The increase in celebrities that now use Twitter was especially apparent this week after the MTV Video Music Awards. When Kanye West rudely interrupting country-pop singer Taylor Swift's 'Best Female Video Award' acceptance speech, they took to the social media site with their opinions.

Celebrities from all categories were commenting on the incident, and all types of media were reporting on their comments. Followers were re-tweeting a lot of what celebrities said, and the word spread quickly about Kanye's disrespectful actions.

Although there will always be an allure to celebrities that brands can't match, they can learn from how celebrities are using Twitter and social media to reach out to fans and share their opinions.

Whether or not they really are, celebrities on social media seem more accessible to fans and the media. Reporters who may never or rarely get to interview certain celebrities can easily access and quote their tweets; this can then generate additional coverage for the celeb with limited effort or time on their end. Additionally, reporters who may not have thought of getting a celebrity's opinion on a topic can easily find relevant comments after searching conversation trends.

Fans of celebrities further help publicize these stars be re-tweeting, writing blog posts, or just sharing what their favorite actress or singer is posting. A simple 140-character message can quickly have an extended reach and can feel "exclusive" to those sharing it, even if 300,000+ others are too. 


Consumer brands can learn the following positive things from a celebrity's use of social media in targeting both their audience as well as the general media:

• Appear accessible. While a Twitter, Facebook or other social tool isn't the answer for every brand, it does allow consumers to feel that they have a quicker way to contact the brand and approach them on a more personal level.
  
  
• A social media presence doesn't require constant feedback. Most celebrity Twitter users don't respond to many, if any, of their non-celebrity followers, yet they generate hundreds of thousands of fans. Brands are often fearful of the time investment social media takes, but it does not require X amount of hours to be effective. Setting up an account, providing non-corporate updates and responding to followers when appropriate and relevant should not be time intensive.
  
  
• Offering opportunity to experience something exclusive or unique. I'm not referring to a trip to LA for a movie scene, I'm talking about offering something a follower can't see otherwise. For celebrities, that's usually the behind-the-scenes of an interview, pictures of their seat at the latest award show or even at the dentist. What if brand's followed suit by offering to show photos from manufacturing? Sketches of products?
  

• Don't follow everyone back. Regarding Twitter specifically, a brand doesn't need to follow every follower back. While it is courteous, not every Twitter user is appropriate, relevant or even real (there is spam on Twitter). To the same end, it IS okay to block users on Twitter, especially the spam accounts. A high number of followers is less important than genuinely interested consumers. How many people you follow and follow back are reviewed by others interested in your brand and provide credibility for your brand.
  
  
• Embrace the lack of red tape. From consumer affairs to communications to engineering, there is usually a lot of channels consumers and media must go through to speak to the right person. Celebrities enjoy sending out tweets to fans in order to meet them without organizing something official through their agent or movie studio, as Time magazine revealed. Consumer inquires and comments, positive/negative/neutral, can more easily be monitored and shared on a brand's social network presence within the company. It also provides less red tape for media to walk through, increasing the opportunity for interviews and story mentions.
  

So, whether or not you like to know whether Miley Cyrus is enjoying ice cream, learn from celebrities using social networking and see if it can apply to how you reach consumers.

What other takeaways do you find in celebrities reaching fans? How can brands generate as much excitement, fans/followers and attention as a celebrity through social media?