.
In April,
Google was rumoured to be considering buying Twitter because of
its growing and valuable database of information of consumer
response to brands.
Many Twitter users tweet about business issues, although it is
aimed at use by individuals, said Gartner researcher Jeffrey
Mann.
"This is leading businesses to explore how they could best use
it," he said.
Dell posts six to 10 times a week to its
DellOutlet account
on Twitter, which is where Menchaca said most of the Twitter-based
sales have come from.
Most posts includes a coupon or a link to a sale and about half
of the posts are
Twitter-exclusive deals.
Dell is one of the top 100 most-followed accounts on Twitter,
with 568,549 followers, according to tracking service
Twitterholic.