Twitter’s video service, Vine, has been making waves lately as a new platform that businesses can use to make an impression on their target audience. And while Vine certainly works to any business’s advantage on its own, it can also be used to enhance your written content as part of a larger campaign, or through linking and embedding Vine videos in your text.
Let’s take a look at a few ways that small businesses can use Vine videos to add some zip to their written content.
Using Vine Videos for Small Business Marketing
Show Off What You’ve Got
Big businesses like Taco Bell have been using Vine to showcase new products, but thanks to Vine’s 6-second limit, you don’t need a huge budget to produce a mini commercial or demonstration of your product or service.
So, for example, you could use Vine videos to supplement a description with a view of the real thing, in action.
Taco Bell (@vTacoBell) February 13, 2013
Interact With Fans
Sure, you could tweet back and forth, but there’s something extra personal about interacting with brand fans and customers through video.
You could respond to customer feedback via a Vine video, you could work it into a larger content strategy like Honda recently did in its call and response ad campaign or you can simply say “thank you” as Vine has done below.
Vine (@vineapp) June, 18 2013
Boost Your Transparency
Blogging about the day to day functioning of your business, or talking about a special event? Shoot a quick Vine video to give an inside look to your followers.
Going behind the scenes through writing is one thing, but a quick Vine video can really bring your business to life and show people exactly who you are and what you do.
Urban Outfitters (@UrbanOutfitters) July, 2 2013
Garner User-Created Content
I think that encouraging followers to submit their own content is one of the most dynamic ways to engage with people, and the best part is that it takes little to no effort for you.
You could run a contest with prizes for users submitting the best Vine videos like Urban Outfitters recently did, or simply use Vine as a fun way to get feedback.
Urban Outfitters (@UrbanOutfitters) April 15, 2013
Share Information
You can show that you’re a thought leader without long-form posts and lengthy tutorials. In 6 seconds, you can share interesting and informative details about your field, about your product or service, or about anything else that your potential (and loyal) customers might find useful. Even the San Francisco Zoo has started using Vine to share information.
And while you might not have any tigers on staff, I’m sure you can come up with something almost as interesting to share.
San Francisco Zoo (@sfzoo) April 15, 2013
I simply like the Vine app on my smartphone. The app instantly allows me to create short shareable videos as soon I make one and this really an effective way to market your content and business. If you are really concerned about your customers and brand, Vine videos should be your first priority.
Aira Bongco
I think videos and images are nice complements to the short tweets. It also does not only apply to advertisements. It can also be a new avenue for promoting a person’s expertise and sharing an experience.
Adeyemi Adisa
Vine app brings out the creativity in us as it can be seen in these vine videos. Thanks for the article!
Nice visual article. Do you foresee that small businesses will be able to use Vine videos without spending a lot of time, without looking cheesy or unprofessional, and/or without a marketing staff?
Hehehe, nice examples! I like the dorrito & Taco bell… with the chips going around in a circle 🙂
Mike
This reminds me of a quote that I’ll probably badly paraphrase right now. “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter – so I wrote you a long one.” These vines are awesome but sometimes it’s difficult to make something informative, entertaining or attention grabbing when you have a 7 second window. These are good examples though!
I find brand videos on Vine (and Instagram for that matter) most complementary with written content when they’re able to show a concept in action. Lowe’s and General Electric have done a great job of helping fans/viewers better understand how things work — or how they can get something to work.