Since he began tweeting, the controversial celebrity has managed to harness Twitter as a public relations tool to try to revitalize his tarnished image – without the help of insincerely scripted language and formal apologies from a publicist. Just before the 2010 Video Music Awards in early September, Kanye famously took to his Twitter to apologize to Taylor Swift for his stunt at the 2009 VMAs, a faux pas that soured public opinion of Kanye and created the “I’ma let you finish” meme that infiltrated the internet almost instantly. Kanye uncharacteristically shrunk from the spotlight and disappeared for a few months, spending time abroad and likely planning his reputation’s rebirth, a move that largely took place on Twitter.

Kanye admitted in September that he’s attempting a career resurrection, confessing “I threw a Molotov cocktail on my career last year, in a way, and I had to come back as a better person.” Interestingly, he’s continuing to use Twitter to win back the mainstream public’s favor. And it seems to be working.

This past weekend, Kanye again took to Twitter for a highly personalized interaction with followers in an attempt to revitalize his reputation. For months, he dropped hints on Twitter about the production of a short film project accompanying his newest album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” which is due to drop in mid-November. Over the past few weeks, his short film “Runaway” premiered in cities like Paris, LA and NYC and was broadcast on MTV this past Saturday. Immediately following the broadcast, Kanye appeared on MTV.com to answer live questions from Twitter viewers, who used the hashtag #askkanye to ask thousands of questions and offer comments, critiques and praise about the film.

The live Twitter response to the film was overwhelming, making #askkanye a number one trending topic over the weekend. Many viewers congratulated Kanye via Twitter, including skeptical viewers and media who expressed surprise that he could pull off a short film, let alone a highly stylized film noir. After watching the film and hearing him interact with fans via Twitter in real time, my own opinion softened as I saw him less as an arrogant, foot-in-mouth rapper and more as what he actually claims to be – a progressive and incredibly talented artist.

Businesses can learn from Kanye’s own public relations nightmare that using Twitter can help mend damaged relationships with customers. If you mess up, own up to it publicly and personally. Begin to show that you’re willing to make a sincere effort at making things right. Twitter can be just as much a relationship repair tool as it is a relationship building tool for companies who are searching to project a new, improved image to the public. And just as Kanye promises to be “raw” and real, businesses should too – customers want to see sincerity on Twitter, so be yourself!

I feel fortunate to work at a full-service agency that, for many years, has had a dedicated social media group, which has provided guidance in integrating social media into a public relations strategy. Ever since I got on Twitter two years ago, I would say I’ve become Twitter obsessed. But that’s because I see such a value in what it presented to me as a PR professional. I have spent a lot of time getting my PR friends on Twitter and trying to explain the benefits to them. I think I’ve converted most of them to Twitter, although there may be a few stragglers slow to the mix.

When I talk about Twitter with my marketing/PR friends, I always get asked: What’s the point?

So I decided to pull together a list of the top benefits of Twitter for PR pros – not only as it personally benefits them professionally, but also for clients.

1. Connecting with the media: Almost every media organization and reporter has a Twitter account. As a profession that is still so based on media impressions to prove ROI, why not use a free tool to try and connect with the very people you are pitching? You can see what stories they are working on or maybe they’ll Tweet that they are looking for a source that fits your client. Moreover, their interest may even be piqued by something you Tweet. Either way, Twitter is a unique platform to directly connect with the people you rely on to deliver results.

2. Staying informed: Last week when James Lee stormed into the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., Twitter broke the news. I, personally, found out about this crisis via Twitter, several minutes before my breaking news alert arrived from CNN. And, even for stories where Twitter doesn’t break the news, it is often a great place to find up-to-the-minute details. For PR folks, keeping an eye on Twitter can clue us in to a couple of things. First, sometimes it means you need to hold off on contacting the media – when news is breaking, the media is less likely to cover other stories that have nothing to do with the hot news. Second, it also helps you keep up on trending news that may affect you or your client.

3. Engage with your community: If you are on Twitter, you probably know a lot more about what’s going on in your community and your industry. Twitter allows you to easily engage with your peers or even a new potential client, and presents opportunities to connect with people more personally – even if it’s only in 140 characters. You can also share your thoughts, professional insights or client news that can have more reach than ever before. With one re-Tweet, your news can travel far beyond the newspaper.

If you are a PR pro on Twitter, I commend you. And if you have an account, but rarely use it, I hope this entry encourages you to get back on the bandwagon. Just do me one favor, don’t call it “The Twitter.”

One of the main benefits of having contributors is giving followers insight into the people behind an account – “making the business to consumer communication more personal.”  Beyond that, the feature allows for centralized news, information, and conversation without the hassle of multiple users logging on to one account, or multiple accounts run by separate users.

Not every business account has access to the feature yet while is still in beta testing, but you can check out Starbucks or Twitter to see how they use contributors, or view behind the scenes screenshots on Mashable.

Using contributors may not be beneficial for every business – some will want and need separate accounts for different purposes, or maybe one account with one owner is enough.  Twitter has also indicated that it is only the first of many new business-specific developments, so maybe a future service will be a better fit.  But no matter how a business decides to use Twitter and its features, active listening and engagement are still the most important keys to building relationships with people important to their success.

*Image courtesy of Mashable.com*

We’ve assembled a list of the top four social tools that companies can use to attract potential employees.

1. Facebook allows you to connect with and recruit young professionals by maintaining a company page with the latest job information. By viewing the profiles of your fans, you can dig deeper into someone’s personality than a typical resume allows. If this doesn’t work, run a Facebook ad specifically targeting people with an age range and keywords.

2. Your Twitter followers offer a wealth of opportunity. Use your account to notify followers when a position opens in your company. With a few retweets you can reach hundreds of potentially qualified individuals (It works! I found this internship via Twitter.)

3. Scour LinkedIn for recruits in your area and industry at your leisure. User profiles detail past experiences, current jobs, and future goals. Many also include professional recommendations, which can give you insight to a potential employee’s work ethic and habits before meeting with them.

4. Post available positions on college or industry-specific message boards and online marketplaces like Craigslist. These online venues are becoming two-way streets of communication between employers and job-seekers. As an employer you can browse uploaded resumes and respond directly to the posts which interest you. And by searching industry-specific boards you can find those most passionate about their work.

The main point is to make the most of your current networks. You have invested time and effort into building a strong presence for your company online; don’t be afraid to take full advantage of what you built when recruiting applicants.

Here are a few college/professional job boards to get your recruitment process started.
http://www.collegejobboard.com/cjb/index.cfm
http://www.thejobplanet.com/
http://koda.us/
http://www.prsa.org/jobcenter

While 11% is indeed a small make-up of the Twitter population, when compared to teen usage of other online networks its in perfect line with typical trends. Teens make up only 14% and 9% of MySpace and Facebook user base respectively.

The New York Times article points out that “the notion that children are essential to a new technology’s success has proved to be largely a myth”. Adults have been the driving force behind that success of Twitter.

Because of adults, Twitter has evolved into a tool of mass connecting. While teens would just as soon use online social networking as an extension of their offline social circles, adults have harnessed the power of Twitter and turned it into something much more – teens weren’t necessary.

So, are teens using Twitter? Well, yes they are, in the same rate as they are using any other social network. But honestly, who cares? Teens are largely using the network to extend their personal relationships even more – not create new ones, not to connect with their favorite brands and not to share knowledge and information. To teens, Twitter is nothing more than “what they are doing”.

If you can remember, the old home screen focused on you creating personal connections and sharing “what you are doing” with your social circles. The new home page has totally flipped that view upside down. Instead of asking what are you doing, Twitter tells you to “Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world”.

Naturally, the new look feature’s Twitter search tool prominently with that call to “see what people are saying about…”.  The new page also integrates current trending topics as well as most popular topics over the last week and month.

A couple of months ago, Gary Vaynerchuk said that Twitter search is the single most important site on the internet. With the new facelift, Twitter is driving that point home even more. The site has removed the emphasis of creating personal connections, and has instead positioned itself as the place to be to find out what is going on in the world.

Now to convince all of the late adopters that Twitter is more than telling the world you are eating breakfast.

In addition to refining your search, Google has now integrated rich snippets. “Rich snippets could include things like the average review score, the number of reviews, and the price range for a local restaurant”. This puts user-generated content much more into the forefront of any given search.

This new iteration of Google search continues to prove the value of user-generated content. The companies who will make an impact in the early stages of this evolution of search are the ones who are already harnessing the power of their customers by engaging them online and encouraging them to share their thoughts and experiences.

Here at MGH we are obviously strong believers in letting consumers be heard, and are extremely excited that their voice is now an even more integral part of search results. Go do a search for your favorite product with Google’s new search options and see for yourself the power of customers talking.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtirDMfcOKE[/youtube]

If the answer to either of those questions is no, then MGH WOM would most likely explain why we would not recommend a social media campaign and work to see what other advertising and/or marketing solutions would best meet the clients needs.

The thing is, we want our client’s campaigns to succeed as it is a reflection of our recommendations; however, if they do not have the authority or capacity to listen and respond, then we do not want to put them in a position to fail. Period.

A few weeks ago, I read a blog entry (via @whatsnext) about the reasons a company should not use Twitter, and it got me thinking about our duty to clients to offer them solutions that just aren’t fun and new, but effective.

BL Ochman, the author of that blog entry, was right on when she said companies should NOT tweet if it needs to protect its updates, needs to be approved by legal or if the company is not going to respond when people direct tweets at it. Put simply, it’s just not wise for a brand to be in any social forum where they can’t/won’t/don’t want to interact and respond. And, if that’s the case, that’s okay. Social media just isn’t the place for them…yet.

That said, we honestly believe that there is no better way to connect with customers and receive open and honest feedback than through emerging social mediums. But, it has also become absolutely necessary to realize what is required to make it successful.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think social networking is for everyone? Would you recommend becoming involved on a network if you knew the company couldn’t respond in real time? Discuss.

Written by: Ashley (@ahrycyk)

Related Articles:

• Putting Twitter’s World to Use
• Twitter: A Marketer’s Duct Tape
  

The first client to utilize this service is Intuit’s Turbo Tax, who is trying to increase their Twitter followers in the last two weeks before taxes are due. Naturally, the ads link users to Turbo Tax’s Twitter profile, instead of their main website.

There has definitely been a shift in focus in how brands are exposing customers to their products. Before, everything was about control. The brand shared what they wanted to share about their product through their official website and that was it. Now, the focus is very shifting to engaging customers personally.

Although Skittles represents an extreme example of a brand “getting social”, I would not be surprised to see corporate websites in the not so distant future change to nothing more than a hub that directs customers to the brand’s social media profiles. (This trend can already be seen in the music industry).

I award Inuit 5 MGH WOM points for not being afraid to get social and lead their customers to interaction instead of corporate messaging.

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As you may have seen, Nielsen recently released a survey surrounding Twitter’s latest user stats. Not surprisingly (to us at least), they cited a 1,382% visitor growth in the past year and touted the average user’s age to be between 35-49 years old. So what does this mean for you and your brand? It’s simple…

Just like our boy @garyvee said in this video, it’s become necessary for companies to constantly search what is being said about their brand on Twitter. He gave the example of a soup company searching the term “soup” to see the real-time conversations occurring, and we 100% agree that companies need to be regularly searching Twitter to keep abreast of current conversations.

By having full access to these conversations, companies can now watch and respond to comments that are being said about their brand. This is quite a shift in the normal brand-to-consumer paradigm, and Twitter is single-handedly leading the charge with this new way of looking at customer interaction.

Related Articles

• The Future of Twitter:  Social CRM
• Using Social Media as a Brand Management Tool