Are You Using Short-Form Videos for Your Social Media Marketing?
Two of the most exciting new mobile Web tools for creatives and businesses are taking off with users. It’s the social sharing photo-video tool Instagram, and short-form video clip sharing site Vine sold for $30 million and then was shuttered. Together with Instagram and Vine capture mobile users’ attention in ways not seen since social media.
Vine (RIP)
Vine counted over 40 million users (per this tweet) who can shoot 6-second loopable video clips. These clips are shareable on Twitter (which owns Vine) and Facebook (which owns Instagram).
Many of those new users had come due to Vine becoming active on the Google Android platform in June when its popularity really took off. However, Vine hasn’t detailed out how many of those 40 million users are people who gave it a look or test drive and then abandoned it or those who use it frequently.
Twitter-Vine is still up against the Facebook-Instagram behemoth. With Instagram, users can
customize photos with filter effects to make impressive creative pieces. They can also make short-form video clips up to 15 seconds long (twice as long as Vine’s), but they do not show on a loop. Sharing these is easy on social networks, and users have unlimited uploads and sharing options to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, and Foursquare.
Many watching these two think that Instagram’s head starts, acquisition last year by Facebook, and 130 million-plus users, would give it a suitable preference for video clip users, but Vine is still gaining popularity.
Business uses of short-form video.
So what’s in it for me and my business, you might be asking? A small business can create many worthy clips using Vine or Instagram in connection with your social media marketing service.
Use these short-form videos to:
- tell your company story (quickly!)
- show product packaging sneak peeks
- allow a look at software or product demos
- offer Deals of the Day (good for restaurants, bars, cafes, etc.)
- highlight menu changes (for hospitality sites)
- show off team members’ work
- create brand community enrichment (for brand fans and more)
Which is better?
Those who favor Instagram’s 15-second clips reason that the time length isn’t much longer than Vine but allows for more ample uses of creativity while still falling into the ‘short-form’ video category. Instagram users also like the idea that they can switch between video and photos for the site easily, and having them all in one place is a plus.
How your business uses these short-form video clips in connection with a personable, friendly manner will be a great compliment to your online marketing. As these video services get popular as fall and winter holidays, come up, and as 2013 moves into 2014, the opportunities for consumer engagement will become much stronger.
Summing Up
In a recent post at his site, media owner Gary Vaynerchuk spoke about how Instagram is a powerful app, especially for direct messaging – he asked, “Why not both?” And he’s right. Why not both? The market for people eager to shoot short video clips and share them on social media shows no signs of standing still. Gary uses all social networks and does it well.
If your business is looking into a proper strategy for using VIne and Instagram clips to help market your business online, contact us at Mint Social. We can help.
