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Chris Norton is managing director of Dead Dinosaur and an award-winning specialist PR consultant based in Harrogate. He has more than eleven years’ experience in the public relations industry having worked both in-house and in a number of consultancies. He is listed in the UK’s top 15 PR bloggers and his blog posts on social media have appeared titles such as PR Week, Social Media Today and Revolution. He writes on numerous blogs across a wide range of topics and most recently he is the creator of a new Twitter management application called Tweasier.com.

1) What do you think of Twitter’s promoted tweets?

This is an interesting question and I actually ran a poll with my Twitter followers on the very subject when they were first announced and then I covered the story on the Tweasier blog here I think promoted Tweets are a necessity for Twitter as it needs to find some kind of business model and it is using this as its first step into this arena. They have actually been rather well received from both the users and advertisers, so I think we have to give credit to Twitter for getting this one right.

2) How can PRs improve their usage of Twitter?

PR is changing and has been for quite a while now. The traditional media relations which worked 10 years ago now struggles to get a client’s message across. The real key to effective communication these days is integration. I tell every PR that they should be using Twitter as a news generator and as a resource for questions. Twitter is like a human search engine and I often see journalists asking for help with stories. If a PR executive doesn’t use Twitter because they think it’s a waste of time frankly they are a dinosaur which is where the name of my business came from Dead Dinosaur. However, I think even the most traditional agencies are seeing the shift to online communications, you only have to look at the falling circulation figures of every major or regional newspaper. Where are people now getting this news? The answer of course is Twitter, BBC News, blogs and forums.

3) Will there come a point when Twitter will peak for PRs?

It is all down to how you use Twitter in my opinion. If you use it wisely and don’t let it become a time waster then you could find it beneficial to your business. Whether there is a point when it will peak is an interesting question. Some say it has already peaked and yet when I presented on Twitter this morning at a business event. I asked the delegates how many of you have won a piece of business of the back of a tweet. Almost half of those that used Twitter said they had, so I think the peak is some way off yet.

4) What was your vision behind creating Tweasier?

I created Tweasier because I wanted to offer Twitter fans something really powerful which was packed with the best features. The truth is there are a lot of Twitter tools out there but you really have to look for the good ones. Over the years I have used pretty much every Twitter tool and I felt I had a good feel for what was the best and so I added the best features to my application and in doing so I am offering all of the finest features in one pretty package. It has been a challenge to create such a big Twitter application that is presented beautifully but we are hoping to launch the product in beta within the next two weeks.

5) What would you suggest to some young PRs who may not be convinced by the return on investment of Twitter?

If you don’t think Twitter is worth the investment I think you have been using incorrectly and should look at how others use it to either grow their business or get their messages out.

6) Will foursquare be the new Twitter for PRs?

I love Foursquare but it’s more of a partner to Twitter than a rival. I think of social media as a television, this is just another channel on which to share your latest news and views.

7) Can you give a few examples of companies/brands/people who are using Twitter effectively?

There are so many that use Twitter effectively such as Dell, Liverpool FC, Starbucks, Coca Cola, and Jet Blue.

Photograph courtesy of Chris Norton.