It’s been around less than a year, but the Twitter-owned mobile app Vine is already a big success. Yes, even bigger than beer made from beard yeast.
Vine lets users create six-second video clips and then share those clips on Twitter and other social media sites. In fact it’s been such a hit that Facebook-owned Instagram quickly pounced on the premise and unveiled its own video app which offers a number of enhanced editing features. Of course Vine has returned with a counterpunch, but still, there’s something about those six brief seconds… the looping playback… and the creative constraints of Vine that piqués our curiosity.
So what works on Vine? And can you leverage this quick-hitting video service to boost your business? The answer to the latter question is yes. But the former? Well, as you’ll see from this list of the five most shared Vines (through May 9th, as compiled by Unruly), youth pop culture rules. Three of the five clips feature the British boy band One Direction, another is by rapper Tyler the Creator, and the lone non-music related Vine is from a user named Doug who simply aimed his phone at a TV newscast when it was showing an infamous scene from the Boston marathon bombing. (Pro Tip: Hover over the video to find the mute/unmute button in the upper left, and clicking on the video starts and stops it)
5. Tyler The Creator “Sike!!!!”
4. Lou Teasdale “Clickin Clubbin”
3. Harry Styles “Trying To Run And Keep Getting Swooped At By Some Weird Hawk Thing”
2. Doug “Boston Marathon Explosion”
1. Harry Styles “The Emo’s Getting Ready In The Dressing Room”
Sure Vine’s primary users skew pretty young right now, but to judge the app’s usefulness or the creativity of its users on these five clips would be a mistake. Some simple homemade videos can be pretty funny like the “Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal” series:
Or this disturbing take on the Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston classic:
So how can you harness the power of Vine to promote your brand? With just six seconds to work with you won’t have much time, but you can use that to your advantage, like Ben & Jerry’s did when promoting Free Cone Day.
Or use a little stop motion magic like Urban Outfitters did for its pillows.
The business applications for Vine (or Instagram Video) are plentiful. With a little bit of editing you can:
* Raise your company’s social media profile
* Show off a new product
* Highlight customer testimonials
* Go behind the scenes with your staff
* Or just make a visitor laugh
Can you get your message across in six seconds, and what’s more, make it entertaining? It’s a challenge we’re ready to accept here at Media Shower, and if you are too, let us know about it below!