Interview with Dell’s Social Media Lead for EMEA Commercial Margo Smale
Events

Interview with Dell’s Social Media Lead for EMEA Commercial Margo Smale

27th March 2014

This week in Iceland RIMC 2014 kicks off. And this is a special year because organiser Kristjan Hauksson is going all the way to make it an event which everyone will remember. Next to the awards for the European Searchawards there will also be a group of great speakers present, most of them from big brands, because that is the setting this year: big brands.

State of Digital is a media partner and in the run up to the event we are talking to some of the speakers by asking them questions about their jobs, their talks and their expectations. You can read the interview with Jan Gronbech of Google hereviral video expert Matthias here, the ‘chief web guy at Lenovo’ Ajit Sivadasan here and Laurent Boninfante, Managing Director in EMEA & Asia of Acquisio here.

Now it is time for Dell’s Social Media Lead for EMEA Commercial Margo Smale!

Margo-Smale-desk

How would you summarise your role?

My role is social. I spend lots of my time socializing with team members about social.  I work with team members to help them with using social media on behalf of Dell.   Formalized programs for team members to participate in on learning to use social for Dell to create our social culture. Our formalized programs include Social Media and Communities University (SMaC-U) with over 11,000+ certified team members, our Brand Champions program, and our Social Subject Matter Experts program.  In 2013 SMaC certified employees posted 26,000+ comments per day, up from 4,000 posts per day in 2007.

What is the best part of your job?

It’s the variety of people I work with.  I get to work with novices that are new to using social media to those that are well on their way to being experts on using social.  Because I work with so many people from all over EMEA, I’m always learning something new every day..

[Tweet “I’m always learning something new every day – Margo Smale”]

What is it like working for a brand like yours?

There’s a great community spirit and a ‘can-do’ attitude.  And I think this comes through in our branding.  This is one of the things I really like about working for Dell.

What other brands do you look at for learning?

I tend to follow what Zappos (an online shoe company in the US) for their customer service and what they are doing to keep customers loyal.  Another company I follow is IKEA for how they are able to be a global company yet you know they are Swedish.

What is the biggest change in digital you had to deal with ?

I think the impact social is having on search.  My role has been working with team members to build their social engagements and thought leadership.  With search including social more and more, it opens up a new opportunity for team members to become influences in their subjects.  The impact is someone searches for ‘data centers’ and a Dell team member’s social post is included in the results, that’s very impactful for a company.

[Tweet “Search including social more and more, opens up a new opportunities – Margo Smale”]

RIMC-speaker-margo-smaleWhat will you be talking about in Iceland at RIMC?

I’ll be talking about what we do at Dell to get team members active on social.  It’s about empowering employees to engage.  Social encourages employees to share company content.  Employees share 8% more company-related URLs and 6x the amount of Dell information on their personal accounts compared to corporate accounts.

What are you most looking forward to in Iceland?

Seeing a volcano and if the weather is good, the  Nordic lights. I’m training for a half-marathon and am excited to go for a run along some inspiring sites… 12 miles of it!

What is your top tip for success in digital marketing?

Keep learning.

Are you going?

RIMC Iceland is coming up next week, are you going? Tweet it! Are you not going? Tweet you want to! [Tweet “I’m going to Iceland this week for RIMC 2014, really looking forward to it!”] [Tweet “I so wish I was going to Iceland this week for RIMC 2014 and EUSA 2014!”]

Read other interviews here:

– Jan Gronbech of Google
– viral video expert Matthias
– Chief web guy at Lenovo Ajit Sivadasan
– Laurent Boninfante, Managing Director in EMEA & Asia of Acquisio

Tags

Written By
Bas van den Beld is an award winning Digital Marketing consultant, trainer and speaker. He is the founder of State of Digital and helps companies develop solid marketing strategies.
Movies Every Marketer Should Watch
Latest Post from Bas
Events Movies Every Marketer Should Watch
1st May 2017
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.