Leisure industry marketing experts believe that despite the increasingly fragmented nature of social media, online networking mainstays like Facebook and Twitter will remain the key marketing battlegrounds for the foreseeable future.

Although impressed by exciting new platforms such as Vine and Snapchat, panellists at the UK’s first ever Leisure Tech Expo in London this week said the sheer scale and level of resources enjoyed by the social media giants meant they would remain integral for leisure marketing campaigns.

However, the way people use these sites is changing, and Agility Marketing MD Anita Waddell said businesses should be thinking of the mobile platform whenever they post an update. Up to 83 per cent of a business’s Facebook audience will be viewing posts on a smartphone, according to Waddell, so updates should be kept short and sweet, with the optimum length of a post being just 102 characters.

“It’s vital to consider when you post marketing updates as well,” she added. “A far greater proportion of your target audience will be online after 5:30PM, so it’s most beneficial to make sure posts are timed to appear outside of office hours.

“Also, the organic reach of Facebook posts is diminishing as the company steers businesses towards targeted ads, so it’s a good idea to get creative with fun competitions and posts to enhance brand visibility.”

Meanwhile, Graham Ruddick, CEO of marketing consultancy Digital Doughnut, said he felt the key to understanding online habits lies in studying human social behavioural patterns, which date right back to tribal societies.

“As social creatures, we crave conversation and engagement,” he said. “So the key to gaining ROI on social media is to prioritise personal human to human interactions, in order to build brand relationships, reputation and reward.”

On the topic of future trends to look out for, Ruddick added: “Some of the smaller social media platforms coming through are teeming with ideas, but they struggle to compete with the sophistication of Facebook and Twitter, which remain the best bets for online marketing.”