DELL, Twitter, million what?

Stan Schroeder picked up on the VentureBeat headline I saw today and posted at Mashable

MG Siegler over at VentureBeat has an interesting proposition about Twitter’s monetization capacity. Quoting InternetNews, he digs up the claim that Twitter made 1 million dollars in revenue for Dell. Here’s the quote:

“Less altruistically, some businesses have discovered that Twitter is an effective way of communicating with consumers. Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) says Twitter has produced $1 million in revenue over the past year and a half through sale alerts. People who sign up to follow Dell on Twitter receive messages when discounted products are available the company’s Home Outlet Store. They can click over to purchase the product or forward the information to others.”

Siegler goes on to propose that “If Twitter has made Dell $1 million in revenue, imagine how much it’s making for all of the companies it helps promote.”

I’m not convinced.

Nor am I. DELL was successful with Twitter only because that is where some of its customers are. (briefly, tech geeks who buy systems and such.) Other companies, if their customers happen to frequent Twitter may see some success with that tool as well.

Twitter is a tool. It is not a silver bullet.

If your customers are not on Twitter, don't waste your time on Twitter.