Twitter VineIt isn’t every day that a distracting moment online can lead you to a story that makes you say to yourself, “well, look at that.” On January 24th, I did just that in the middle of the day when checking the news and distracting myself from my work. Twitter, the social media service that turned tweeting into something that not only birds do on a daily basis, announced a new service called Vine. Vine has just turned Twitter into an entirely different platform to share ideas, thoughts, and anything you can imagine.
What is Vine?
Twitter’s Vine is a new app recently released to the public. The app breaks new ground for Twitter, as it allows users to literally tweet looping 6-second videos of anything. I’ll give you a few seconds to take that in. According to Nathan Ingraham at The Verge, “tweets with videos work with full audio both in the browser and in the Twitter mobile app.” It’s really impressive how well the videos are embedded as a tweet. They run smoothly as well.
Currently the app is only available for iOS devices. But as Joanna Stern reports on ABC News, Twitter is “working now to bring it to other platforms.” I don’t think it will take long for that to happen; people have been using Vine fairly extensively – and creatively – since it was announced. Take a look at some examples here.
The Vine app brings with it a whole new way to communicate for people. Twitter has already been revolutionary in getting information to millions in a matter of seconds. Now it can bring visual information to millions at the same speed. For agencies and businesses, Vine has a lot of potential for improving brand awareness, marketing, advertising, boosting conversions, and many other beneficial activities.
How Can You Start Using Twitter Vine Now? Here are 5 Ideas to Get You Started.
And get started you should; there are plenty of companies jumping right into Vine marketing.
1. Connect Customers and Followers
Vine is a great opportunity to show customers that you’re fun people just like them. It’s easy to create short videos showing off cool parts of your business. Simple Vine tweets like, “Ever wonder how we do/make/create xyz?” with a short vine video can be interesting to consumers and easily shareable among followers.
Being creative is key here. You can take the opportunity to show off aspects of your company that you are really proud of, while also taking the time to thank customers for their work. Doing a charity event? Make a short series of videos about it! Almost anything can work. Just remember to keep in touch with your followers through tweets and Vine videos and your brand will always be on their mind.
2. Promote New (and Old) Products
Here’s a great opportunity to show off products you have for free and in video. Depending on your business, you have the opportunity to use these Vine videos to show how people use your products every day. Seeing something in real video is a lot better than seeing an image. It allows followers to see the product in action and give them a better idea of whether it’s something they want or not.
A Vine video is a great way to show off a new announcement or product. It provides a much more memorable experience than a few characters of text can. You know, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth much more than that!
3. Create a Vine Campaign
I think brands have a great opportunity to use Vine as a long-term marketing tool. Only having six-seconds to work with means that brands can get creative and organize a campaign or a series of videos to promote whatever they want. By churning content out in six-second chunks, you have the opportunity to take advantage of regularly scheduled content that keeps followers coming back to find out what’s next.
There are a variety of artistically creative ways to do this. Story boards, stop-animation, condensed story telling strategies, and much more. Vine has really opened up social marketing with easy and quick video.
4. Encourage (and Reward) Customers to Show Off Your Products with Vine Contests
Want to get people tweeting and sharing your products or your brand? Encourage them with contests. It’s incredibly easy to organize a contest on social media to take advantage of Vine. Simply ask your customers to provide their best Vine video about your brand, and reward the best ones. Rewards can be easy; you can give out discounts, free products, feature their work on your homepage and more. You might even find a new marketing employee this way!
5. Get Employees Involved
Look to your employees for inspiration about Vine. Who knows what sort of projects they have been thinking up and can now unleash on the world with Vine. Of course, you want to make sure any videos they make will only improve your brand’s image or whatever product they might be featuring. Let them be creative and reward them if they make some quality Vine videos. This sort of work could be a creative outlet for employees that they don’t normally get in their day-to-day work.
Think about it. Employees can feature great customers or compliments they receive throughout the day. They can easily create videos about “satisfied customers” or “this new product just showed up;” tweets that will generate interest for any small or local business. Even larger businesses can benefit from this strategy.
Opportunities Abound!
I don’t think many people realize how big Vine could be for agencies and the businesses they work with. The videos I’ve seen of companies using the app have already impressed me. For small business especially, being able to freely create video content is a huge advantage of Vine.
Since Vine is so easily shared and embedded, I bet quality Vine videos and marketing campaigns will bring many more followers to business’ Twitter handles. I think Vine is going to be big, and soon. Make sure you’re using Vine before you get behind the curve.
Will you be using Vine? What products or services would translate well into short videos?
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