For many innovators, making a splash through social media is the subject of long thought and a lot of trial and error. On the other hand, innovators like Elon Musk tend to have the Midas touch when it comes to combining innovation and social media.

For example — on March 30, Elon made a vague announcement via Twitter that Tesla Motors was coming out with a new product, and it wasn’t a car. Within hours, Entrepreneur magazine wrote an article encouraging people to guess what the product was about, and re-tweets and favorites both surpassed 3,000. Tesla shares rose in response to the announcement, which gained the attention of CNBC and other news outlets.

Innovation Tips Via Twitter

It is amazing how much can be learned about an innovator’s style and thought processes from the confines of Twitter, so I’ve put together my personal list of 12 principles of innovation Elon Musk displays in 140 characters or less.

* Quality Drives Innovation – One of Musk’s latest projects, the Tesla Gigafactory, garnered several tweets as well as a Flickr post. Batteries for electric cars must be high quality, and that need is driving Tesla to build “the largest footprint manufacturing facility in the world.” Innovative cars need quality batteries. Quality batteries drive innovative manufacturing: the cycle goes on.

* Create the Curve – Innovators are always trying to get ahead of the curve, to create new products that people need, before the rest of the market fills the need. For great innovation to occur, you need more than a good imagination and entrepreneurial spirit — you need to engage culture in such a way that the curve naturally follows you. As evidenced by Musk’s recent Tweet — and the buzz it generated — there are ways to use your innovative processes to move ahead of your industry, so that you are no longer trying to find the curve –- you are creating the curve.

* Relationships are Key to Innovation – On April 6, Elon Musk welcomed a Formula 1 Racer to Tesla motors. Relationships are essential to building innovative companies and products. In the fast-paced environment of the 21st century, no single innovator can know it all. Bringing unique individuals with varying experience onto the innovation team is essential.

* Just The Right Information – If Elon Musk had announced the actual product name, category, or other essential information in his new product tweet, then the discussion with be if Tesla will be able to fulfill its product goals. Controlling information gives you the ability to control the conversation and attitudes about your innovative products and services, which can affect their success.

* Keep Your Core Values in Focus – One of Elon’s recent humorous tweets was — “Really should be a rule that oatmeal-raisin cookies can’t look too much like choc chip.” The point of this tweet is that food should look like what it is, and innovators are the same way. Your core values and processes,