Is Vine the next great way to advertise?
Vine has been deemed “the next big thing” for advertisers and has burst on the scene with over 13 million users since starting up at the end of January. Everyone from Microsoft to Daft Punk have quickly jumped onboard, but is it right for your business or is it just another social network destined to be lost in the clutter and eventually forgotten?
For those of you who have never heard of Vine, it’s basically Twitter meets YouTube. All posts are condensed videos with a maximum length of only 6 seconds. They can be watched directly from the app without pressing play and are perfect for short animations, etc… Now for those of you who think 6 seconds isn’t enough time to do much, click here to check out the some of the winners of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival “6 Second Films” contest all shot through the Vine app. 
Why should you use Vine?
The role of social media has subtly changed the ways humans interact with one another. Traditional human interaction is focused on high-involvement relationship building whereas social media is based on high volume, lightweight interactions. Think about it. You would never walk up to a group of people, yell something at them in 140 characters or less and then just leave, but that’s how you do things on Twitter. This is why nearly every major brand on the planet has a social media presence. Your customers are rarely going to sit down and read through your material for hours or even minutes, so seeing a tweet/Facebook post, etc. keeps your brand top of mind. Vine is perfect for these lightweight interactions. It’s a pithy, captivating way of connecting with your audience and a great way to engage without being overbearing.
Why shouldn’t you use Vine.
That said, Vine definitely isn’t right for everybody and at 13 million users it’s dwarfed by the likes of Facebook (1.1 Billion users) and Twitter (500 Million). In the world of social media if you’re keeping up with your company Facebook page or Twitter account those will certainly get you a greater bang for your buck, but if you’re a seasoned vet looking to stay ahead of the curve and push the envelope with some new, engaging media, Vine should definitely be at the top of your list.
Brand well and prosper,
Cody