Twitter is taking the nation by storm, from Ashton Kutcher taking on CNN to Oprah and even a mention in Desperate Housewives, you cannot avoid the 140 character madness. So what are these big shots doing and sharing onTwitter and how can you learn from what they are doing to implement it into your marketing plan?

Viralogy has  a Top 10 Musicians on Twitter List that came out earlier this week and I had to come over and not only check it out but comment. On the top of the list is none other than Diddy, followed by John Mayer and Hammer. Check out the rest of the list here.

(photo from a screen shot at Viralogy)

Diddy – With just under 1,000,000 followers Diddy no doubt has star powers and qualities as people really want to know what he is up to at all times – and that is pretty much all he does, play on his ego.

What can you learn from Diddy? Well, if you are a big enough star, people love to know about whatever stuff you are up to. However for an indie band, I would suggest staying away from strictly promotional messgaes. Remeber how effective Myspace bulletins were? Yea, no one pays attention if you keep making it about you, you, you.

John Mayer – Mr. Mayer has hit the million mark and follows, well 47 people back. Now I understand that following a million people back would be a terrible way to look at what your Tweeps are up to, but man I feel like that is severe fan neglect. John does however give his followers a better glimpse into his life, with TwitPics, plugging friends and talking about his relationships.

What can you learn from John Mayer? Give people quality content and they will respond. In the last 20 minutes the man has had over 100 replies to one of his questions. Use this angle to help build a 2-way communication channel with your fans. Ask, contribute and give quality stuff.

Hammer – Hammer is the Social Media man! Hammer talks to everyone and anyone and has built a nice loyal army of followers and promoters in the process. Hammer has updated over 3,500 times and I can guarantee that over 50% of those has been a reply to a fan, to a comment or a RT, spreading a message with his great influence.

What can you learn from Hammer? If you find ways to filter information, using tools like Tweetdeck, Twitter Search and Hootsuite, there is a way to respond to everything that is relevant and make your fans feel appreciated and wanted. This is a huge step in building relation ships with them and making them loyal to your brand.

Let’s open it up to you guys.

Who do you think are the best musicians on Twitter and what can you learn from them and apply to your own music marketing? Leave you answers in the comments!

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For more on using Twitter like a Rock Star, check out this awesome Twitter course!

-Greg Rollett

(p.s. follow me on Twitter here)