Should Your Business Be Using Vine?

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Vine, the six-second video creation and sharing app, has taken the social media world by storm. A few weeks ago, Vine topped the app downloading charts which, considering the app was only released in January, is pretty impressive. A lot of businesses, such as General Electric and Go Pro, have already used Vine to promote their brands, while charities like Kids Company have used Vine to raise awareness for good causes. Even the White House has got involved, vining for the first time less than twenty-four hours ago.

So, should you be using Vine to help your business? Here are five questions you should ask yourself to help you make that decision.

1. Do you have the time?

If you are considering using Vine, you are probably already using a lot of the other social media sites to promote your business. It takes a lot of time to get the best out of Facebook and Twitter for your brand, so finding time to experiment with Vine might be difficult, and making time might not be the best idea.

That said, as long as you know what you want to use Vine for, it can be very quick and easy to make and post a video. Vine videos are confined by their six second time limit and they have to be filmed in one sitting (or standing), using the play and pause button to catch the right moments. You could film and post a video in just a few minutes and, if it captures the imagination of the right people, it could even go viral. So, if you do have a brilliant idea, just one viral video could help promote your business.

2. Do you have the equipment?

Vine is only currently available on Apple mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads, so if you do most of your work on laptops then Vine is not right for you. Most are expecting a Vine release for Android devices later this year, so it might pay off to be patient: an Android release will probably create a surge in Vine’s popularity.

It is doubtful that Vine will ever be available on desktop devices, considering that it turns mobile devices into handheld cameras. However, Vine videos are viewable on desktop devices and can be embedded into other websites, gaining them a wider audience online.

3. Do you enjoy using social media?

Even if the answer to this is ‘no’, Vine might be the exception. There is nothing quite like Vine out there at the moment, the easiest way to describe it is a cross between YouTube and Twitter, but really nothing like either at the same time. The reason for Vine’s popularity, and the reason Twitter paid big bucks for it last year, is how fun and easy it is to use. so, if you don’t enjoy using Twitter or YouTube, Vine might still turn out to be the perfect app for you.

If you do enjoy tweeting your life, or sharing you favourite moments online, then Vine is the logical next step. Why tweet about something funny that happened at work when you can film a Vine video and show people what happened? Why post a picture of a new product when you can post a video of it in action?

4. Who are your customers?

Are your customers likely to be using Vine? Vine is a very popular new app, managing to reach the top of the app download charts a few weeks ago. However, most of the people using the app are either the young social media savvy or the business-orientated social media experts. If your customers aren’t that active on social media it is unlikely that they have downloaded Vine.

Vine videos can be viewed by anyone who has downloaded the app, so creating an original video or innovative strategy for the site might help you reach a new, young and socially active audience. The sort of people who use Vine are always looking for new, interesting content to share with their friends, so the right video could get you a wide, diverse audience.

5. Do you have a strategy?

If you don’t know what you want to do with Vine, then there is no point wasting valuable time experimenting with it. Getting the perfect 6 minute video is something of a fine art, so unless you have some experience with cinematography and video advertising, then it might not be the best idea to download and start using the app.

Even if you just download the app because you have a few minutes spare to play around, be careful. Vine can be very absorbing, you might intend to spend 20 minutes experimenting and come up for air 2 hours later, no closer to working out a strategy. If the answer to this question is no, and you don’t have to time to work one out, then perhaps Vine isn’t for you.

Have you used Vine to promote your business? Did it help?

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Will Sigsworth

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