KISSmetrics: 6 Examples of Content Marketing with Vine (that you can do, too)

6 Examples of Content Marketing with Vine (that you can do, too)

Posted: 29 Jan 2014 09:10 AM PST

Twitter's Vine was one of the most popular apps of 2013. Part of its popularity lies in its simplicity. All you have to do is take a short, 6 second video, and then share it through social networks (including Twitter and Facebook), or embed it on your website.

Vine's popularity has caught the attention of marketers. Ideally suited for today's notoriously short attention spans, Vine forces businesses to come up with creative new ideas to reach their online customers.

With this in mind, here are six of the best ideas (concepts you can try with your own content marketing campaigns using Vine):

1. ASOS: Unboxing

ASOS, a UK retailer, took an admittedly unglamorous act (opening a box) and turned it into an exciting showcase of its products. ASOS encourages customers to tag their purchase with #ASOSUnbox and create Vine videos showing them opening (unboxing) their delivery. As a result, ASOS has rekindled the excitement of shopping online, while putting its brand front and center of the fashion-conscious buyer.

How you can do it, too

What is something typically mundane (or boring) about your product that you could transform into something interesting and exciting? Could you take your product apart and show off the individual components that make it great? What about giving your customers a quick look at your next product launch and asking them to guess what it's going to be?

2. AirBNB: A Simple Journey

One of the biggest constraints of using Vine is that your videos are (purposefully) limited to six seconds. But that doesn't mean you're stuck within that limitation. Alternative travel company, AirBNB, invited customers to create individual clips showing a piece of paper on a journey. The company presented instructions over Twitter, and the clips started rolling in.

Now watch what happens:

How you can do it, too

You can "stitch" clips together using a second app like Cameo, a cloud-based editing app. Depending on what your product or service is, you could host a contest or encourage user reviews in exchange for freebies or coupons. You also could ask for testers who might like to try your product before it is released to the general public. Then, you could ask them to record their first impressions or thoughts, and turn those into a digital story told through Vine.

3. Rhein-Zeitung: How It's Made

With so much attention on online newspapers these days, it's easy to forget that their paper counterparts still are hanging on out there. Rhein-Zeitung, a German newspaper, isn't going down without a fight. In fact, they want you to know how much work goes into preparing your daily paper, which they demonstrate through this Vine:

How you can do it, too

Through Vine's stop-motion animation capabilities, you can condense days, or even weeks, of work into six one-second clips, as Rhein-Zeitung did. Although it doesn't show the details, it does present a more human side of the product, in a way that people can easily follow. What could you show being built from the ground up?

4. Lowe's: A Quick How-To

Blogs and email newsletters are full of quick little how-to tips, but what if you could summarize those little tidbits into a Vine video? Lowe's did, by showing a DIY way to keep squirrels out of flowers using cayenne pepper, through a hashtag called #fixinsix. (Don't worry. No squirrels were harmed during the making of this Vine!)

How you can do it, too

Think of a quick fix for a common issue that many customers in your line of work tend to have. Type out the easy solution via Twitter and turn it into a fun stop-motion animation using Vine. Remember, it's only six clips, so you don't need a huge outlay of your budget for animation or production. You just position, shoot, change the position ever-so-slightly, shoot again, rinse and repeat.

5. Honda: Real-Time Responses

One of the more innovative ways to use Vine is to deliver real-time customer service. Honda did that this past summer in order to promote its clearance event. People who tweeted #wantnewcar along with the reason they wanted a new car got a special message from a Honda dealer answering their question or concern.

How you can do it, too

Encourage your customers to submit reasons they might want or need your new product or service. Then prepare individual six-second replies to their reasons in a way that's fun and engaging. It's much more interesting than your typical dull FAQ, isn't it?

6. Oreo: Hack Your Snacks

Oreo's #SnackHacks campaign was a great way to have a little fun and learn something at the same time. For example, did you know you can create "Cookie Cubes" by mixing Oreos and milk? See for yourself:

How you can do it, too

What are some unique, interesting ways to use your product other than what it was originally intended for? Can you brainstorm ways that someone might be able to "hack" your product or service to make it a more effective part of their daily life? Even something fun or crazy is sure to get a laugh from your followers and customers. Try it!

What Do You Think of Vine for Content Marketing?

Is it a creative outlet or passing fad? Share your thoughts in the comments!

About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!