What is Vine?
Vine is a new app that was launched by Twitter in January 2013. It functions as a video sharing app, but it is unique in a few ways. The videos are all between three and six seconds long, and they play in an endless loop. It’s for capturing “moments” rather than making full-length videos. Rather than just pressing “record” and taking six seconds of video, users simply touch the screen to start recording and when they lift their finger, the recording stops. You can record for any amount of time from 0-6 seconds, and when you let go of the screen it stops recording. Then you can move your device’s camera to something else, start recording again at any point, and repeat the process until you reach the six second limit. This allows users to create pseudo-stop-motion videos.
The app is similar to Instagram, it shows your friends’ videos in a vertical feed and allows you to like and comment on them. You use your Twitter account to sign up, and it takes basic profile information from Twitter and displays it on your Vine profile page. You also have the option to share each video that you make with Vine on Twitter and Facebook. At present, Vine is only available on iOS devices, meaning iPhones, iPads, and iPods.
Why it is Gaining Popularity
Like Instagram, it is gaining popularity very quickly as users find it to be a fun way to share moments with their friends. The fact that videos are at most six seconds long humanizes the content that people put on there – it is natural, short and to the point. It is used for sharing moments or telling a quick story.
Like Instagram, Vine is extremely convenient for users. It is easy to use and free from the app store. People really love the “human” factor, which could potentially make Vine a competitor for YouTube at some point. In order for your Vine to become popular, you have to make it emotionally or visually captivating. And given only six seconds to work with, people come up with some amazingly creative ways to captivate. I find that if a Vine is particularly good, I like it more and more as I watch it automatically loop.
Can You Use Vine for Marketing?
Absolutely, and because Vine is rapidly gaining popularity you should capitalize on it right away, especially if your brand relies heavily on visuals. There are several ways to utilize a six second video for marketing purposes.
Here are a few of the ways some companies have been taking advantage of this app:
- Give viewers an inside peek at your office
- Show viewers your store
- Share facts about your company’s history
- Hold contests, ask followers for video submissions
- Give a sneak peak of a new product to create anticipation
- Show how your products or services work
- Tell your brand’s story
- Educate viewers about something interesting
- Randomly entertain viewers and include something branded in the video
- Show videos of customers talking about your product or service
- Introduce staff with short interviews
These are just a few potential ways in which Vine can be used. If you get creative with it, the marketing opportunities are endless. Like any other social media site, be sure you have a strategy for using Vine. Similar to Twitter, which gives you 140 characters to send a message, Vine gives you a six second limit, so you have to optimize that small window of time. Do you have any creative ideas for using Vine as a marketing tool? Let us know in the comment box!