Get ready, inbound marketers. A world of exciting possibilities has just opened up with Twitter’s latest sexy acquisition: Vine, a mobile video app that allows users to capture 6-second videos and share them with the world.
Twitter acquired Vine in October 2012, and officially launched the app on January 24th, 2013. You don’t actually need a Twitter account to use Vine. Videos can be integrated in Tweets and shared on Twitter and Facebook, however, the app also operates independently as a social network and videos can be watched on their own designated Web pages. Vine can now be downloaded for free from the App Store. At the moment, it is available only for iPhone and iPod Touch; however, Twitter says it is working on making the app available on other mobile platforms as well.
What does Vine look like and how does it work? Check out this video report on Vine from Mashable:
According to the Vine blog, Vine videos are “little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life”. Vine videos are easy to create, requiring one to press the mobile device to begin recording and press it again to end, or pressing several times in a row to create a single video from multiple clips. Vine videos run in a loop, just like animated GIFs. Vine is often thought of as the video version of Instagram: users can follow other users of the app, “like” their videos, comment on them and share them. In addition, videos can be tagged with hashtags and searched by hashtags or by general categories.
Here’s an examples of video made on Vine:
Holding hands at Tilden park vine.co/v/biTaEEwdq2n?1
— James Buckhouse (@buckhouse) January 24, 2013
The shortness of the videos demands from their makers to keep their message focused and to the point. However, as is often the case in art, strict limitations sometimes make for greater creativity. Plus, the shortness is certainly accommodating for viewers’ short attention span: in marketing terms, this is a win-win situation for both clients who want short and clear pieces of information and marketers who looking for captivating, low-budget opportunities to promote a brand. And this brings us to the point: how can brands use Vine for inbound marketing?
Vine videos are the next big thing for inbound marketing
First of all, here are some cool videos we spotted that showcase Vine’s potential for marketing:
- New books published by University of Minnesota Press – http://vine.co/v/bJIJDH537jZ
- An enticing Ferrero Rocher – http://vine.co/v/bJgqii7x5Wu
- Past ads by The Gap – http://vine.co/v/b5PeYQOLuLj
Just like Instagram has proved to be a creative, out-of-the-box platform for marketing, with brands posting beautifully filtered photos of their products, encouraging users to upload photos related to the brand and holding photo contests for promotion purposes, Vine has a high potential of going in the same direction.
Are you a brand or a company wondering how you can use Vine as platform for marketing your product or service? Here are some ideas we came up with that can be integrated into your inbound marketing campaign:
1. Teaser trailers
come up with an original idea for a cryptic video about one of your upcoming products/services. Make it mysterious, interesting and creative enough to go viral. For example, a shoe store that wishes to promote its next shoe collection can make a video of a bare foot wiggling its toes. A cute, funny or weird video that goes viral could quickly create a buzz and have people wondering what it’s all about. When anticipation is at its peak, reveal the product behind the video. Or you could make the effect last longer by posting more videos with clues, and only then solving the mystery.
2. Video contests
create an interactive promotion experience for your fans by letting them shoot original videos related to your brand, tagging them with the designated brand hashtag or contest hashtag and sharing them with their friends. Let’s say you’re a cereal company: you could encourage users to post videos about how they eat the cereal and reward the best video with a coupon for the company’s products.
3. Enhance your “About Us” page
Instead of the usual text description of the company and the team (or in addition to it) create fun videos about your company. An introduction of the team members could include a video of each saying “Hi, I’m ________” and describing their role; or else, just doing something quirky, like making a funny face or wearing an animal mask. Other ideas are creating a video tour of your offices; or presenting your company’s history with an animated set of drawings or with action figures and lego constructions. This is a great way to create a personal touch and relate to your fans.
4. Create a Vine video series
Think up an idea for your very own Vine series, and post episodes regularly, on a daily or weekly basis. This will make fans follow your videos so as not to miss the next episode. A company manufacturing printers, for examples, could shoot “The Printer from Hell”, a horror video series depicting the mischievous deeds of a devilish printer.
5. Present your contact details with a Vine video
On the “Contact Us” page on your website, instead of listing your e-mail, address, phone number, etc. you can create a video presentation of them: a hand writing down the contact details on a piece of paper, a member of the team reciting them, etc.
Hubspot’s recent post about marketing with Vine gives some more ideas:
- “Behind the scenes” clips of your company and the people behind the brand.
- “How to” demos of your products.
- Clips of people enjoying your services/products.
- Videos of your products/services in action.
- Sneak peeks promoting upcoming events or webinars.
- Funny clips showing the personality of your brand.
- Videos of PR initiatives, like award acceptance speeches or employees doing charity work.
- Announcements about future launches of products/services.
What do you think about Vine?
Is the new app going to take the world by storm or will it shine briefly like a comet and then crash disappear into the depths of the Web? Can you come up with more ideas on how to use vine for inbound marketing? Share your thoughts with us!
Image credit: Schlinchen
