Vine 101: 10 Ways to Engage Your Customers in 6 Seconds or Less

Less than a year ago, three guys in New York City were working to build the next big thing in social media – a mobile video-sharing app called Vine. Their origin story echoes that of a thousand other start-ups we'll likely never hear about. But fortunately for the Vine guys, their little sprout got a big dose of Miracle-Gro when Twitter bought the start-up before it launched the app. Backed by the juggernaut of Twitter's resources, influence and platform, Vine reached the top spot in the free apps section of Apple’s App Store within just a few months of launch. Beyond this fast take-off and the Twitter fire-power that fueled it, it's also worth mentioning that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is believed to be the driving force behind the acquisition. Dorsey is also the co-founder of highly successful mobile payment service Square, so you might say he's kind of a big deal in the world of tech start-ups. So that’s the story of how in just a few short months this newcomer to the social media scene has taken root and made a name for itself as a viable contender among the more well-established platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Daunted by the idea of incorporating yet another social media site – with its own set of rules and idiosyncrasies – into your marketing program? Don’t be. Here’s a quick run-down of the basics and some inspirational ideas to help you get started using Vine to connect with your socially-savvy customers:

Getting to know Vine

Integration with Twitter

Even if you have no need or desire to support another social media tool, it's worth embracing Vine as an extension of Twitter. The two apps' tight integration makes Vine a convenient way to tweet video and audio. Vine’s short 6-second-or-less clips complement Twitter's 140-character microblogging format, so the name of the game is just the same: whatever you share, make it quick and compelling.

Simplicity

After using Vine for a few minutes, it will become evident that its development team focused on simplifying the experience of making and sharing videos. Creating a Vine requires little more than pressing the record button in the upper corner (conveniently labeled with a camera icon), touching the screen to start recording and releasing it to stop. Tap the checkmark to keep the video, add a caption and location if desired, then post to Vine, Twitter or Facebook. That's it. Concept, creation and publication in less than 30 seconds.

Big creativity in a small package

Doing more with less can actually push your creativity to yield impressive results. Without the complicated tools of traditional video production – with its expensive cameras, lighting and post-production – Vine both forces and frees users to focus on creativity, distilling ideas down to their purest form to tell a soundbite story.

Looping

Vine videos loop automatically. In fact, this feature is so central to the user experience that it's mentioned in the app store's very short description: "See and share beautiful looping videos." With their six-second time limit, Vine videos are often jumpy and hard to process on a first viewing. Looping enables viewers to catch missed details the second or third time around. But many Viners are also using this loop feature in creative ways, making videos in which repetition is central to the concept, like the 1990s cult-hit Groundhog Day.

Vine-spiration

Now that we’ve covered the basic how-tos, here are 10 ideas for using Vine in your marketing mix. One quick note: to pause any of the Vines below, just click on them.

1. Introduce yourself.

Share a behind the scenes look into your company culture, show off your super-talented staff or give a sneak peek into a special project. A simple wave from everyone will do, or like restaurant VIA, you can make it fun by making faces, or tap into an internet meme like planking as a team.

2. Make a stop-motion movie.

No matter how advanced video technology and special effects have become, stop-motion animation, with its often jittery feel, has captivated generations of children and adults alike. With its simple touch-based recording, Vine is built for stop-motion experimentation. Many of the most popular Vines use this technique, as seen in this gem from Twitter designer Ian Padgham (@origiful).

3. Build brand buzz.

Create a Vine tease to get followers excited about an upcoming event or product launch. Unlike commercials or marketing pieces with their long, resource-intensive production requirements, Vine is an easy way to promote in real-time. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon didn't need six seconds to tease a guest appearance by pop-star Justin Bieber – just a wig and a wink.

4. Introduce something new.

Maybe you can't afford a multi-million-dollar Super Bowl commercial to introduce a new product or service to the world, but hey, you've got Vine, right? Okay, okay. We know it's not the same thing, but even Pepsi, with its enormous marketing budget, turned to Vine to show off the new shape of its bottles. And their effort definitely did not cost millions to make.

5. Poll your peeps.

Want to take the pulse of your followers? Create a Vine that visualizes what you want to measure, and then ask for input in the comments. Comcast wanted to gauge the impact of promoting its SportsNet Twitter account during a hockey game. They owned the copyright for the broadcast, so they just published the clip on Vine. From the looks of things, they probably just recorded it right off the TV screen. Low tech, yes, but it works.

6. Create a moment of zen.

In the frenetic world of social media, a little tranquility is always welcome. Simply giving people a moment of calm among the chaos of the day can earn your brand some positive vibes by association.

7. Try some trivia to drive engagement.

People of all ages and backgrounds love trivia, and many can't resist a good riddle. Verizon mashed together game play, pop music and a feel-good holiday to give followers fun Valentine's Day-themed riddles.

8. Game on!

Like trivia, games are a great way to keep people engaged with your brand. We'll admit this one is a real challenge, but Vine user Brandin6 found a fun way to recreate a popular game from the 80s that gives new meaning to the term "video game."

9. Lure creative people to your team.

Want to find people for your organization that are social media savvy and creative? Vine is a great way to share your company culture in ways that will attract like-minded individuals that will keep that culture going strong. Better yet, hold a contest and have candidates submit Vines about why they want to work for you. It's a much more entertaining way to weed out applicants than giving resumes a ten-second look.

10. Celebrate the holidays (even the silly ones).

Even the most obscure holidays are good opportunities to produce entertaining content, like this geeky Pi Day celebration by our friends at VaynerMedia. The common theme underlying all of these ideas and examples is this: look for any excuse to make a Vine and then be as creative as possible. The Vine community rewards creativity. In fact, it's the driving force that fuels engagement with this new tool on the social media block...Hey, there's another idea: a New Kids on the Block parody. Vine win!

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Building a Thriving Community Ecosystem: The Five Essential Elements

What is an ecosystem?

In nature, an ecosystem is defined as “a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment.” In today’s culture of the Web, an online ecosystem is essentially the same thing – the organic result of the interactions that occur between the members of a community and the environment that they live in. It cannot be defined in and of itself but only as the sum of its thousand moving parts. For brands that exist in today’s culture of the Web, there is no higher echelon of marketing than establishing your own community ecosystem. Why? Well, it’s one thing to interact with your customers and fans in an ecosystem that someone else has built (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.). However, because you didn’t build the ecosystem, you’re limited to one-off interactions that are structured according to the framework defined by the architects of that community (140 characters, anyone?). On the other hand, however, when you’re the one that builds the sandbox, it’s your party. Your website becomes the place where members of your tribe choose to hang out, to debate, to share and to be inspired by their peers – who, incidentally, are other members of your tribe. Most importantly, their identity as a member of this community is inextricably linked to your brand. It’s a marketer’s wildest dream come true. The process of building a thriving ecosystem is no small feat. Here are the five essential elements that you must have if you want to create a real, organic online community that simultaneously exists for and is a product of your tribe:

Earth: The foundation

Before you can build an ecosystem, you have to lay the foundation. But where do you begin? In our series on understanding and marketing to tribes, we established that tribes form around a shared passion for a specific idea, lifestyle or movement. Therefore, for your ecosystem to thrive, there must be a common thread that draws people in and binds them to the community and its members so that they identify themselves as part of your tribe. Your goal is not to build the next Facebook. People don’t need just another broad-based social network where they can set up a profile and post their thoughts. That already exists in any number of places where they already do those things. What people are yearning for is to be among and connect with other people who share their passions. When you build a community around that passion, they’ll come there knowing it’s a place where they can satisfy that need to belong, where they’ll be among others who speak the same language and where they’re free to obsess over something with like-minded people who won’t mind if they talk ad nauseum about that one particular thing that really stokes their fire. So how do you find that common thread? Think about your customers. What do they love? What excites them? What challenges do they face day in and day out? What do they worry about? How can you tap into those things? The answer to those questions is the foundation for your ecosystem. By identifying the common passion that unites your tribe, you can begin to build a community where great interactions will thrive. Even if your brand only ever lives at the periphery of those interactions, that’s okay. Remember, too, that among those who populate your ecosystem there will be individuals who are already your customer, might someday be your customer or may never be your customer, and that’s okay, too. The fact that you exist at the root of all of it will yield greater rewards than you could ever imagine.

Air: Sharing

The ability to interact with other members in meaningful ways is as critical to the life of an ecosystem as the air we breathe; in its absence, the community suffocates. An ecosystem is not a blog with comments. While commenters may well respond to one another on occasion, these interactions are limited in scope to the content to which they are attached. There’s nowhere else for these commenters to go to keep the conversation going or to talk about a different subject entirely. An ecosystem is not a message board where people come to get help or resolve a problem. Once that problem is solved, they move on and never come back; they don’t identify themselves with or feel any lasting ties to the community. An ecosystem is a place where people can share the things matter to them in ways that are meaningful to them. It starts with being able to establish a profile – one that’s more than simply a name and a photo. You need to give people the ability to define who they are in the context of that community and its foundation. Then they need outlets to share their own ideas, photos and videos and to interact with others around that shared content. It’s this level of highly personalized sharing that forges deep, persistent bonds among members of a community. NASCAR driver Ryan Newman’s Fan Club site is built around keeping its members engaged and active by giving them many different ways to share and interact. They can post their own videos, build photo albums, join the conversation on community message boards and even chat with other members in real time. Again, keep in mind that all the sharing that takes place in your ecosystem may have very little to do with your products or services. And that’s exactly what you want because a community that will thrive over the long haul is one that exists to serve its members, not your brand and your business. As long as you’re the one providing the arena where these exchanges are taking place, you’ll benefit immeasurably from constant exposure and engagement.

Water: Leadership

Good tribe leadership is the water that helps a fledgling ecosystem grow and keeps an established ecosystem strong and thriving. The task of providing good leadership is actually more challenging than it may at first seem. In the traditional world of marketing, everything was centered around presenting a carefully cultivated message and never allowing the customer to see any cracks in the perfectly polished veneer of a brand’s image. But that approach doesn’t work in the world of the online ecosystem. You must be comfortable walking among the members of your community and interacting with them on a human level. You must be willing to drop the corporate mask and be authentic. Think of your role as the leader of your community as being the host of a party. It’s not your job to dominate every conversation or to restrict what your friends are and are not allowed to talk about. It is your job to provide good fodder for discussion, to fill in the gaps when you sense a lull in the conversation and to help everyone feel at home and included.

Fire: Rewards

The members of your ecosystem that make the wittiest comments, spark the healthiest debates or share the most interesting content are the ones that keep the community vibrant. So how do you motivate them to keep doing what they do best? In today’s fame-obsessed culture, everyone wants their 15 minutes of notoriety, and everyone wants to feel like a celebrity in their own circles. People are driven by the opportunity to be elevated to a position of higher esteem among their peers. Therefore, if you want to stoke the fires of participation in your ecosystem, recognition is the name of the game. Give the members of your community ways to participate that are all about them, and then reward them for that participation. Distinctions such as “photo of the day” or “most viewed video” reward the creator by putting him or her in the spotlight. Call them out from the crowd, and you'll feed their craving for more recognition. The key to establishing an effective reward system is knowing what motivates the members of your community. For example, because racing fans thrive on competition, the Ryan Newman Fan Club community is built around a points system. Members who start discussions or who post photos and videos can earn points – or votes – from other members that put them in the running for a spot on the fan club’s leaderboard. Points are tallied throughout the racing season, with prizes awarded to the top performer each month as well as the top overall points earner for the season.

Aether: The essence

Aristotle defined aether as the quintessence – the immutable substance that makes up the heavens and stars. When it comes to online ecosystems, the aether is the intangible element – the sine qua non – that makes being a member of your community something to be desired. Think about the most popular nightclub in town. Why do people go there? It’s not just to listen to music. It’s not just to drink a martini. It’s not just to hang out with their friends. They could do all of those things in any number of places. There’s something in the atmosphere – an indefinable quality – that propels them to go to that one club rather than any of the dozens of others in the same vicinity. Perhaps it’s that when they go there, they’re surrounded by people just like them. Or perhaps they’re surrounded by people that they aspire to be like. Maybe it’s the bragging rights that come with being “seen” in the place that everyone’s buzzing about. Your ecosystem needs the same thing. There has to be some sense of status or value attached to being able to claim membership in your tribe. This is the one element of your ecosystem that you have the least control over. You simply can’t manufacture the essence, nor can you make a proclamation that this is what makes your community special. In fact, the essence can only emerge when it’s allowed to develop organically. When you see members of your community sharing inside jokes, developing their own language, even making plans to meet up offline – that’s when you’ll know you have the essence. The best thing you can do when you recognize it is to subtly encourage those members or activities that you see happening around it so that it continues to flourish.

It’s your sandbox.

The prospect of building your own community ecosystem is certainly daunting. There’s much at stake and many unknowns that you must contend with. In sharp contrast to the world of traditional marketing, there’s a distinct lack of control. An ecosystem can only thrive when allowed to develop and grow naturally and on its own timeline. As soon as you start to restrict or interfere too much, it will wither on the vine. Entering the realm of ecosystem building requires a leap of faith. However, just as building the trust that your customers have in your brand is paramount to the growth of your business, putting trust in your customers is essential to the growth of your ecosystem. If you can relinquish the need for control and truly let the members of your community take ownership of it, you’ll be amazed at the results that unfold. Interactions will become vibrant and nuanced, natural leaders will emerge and the community will truly take on a life of its own. And in today’s marketplace, there is no more powerful force for business growth than a large and engaged community that’s homed around your brand.

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