It’s only a matter of time before someone at work asks you how the company can use Vine videos to promote itself. Before venturing into this new video sharing space, you need to considered several issues.
John Janney’s Vine – Not Much Activity Yet
Vine is a video sharing website. Unlike YouTube, Vine videos are limited to six seconds. Company co-founder Dom Hoffman said that his team settled on the six second limit as an ideal amount of time for everyday users to share brief life moments with friends and family members.
So, Vine was created to make it easy for average smartphone users to capture and share personal moments. Vine videos of your baby’s first steps, dog’s new trick or cousin’s latest skateboard stunt are examples of the site’s intended content. It wasn’t long, however, before corporations saw commercial opportunity in the 40+ million-strong video sharing community.
Are Vine videos a good fit for your PR strategy? Here are five questions to help you decide.
1. Does your brand fit into the Vine culture?
It doesn’t take long to realize that the Vine community is about fun. This is understandable because it’s difficult to make a serious six-second, looping video. In fact, if dramatic Vine videos exist, I haven’t seen them — and I’ve looked. Perhaps a Vine version of the House of Cards Season 2 trailer could be a start.
Six-second Vine videos are ideal for physical comedy, one-liners and routines with a quick setup and punchline. One of the key elements in humor is surprise, and it only takes a few seconds to deliver a humorous twist.
Drama often requires more time to foster the emotional investment required for producing a somber connection with audiences. While it is possible to tell a dramatic story in six seconds, the Vine community culture isn’t likely the right place to share that story.
Vine videos are usually funny. Your brand should also convey levity to thrive inside the Vine community. Otherwise, consider sticking with Instagram, YouTube or Vimeo for your video storytelling needs.
Related questions to ask include: Are your audience members using Vine? Are Vine users already talking about your brand or anything related to it?
2. How do Vine videos fit into your larger strategy?
As with any corporate communication, do not publish Vine videos in isolation. Maintaining a consistent message is essential for properly managing your brand. You can have more than one voice, but those voices should be coordinated.
Many public relations executives provide their staff with social media accounts for communicating with the organization’s audiences. These staff-driven channels are great for building relationships. Openly sharing workplace life and other interesting tidbits online also helps humanize an otherwise faceless corporation.
The multi-staff approach, however, should never be implemented without planning, training and overview. This requires an open, cooperative corporate culture and systems that keep everyone on the same page. Staff on all levels should understand and respect the social media communications plan and how it fits into the organization’s brand message.
Establish the plan, communicate it to the staff and seek feedback. Provide examples of on-message and off-message communications. Give your staff the tools and training they need to succeed in adding some personality to the corporate brand.
3. How do you tell your story in 6 seconds?
Tim Baker of MWW Group recently said that “Anyone [who] thinks you can’t tell a story in six seconds just isn’t trying hard enough.” He warned, however, to “make sure your video tells a story.”
Brevity requires as much planning as creativity. In fact, videographers report that each minute of video requires between 2 and 17 hours of production. Sure, videos between family members don’t require such forethought, but keeping your communications consistent with your brand message does.
Don’t Vine for Vine’s sake. If a Vine video is sent from a corporate channel, it is an official communication no different than a brochure, press release or banner ad. Plan each Vine. Plan a series of Vines. Incorporate the Vine video series into your global communications strategy. And definitely make sure your Vine videos are telling your brand’s story.
4. Are your Vine videos building relationships?
From what I’ve observed on Vine, many communicators are failing to engage with the Vine community. The site is full of promotional animations, cute video spots and one-liners. But I rarely see calls to engage in the video content.
Twitter has its 140-character limit. Vine, which is owned by Twitter, has its six-second video limit. As a video microblog, your engagement activities can borrow from successful YouTube channels and Twitter profiles.
Building relationships requires two-way communication. Don’t just push your message. Engage in dialog. Incorporate a call-to-action or call-to-engagement. If you can’t fit it into the video content, include your call in the Vine description.
Twitter enables you to build conversations by tagging users in tweets. You can also tag users in Vine posts. So, if a user asks a question in the comments of one of your Vine videos, why not answer it with a Vine and tag the user?
You can find many different opportunities to engage with audience members. You can use hashtags, request fulfillment, mentions, behind the scenes footage, product demos and creative loops. Just make sure each communication adds value and never spam.
5. Is shorter better?
Even if you can tell a story in six seconds, should you? Shorter may flex our creative muscles, but it doesn’t always produce better or appropriate communications. Just because a communications channel exists does not mean we must use it. A good rule for social media outreach is to research and select channels that fit your brand and then excel within that limited selection.
This question reminds me of when White Stripes submitted its one-note concert to the Guinness World Records for the shortest concert of all time. A spokesperson from GWR responded in part by explaining that the “nature of competing to make something the ‘shortest’ by its very nature trivializes the activity being carried out.” Since the White Stripes incident, the publication no longer includes “shortest” categories.
A Great Example
A Clever Example: An Interactive Vine
What do you think?
I have more thoughts on this subject, like how Vines of Post-It notes and other text-based messages are a tragic waste of the medium. But I would like to hear from you. Do you think organizations with serious or dramatic brands (charities, advocacy groups, funeral homes. etc.) can flourish on Vine?
Is shorter better? How short is too short? How long is long enough? Do you think communications departments should provide Vine planning templates for staff members? What are your suggestions for using Vine videos in a public relations strategy?
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