4 Ways To Use Vine for Your Small Business

Every year a new social media tool comes along that (as Oprah would say) shakes us to our core. Vine is our new obsession. Vine is a gif generating app that uses the video on your phone to record 6 seconds looping video.

When I first loaded the application on my iPhone on Friday night, I took the quick tutorial and tried to figure out how to start and stop the camera. I had some issues with the uploads, so ended up spending my time watching examples and “liking” other videos. There is a lot of silly videos, of bananas disappearing or puppies playing, but the best and meaningful videos are the ones that tell a story. Searching videos for examples is easy, as they are separated by hashtags such as #travel, #sports, #pets and #NYC.

My next thought, was how do I make better videos and how do small businesses use this new application?  Then Mashable.com published  brands using Vine.  This is the million dollar question, and I’ve compiled some suggestions of how small business can use this new tool.

Story of Your Brand – Share the story of how your business started. Check out Gap’s feed. They did a great story of the history of Gap advertising on their feed.

How-to – This is great for restaurants or cooking demonstrations. Pictures with ingredients, mixing ingredients, cooking, and end result is one of the easier videos on the channel.

Before and After – This is seen in the #magic section, where the old trick used in shows like “I Dream of Jeannie” are used to make objects appear or disappear. It can also be used to show how things change from point A to B.

Animation Story – Transformers being assembled and art moving across the screen. This is the artsy side of the business, and can be great for art studios, fashion houses, or movie promotions.

Don’t Forget! Vine has SEO, so remember to add your hashtags in your description, much like Instagram. Facebook has started to change how the videos show up on the fed/timeline, which will probably change in the next few weeks. Have fun with the application, and come up with content that is new and interesting. Engage with the community; like, comment, and follow others. It’s a new tool, so take advantage of the learning curve.

You have 6 seconds to tell your story, what will your brand voice say?