Ya’ll have heard of Vine right? Vine my darlings, not vino. (Although a little vino at the moment wouldn’t be remiss. But I digress.)
So I’ll admit I’m a slacker in the Vine department and haven’t messed with it yet. But methinks I might jump on the bandwagon, and mayhap you should too. But first let me tell you why. 😉
The growth in the number of mobile devices on the planet is having a direct impact on the growth of video, sound, and image-connected apps. (Whew. Say that 3 times fast.)
Two excellent examples of mobile apps that have taken off in usage this year are Instagram (which I heart) and Vine. Both use short form videos a user creates on their mobile device and then sends out to share with their social networks.
The Video Monetization Report from Freewheel points to the increasing emergence of short form videos growing in dominance among mobile vid viewers.
Businesses and brands have recognized the potential of YouTube for years, but now brands are shifting to using these short form videos for a closer relationship with mobile users.
Vine’s chops at mobile storytelling is kinda getting brands excited.
Major media companies are using Vine, including General Electric/NBC News, plus consumer marketing brands like Urban Outfitters, Red Vines, Taco Bell and others. Long story short? Brands see Vine as a fresh way to market to mobile users and share stories across the web.
But Why Vine?
Vine is the social sharing app owned by Twitter that launched back in January as an iPhone app, then in June on Android devices.
Vine lets users create an embeddable 6-second video loop that, when created well (key word there), can be an effective brand catalyst in those six seconds.
You can see some excellent Vine examples from Lowe’s showing how using certain goods from the Lowe’s store can solve all sorts of common household woes.
Businesses and brands tend to use Vine by shooting clips of creative brand marketing or creative use of brand products. It’s important to use search hashtags too, (like #DunkinReplay) so Vine users can easily find particular clips within categories.
You can add captions to the clips, add locations if desired (or if your brand is promoting a local event) and post the video to one of Vine’s assorted channels, under headings like “Sports,” “Music”, or “News and Politics.”
Businesses can even embed relevant Vines to their own website.
The latest estimates show Vine is now counting a user base of about 40 million. (Holy branding Batman!) Individual users are also shooting Vines and in the process starting to make a name for themselves.
The online room booking site AirBnB even commissioned Vine users to make a 4:30 film completely out of individual Vines. There is definitely a growing sense of stature and meaning emerging from this short video platform.
As clips get shot, they get shared all across social networks like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more.
Why Short Form Vid Action?
Short form video is taking off as a platform to cater even more to already short attention spans. Vine’s clearly doing something right, and seems to be resonating well with both users and marketers.
Vine itself says its service is the best way to experience and share life moments in motion. For starters, the simplest Vine clip could be one six-second presentation to the camera.
But with a little dash of creativity and a splash of editing prowess, Vine brands can turn a simple short form video into a powerful brand statement with strong meaning.
The limitation of six second clips basically does the same for users on Vine that it did with Twitter users when it first blew up. It fosters and generates a world of short creative bursts, giving the viewer an instant blast of visual candy and fun.
Naysayers may point to a further erosion of our already limited attention spans, but the world’s headed that way regardless, so brands may as well roll with it. Short is the new black… er… or something like that anyway.
Over to You
Do you currently use Vine? Lemme see, lemme see! Or share how your using it and how it’s working for ya. You can do that in the comments below. Toodles!