…Vine: a mobile service that lets you capture and share short looping videos. Like Tweets, the brevity of videos on Vine (6 seconds or less) inspires creativity. Source: Twitter
While its now longer the new kid on the block in social media, Vine is proving itself to be surprisingly strong as a tactic for public relations. And, although it might seem to be a tool designed solely for use in business to consumer communications, PR professionals are using Vine effectively to deliver creative and impactful messages, build relationships and even pitch media and online influencers.
Vine, a mobile micro movie platform that allows users to record, edit and share six second videos was acquired by Twitter and introduced to the world in 2013. More than a year later, the top five industries using Vine include fashion, sports, automotive, technology. A branded Vine video is four times more likely to be seen than a typical branded video, according to social video publishing firm, The 7th Chamber.
Vine is accessed through mobile apps available for iPhones and Android smartphones, which allows users to record and edit short video clips with audio that loop. Vine users tap the screen to easily record and stop recording, creating a stop motion effect for their videos. Finished videos can be shared on Vine, Twitter and Facebook. Earlier this year Twitter added a loop-count to Vine’s analytic features, which enables users to measure their videos’ popularity more accurately.
Adoption for B2B communications is slower than for B2C, with only 14 percent of B2B marketers using the app as a communications tool and 22 percent persuaded that Vine is an effective platform, according to new research from the Content Marketing Institute. However, brands like Xerox and GE are using Vine very effectively as an integral part of their public relations and communications.
Xerox
Our technology & services enable workplaces to simplify the way work gets done.
Xerox created multiple Vines to promote the #SimpleatWork event for more than 800 customers and thought leaders. The event was designed to inspire executives to think outside their comfort zones, and focused on business process simplicity. Xerox used the Vines before, during and after the event to promote the event, speakers and attendees. The Xerox Vine channel has 1,669 followers and shows 120,743 loops counted.
GE
Building, powering, moving and curing. Not just imagining. Doing.
GE, known for its innovative social media campaigns created a Vine to help publicize its #SpringBreakIt campaign, which invited the world inside its laboratory doors to demonstrate how GE tests advanced materials. “When we know how materials melt, shatter and bend, we can make machines that don’t,” said GE. The Vine, included the URL to a Tumblr blog which included footage demonstrating drop, metal forging and erosion tests also including elements such as diagrams of the advanced materials loop, a YouTube video showing how carbon fiber is made and multiple demonstrations of advanced materials testing and destroying products.
The GE Vine channel has more than 105,000 thousand followers and 11,090,579 loops counted.
Another intriguing use of Vine for PR is powerful public education campaigns like the UK smoking cessation campaign, Quit.
Quit
QUIT saves lives by educating children about the dangers of tobacco to allow them to make informed decisions and helping adults to quit smoking.
Quit’s Vine channels features three powerful Vines telling a progressive story about the dangers of smoking. M&C Saatchi, Sydney, used Vine’s 6-second, looping video format to create three videos that it distributed as part of a pro bono campaign on World No Tobacco Day May 31, according to digiday.com. The campaign employed the hashtags #WorldNoTobaccoDay. #smoking, #fail, #relatable, #every6seconds with the statement, “Every 6 seconds, someone dies from smoking.”
The campaign had powerful results, including coverage by traditional media, and has generated 17,700 followers and 1,444,086 loops counted.
Vines in Pitching Media
PR professionals are beginning to use Vines as part of online pitches to the media. A branded Vine at the close of a media pitch makes the pitch stand out and a six second video can be both compelling and since time is of the essence, short enough for the journalist to watch in its entirety.
“By using Vine to pitch your latest press release, you’re essentially guranteed to have journalists attention for the video’s entirety; plus, your pitch will be memorable. An out of the box pitch is just what you need to increase the chances your press release will get covered,” says Emma Fitzpatrick of the Grow Garden Media Group.
Still not convinced?
Consider this: “Over two-thirds of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2018. Mobile video will increase 14-fold between 2013 and 2018, accounting for 69 percent of total mobile data traffic by the end of the forecast period.” Source: cisco.com.
So, if you haven’t taken a hard look at Vine yet, you may want to. But, make sure Vine videos are a good fit for your PR strategy. PR professional John Janney offers five pertinent questions to help you figure it out:
- Does your brand fit the Vine culture?
- How do Vine videos fit into your larger strategy?
- How do you tell your story in six seconds?
- Are your Vine videos building relationships?
- Is shorter better?
Vine is proving itself a flexible tool for incorporating short bursts of video in public relations campaigns. With the project growth of mobile video, it seems clear that increased usage of tactics like Twitter’s six second Vines is inevitable and worth monitoring.
Allen Mireles is a strategist with an affinity for technology who lives/works at the intersection of social media and traditional marketing/public relations. Want to read more from Allen? Click here!
