Whether your audience is in the office of out on the road, chances are they’ll still be on Twitter sharing what they are up to every day.

The great news is that we have a few simple tips to help you make the most of the opportunity on Twitter.

1. Schedule your Tweets

Create and schedule your Tweets in advance so you can publish content without having to be on call during the day.

2. Know your audience

Get all the facts and stats on how your audience will use Twitter this summer with our infographic.

3. Plan for the moment

Plan for moments that are relevant to your target audience. Take a look at our #OwnTheMoment planner for some inspiration in August.

4. Amplify your efforts with Twitter Ads

Use Twitter Ads to increase the impact of your activity on Twitter. Reach more potential customers and raise the profile of your business.

Finding your audiences on social media

If you are using social media, you need to think about the target audiences you want to connect with. You probably think you already know who these people are. It’s the same ones you’ve been targeting for years right? Not necessarily…

It’s well worth spending time thinking about who you need to connect and engage with on social media. It’s about seeing past the obvious. Who is interested in your product or service? Is there anything unique that could appeal to a certain audience? Then think about the next level, who those people might be associated with. Word of mouth is a powerful thing and it’s rife amongst social media folk, so connecting with those that are connected to your target audiences can be worthwhile.

Then think about who these people are, which industries they work in, what they like, what they read, what motivates them, age ranges, personality traits, where they hang out, technical know-how, how likely they are to use social media. Really do your research and segment your audiences by creating profiles for them. You may uncover some less obvious people that could be great for you. Keep a record of this, a simple spreadsheet will do, and as your experience of using social media grows, review and update, adding others as necessary.

Also identify your key influencers. These could be people that stand out within your communities, people that others listen to, people that create action (not necessarily those people with thousands of Twitter followers). They could be peers, journalists, thought leaders or other stakeholders. People with game-changing opinion and ideas. People who challenge the norm. Or simply people that talk sense.

The types of audiences you could be looking for include:

• Current clients or customers
• Potential clients or customers
• Associates of current/potential clients or customers
• Journalists and editors
• Bloggers
• Suppliers
• Affiliate businesses
• Thought leaders

If you don’t know who these people are, make the most of the various free monitoring tools to track who is talking about the keywords associated with your business: such as Google Analytics, Social Mention, Delicious, Addict-o-matic and Board Reader. This should highlight who has a voice in these subject areas.

Once you’ve profiled the people you want to connect with, you need to find them. This is an on-going process and takes a little time to begin with. This will give you a good idea of which social platforms you should have a presence on, so keep your mind open to niche sites as well as the big guns.

As for finding people, there are a bunch of tools you can use to help you find them on the main social networks:

How to find people on Twitter Search.

twitter.com is a favourite. It has a wide criteria range to search on, including location (handy for local businesses). Also use this tool to find the key influencers in your industry and browse their follower/following lists. You could find some great people to connect with there.

• Twitterrel lets you find people talking about related topics.
• Twellow is the Twitter equivalent of the Yellow Pages.  A directory sorted by occupation.
• Just Tweet It, a directory sorted by interest.
• Twubble lets you find people compatible with your interests.
• Twitdir searches for keywords in usernames, locations or descriptions.
• WeFollow is a directory that organises people by hashtags.
• Nearby Tweets and Tweepz help you find people nearby.

Also pay attention to hashtags being used for events, you could find some great people there.

How to find people on LinkedIn

• Search for the names of those people you’ve already identified by name using LinkedIn’s search box. Also make the most of the advanced search feature.
• You can also use this search box to search for keywords that will be included in profiles. Make the most of using OR or AND in these searches to include a few keywords (OR allows you to look for any one of those terms in the profile, AND allows you to look for a number of words).
• You can also search for people using their email addresses.
• Join groups that fit your interests or industry. Once you’ve been accepted as a member, browse the member lists and find people with shared interests that you want to connect with.
• Use the Questions and Answer function to start a conversation around your key subject area. You’ll find those people interested in this subject will respond to you, after which you can connect with them.

You can’t simply choose to connect with people on LinkedIn as you can with Twitter. They need to give their approval (which I’m a fan of), so if they’re connected to you through someone you’re connected to, request to be introduced to them.

How to find people on Facebook

• Use the find people tool by popping your email address in. It finds all those people in your address book that are using Facebook.
• Search for fan pages in your subject area and browse other fans there. Once you’ve connected with some key influencers, browse their friends and connect with people that way.
• When using the search function, filter your results to drill down to the people you’re looking for. Use the search for workmates function to find people affiliated with companies.
• Keep an eye on the suggestions that pop up on your news stream.

As I mentioned, this can take a little time, particularly when you first start using social media, but it’s worth the effort. It’s not a ‘one time’ job either, set a reminder to review your connections on each profile every month or so to keep it fresh and to ensure you’re not missing anyone crucial to your business.

Combine social media with other forms of marketing

Many small businesses are blogging, tweeting and posting updates on social media websites. At first glance, it can look fun and easy. However, social media marketing is a powerful tool and it is vital to approach it strategically.

Small firms that are using social media to market themselves online need to set objectives, plan their approach and make sure it dovetails with their overall marketing strategy.

Like any marketing initiative, getting results can take time and your strategy may need developing. You may find that you are spending a lot more time online than you first anticipated – and neglecting other tasks as a result. Perhaps you are taking an ad hoc approach and failing to co-ordinate all of your marketing messages.

Match the message to the medium

The golden rule when it comes to social media marketing is not to overtly sell. So, the way you communicate on Facebook or Twitter, for instance, will be very different from the way you would approach a sales letter or flyer.

However, it is vital that you don’t go completely off-message. All your marketing communication should highlight your USPs, strengthen your brand and be aimed at your target market. With social networking, for example, you can position yourself as an expert or talk about relevant issues that you are passionate about.

How social media can fit into your overall strategy

Have a look at your existing marketing activities. Each of them does a specific job, reaching your target audience in different ways. Social media marketing can work with your traditional marketing to enhance it.

• Advertising. You can’t necessarily use social media to sell, but you can talk about issues related to your products and services that will subtly help your sales effort.
• PR: Submit your press releases to online PR services. In your social media engagement, position yourself as an expert.
• Your website: Include web links in your social media marketing to boost traffic to your website and improve your search engine ranking. Use keywords in your blogs, posts and tweets to help potential customers discover you online.
• Market research: Use online social media to gather feedback about your products and services.
• New prospects: Find new prospects and develop relationships with customers.
• Customer service: Use social media marketing to give customers more – alert them to new developments, explain issues, answer questions and provide support.

Your social media strategy

Given the growth of online social networking, it is likely that more and more customers are coming to you via new routes — such as forums, your blog, Facebook or Twitter. It is vital to be responsive and to convert this interest into sales.

Like any marketing, you will need to take a strategic and professional approach to your online social networking:

• Set objectives and targets.
• Integrate your online networking with your overall marketing strategy.
• Allow enough time and set a budget.
• Be flexible about how and when you use social media.
• Take a personality-driven approach but don’t damage your reputation.
• Social media networking is a two-way conversation. Don’t shut down criticism. Learn how to respond and try to turn negatives into positives.
• And don’t forget the golden rule — no sales pitches.

You will also need to monitor everything you do, which is possible using tools provided by the social media platforms themselves, or by other software developers. This will enable you to measure the return on your investment in time (and money), find out what works and what does not and fine-tune your approach.