Launched in 2013 by Twitter as a standalone social video app, Vine has been growing exponentially during the past two years as video became increasingly crucial to successful social media campaigns. Boasting 40 million registered users so far, Vine is delivering five pieces of fun and engaging video content to Twitter users each second. For brands that are already on Twitter, developing Vine-specific content is a natural next-step -- Vine videos can be seen directly in Twitter feeds and they drive much higher engagement since those videos are native to the Twitter platform.
While Facebook, Instagram and other social networks have all introduced video features, Vine is one of a kind. Catching people's attention and getting your message across in just six seconds requires a completely different set of strategies and skills than what it takes to develop a generic social video. More importantly, though YouTube is the undeniable behemoth in the videosphere, it is more often used as a search engine than a content discovery tool. This means that when potential consumers stumble upon a funny Vine video they can't help relooping and find out it's from your brand, it refreshes their perception about your product and quite possibly, their purchase intent.
As simple as six-second-video sounds, it can take studio-level script writers, stop motion artists, cinematographers, and videographers to pull off highly sophisticated Vine videos like this one from Dunkin Donuts that has been put on the big screen during Super Bowl 2014.
But not every brand has the resources to spare, so we are here to share with you how to create branded Vine videos of different categories that are light on investment, but heavy on social returns.
Beauty
How-to videos are super easy to make but extremely engaging to the audience. You can simply pull up your phone, open up the Vine app and use the built-in camera function to start shooting. If you happen to have long-form makeup tutorial content, you can conveniently dissect them into various segments and shorten them into 6-second-Vines.
In addition, beauty products are all about colors and varieties. So think about different and creative ways to display your items -- take a string of photos and condense them into a kaleidoscope viewing experiences in a six-second-flash. An example from social media-savvy brand Benefit Cosmetics:
A little bit of joke doesn't hurt either. Benefit is throwing a Vine sweepstake asking people to share Vine videos about their botched eyeliner experiences. It's humorous and highly relatable to working girls who are constantly on the go.
Fashion
Similar to the beauty category, fashion brands can bring attention to their clothing and accessory collections by showcasing a large variety of styles and fashion pieces in flipbook-like videos. Taking a step further from literal product demos, fashion retailers can also create videos that capture the different kinds of emotions consumers experience with their products. More and more young people choose online shopping over physical stores these days, and their most exciting moment comes when they open the arrived packages like Christmas gift boxes. Fashion e-commerce giant ASOS perfectly illustrated this with an "unboxing" Vine video:
Consumer Electronics
Sure, if you have a team of stop motion experts to help you put together high-production Vine videos like this from Samsung, your Vines will catch a lot of eyeballs.
But there is elegance in simplicity. By walking the audience through key components of your tech gears and zooming in on essential details, your videos can also secure potential consumers' interests. At the end of day, they want to know what your products offer and how easy they are to use. Check out this example from Sony Xperia GB:
Consumer Packaged Goods And Fast Food Chain
For this category, providing instant gratification is key and the best way to achieve that is through humor and delight. For instance, the concept of this Taco Bell Vine video is very straightforward - a sleepy man gets all energized after grabbing breakfast at Taco Bell, and the video simply stitches together successive shots that bring these "human conditions" to life.
For Trident Gum, their strategy is even simpler -- weaving their products into your silly but addictive childhood games. All you need is a table, some tapes and many gums to play with!
It is important to note that while Instagram is offering advertising solutions to brand marketers, Vine has not yet launched such monetization channels. Therefore, a very effective way to gain new followers and attract new customers on Vine is to work with Vine influencers who were born and raised to stardom on the platform. They understand how to tell good jokes in a language familiar to die-hard Vine fans; more importantly, they are masters of short-form entertainment production so you don't have to worry about creating your own!