Vine Marketing

Twitter began utilising the Vine app in January 2013, and was available for iPhones from the start. However, the social media platform only launched an Android compatible app during August 2013. Numerous individuals have been taking advantage of the novel six second video sharing format provided by Vine for personal reasons. However, businesses have also been quick to acknowledge and harness the Vine marketing potential provided by the site.

Twitter has been praised by many observers for forcing marketers to get their point across concisely in the provided 140 characters. Many are hailing Vine as the video equivalent of Twitter. Due to the limited six second play time, marketers have to be incredibly creative with their Vine marketing posts. Namely, they have to get their point across and obtain their desired effect concisely and effectively during the limited time. Collected beneath are a number of strategies which marketers are deploying in order to gain optimum marketing effect from their Vine efforts.

• As a vehicle to show or display how a product is used: Due to the six second limitation brands and businesses are simply unable to show everything in one Vine video marketing clip. However Vine can be utilised to demonstrate one aspect of a product or service which fans and followers may be interested in and in turn respond to.

• To create a competition encouraging fans and followers to create a Vine: A number of businesses and companies are having success with this Vine marketing strategy. This success is often directly linked to the brands ability to select a subject which appeals to their fans and followers and which will be shared through their followers Vines. This gives brands the chance for their campaigns to go viral.

• To gain an audience with potential customers who otherwise would not engage with a brand: Vine marketing videos which are interesting, amusing, relevant or unusual are much more likely to get shared and then be viewed by a much larger audience of people. This will potentially increase a brands Twitter following and in turn increase conversation surrounding the brand. Statistically speaking Twitter Vine videos are shared four times more than any other web based video format. This makes Vine marketing videos a quick and fun way for brands to reach a larger audience.

• To boost sales or interest in a brand: Six seconds provides brands and businesses with enough time to share a promotional code for online promotions, a text code or even a phone number. In addition, the looping feature of Vine videos provides viewers with plenty of time to write these details down. A number of companies are using Vine videos as a trigger, causing potential customers to either buy a product or to get in contact with the company.

As with most things which are new, many people have found themselves getting sucked into the fun and exciting element of Vine. However when utilising the power of Vine marketing videos for business it is important to see it as another marketing avenue. This means it should be used as a vehicle to convey a brand’s marketing message or as an incentive to motivate individuals to purchase a brands products. This can be achieved in a number of ways. Companies can use Vine to launch a competition which drives users to the brand’s webpage. Then the analytics tool can be used to gauge the success of the Vine. Additionally, promotional codes can be used in order to track sales which have resulted from a Vine.

Due to the fact that Vine is still in its infancy many marketers are still experimenting with the ways in which it can be utilised. In addition, due to the brevity of Vines it is unlikely that a brand can do any real damage to itself in the limited six seconds.