Why get hooked on Vine?

It’s tricky to get in a flutter about yet another social media app. When it’s a social media app run by Twitter however, that’s a different matter.

Vine, which supports the creation, discovery and sharing of looping six second videos, hit screens in early 2013 and since then has claimed the top spot on Apple’s App store as well as helping millions of people create footage from the palm of their hand; proving there is room yet for another video platform beyond YouTube, Vimeo and its brethren.

So if you’re not hooked on Vine already, why should digital marketers be so definite to include it in any strategy?

1. It’s free to use

The best things in life are free and so is Vine. What’s more the functionality of the app – which allows you to stop and start recording by tapping the screen – means you can edit as you go; a feature that’s proving stop motion animation is alive and well.

2. It creates content

At the start of 2013 when the Mystic Megs of digital were predicting the next big thing, many said that shareable content was key. Text, photographs and video are just some of the formats consumers are hungry to hoover up. Vine makes it pain free to at least tick one of those boxes.

3. It doesn’t go on, and on, and on…

How often have you skipped through a YouTube video? Probably quite often. How often have you rewatched the same video three or four times in the same sitting? Probably not very often. Much like Twitter, Vine’s six second limit forces users to create short, pithy, to the point content. What’s more, the looping element means you’re much more likely to rewatch it and actually absorb the message. Clever.

4. It’s creative

Vine makes users think. Unlike a photograph, your time in front of the camera isn’t over in a millisecond; you’ve got six whole seconds to fill. Vine users are (mostly) creating thoughtful, funny, beautiful and shareable content while the trigger happy ‘selfies’ stick to Instagram.

5. It’s clever

When it comes to sharing Vine videos or adding them to your site, Vine doesn’t create headaches. As well as a button to share to social feeds there’s also a handy embed button which spits out code to add to your site. What’s more, when the video’s on your site it remains muted until unmuted and doesn’t play until rolled over…so there’s no chance of that video – the one you probably shouldn’t be watching at work – blaring out across the office for all to hear.