Six seconds of video may not seem like much, but for a savvy digital marketer, it’s enough to tell your brand’s story and to get people engaging with your business.
In her article for Social Media Examiner, Kristi Hines describes 16 ways for marketers to use Vine, Twitter’s video service. If you haven’t used it before, Vine’s greatest strength is actually its limit – users can only upload videos of six seconds or less, even though those videos play on a continuous loop. That might not seem like a whole lot of time, but on a channel like Twitter, the beauty of such a short video is that it can be consumed very quickly.
Here’s a quick list of 5 creative ways marketers can put Vine to work. (Note: you can click on the videos to pause them).
1. Engage your followers in conversation.
With a simple tweet showing a Vine video, you can get readers to answer your queries and engage with your brand. For example, bookseller Simon & Schuster asks its customers to pick a book and tell its marketing team what they’re planning on reading:
It's a long weekend! Pick your #Fridayreads with a game of Reading Roulette. http://t.co/V9dv0HPT
— Simon&SchusterCanada (@SimonSchusterCA) February 15, 2013
2. Make an animated portfolio to show off your work.
For B2B marketers, instead of just using a website to display your past projects, you can use a quick Vine to show what you’ve worked on without requiring too much of a user’s time. Fr example, OneNineDesign did this with its chocolate bar packaging for a client:
Packaging we designed for our client BAR AU CHOCOLAT #packaging #chocolate #design #foilstamped #japanesewrap http://t.co/kNgTvhuR
— OneNine Design (@OneNineDesign) February 4, 2013
3. Get people excited about your new product.
While this seems like an obvious one, there is no end to ways you can use Vine to promote a new product. For example, Nintendo simply displays images from the packaging of a new video game bundle. However, Hines also suggests using Vine videos as teasers before a product’s actual launch, or as a way to set up a contest – for example, if Twitter followers retweet a tweet with a Vine in it, they can be entered to win.
Check out what you get with the Wii U ZombiU Deluxe Set, coming to US/Can on 2/17! (MSRP $389.99) #Nintendo … http://t.co/YToMwjZ6
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 14, 2013
4. Show your human side by bringing people into your office.
Hopefully your workspace isn’t as paper-scattered and unruly as mine, but one of the best ways to humanize yourself is to use social media. Vine can be a quick way to show people your office is full of real people – and it can also be a good way to encourage people to join your team.
New community / food / play area in @HubSpot office (aka "Benioff" room). http://t.co/xkg8jUML
— Mike Volpe (@mvolpe) February 14, 2013
5. Be entertaining.
Whether it’s a funny video designed to boost your brand, or it’s a presentation with a slightly more serious tone, you can also create Vine videos that entertain your customers. That’s essentially the point of Vine – to entertain people in short bursts of video. Depending on your audience, a funny video like the one by MailChimp might be the key. Or if you’re a B2B marketer, maybe you want to show how your business has come up with creative ways of problem solving, like in the video by the MarketingProfs team.
#maddieonthings at MailChimp! http://t.co/e4mSOz3t
— MailChimp (@MailChimp) January 31, 2013
Our own Veronica Jarski live-doodles highlights from our Marketing Smarts podcast. #livedoodle http://t.co/VB1ad6n7
— MarketingProfs Team (@MProfsWire) February 4, 2013
