8 Ways Companies Are Utilizing Vine

Since Vine first debuted in January, the offspring of social media giant Twitter has quickly made a name for itself; becoming the top free download on Apple’s App Store in less than three months.

For those unfamiliar, Vine allows its users to upload a six second, continuously looping video and share it to their Twitter or Facebook. Think Instagram for videos.

With millions of potential impressions, marketing directors and small business owners worldwide are eagerly jumping on the bandwagon and establishing accounts specifically for their companies.

Here are some examples of how your company can use Vine to extend your brand through this new social media tool.

8 Ways Companies are Utilizing Vine

1. Demonstrate a Product

What company doesn't want to showcase their product in use. This is an easy and simple method to introduce followers to a new product. Cadbury does a great job of introducing a new product to their consumers, showing them how to eat their new Egg ‘N’ Spoon chocolates.

Check out our #EggNSpoon Unboxing Vine then retweet for a chance to win a box of both flavours by Tuesday's end: vine.co/v/b1ej2K29Q0u

— Cadbury UK (@CadburyUK) February 10, 2013

2. Show a Manufacturing Process

With Vine you don't have to record your video continuously. You are able to take short clips to make a six second video that loops. Making Vine a great platform to show how your company makes its products, taking your audience through the process step-by-step. German company Rhein Zeitung does a fantastic job illustrating how they lay out their newspaper with progressive still shots combined into one post.

#Magic: Die #Titelseite entsteht. #newspaper ( #Vine-Video) ^law vine.co/v/bJv9zDrFT5K — Rhein-Zeitung (@rheinzeitung) January 28, 2013

3. Promote a Contest

Social media contests have taken off within the past couple of years, and for good reasons. They engage your customers, build your brand awareness, and drive traffic to your website. No need to reinvent the wheel here; companies are asking for customers to take videos of their favorite products in use and hashtag a certain phrase. ASOS, a British online clothes retailer asked users to submit a video and submit it with the hashtag #ASOSUnbox for the chance to win free clothing.

Loving #vine? We wanna see you unbox your #asos order, tag #ASOSUnbox (we may even give you something new t... vine.co/v/bJ9dTgx3wJt — ASOS (@ASOS) January 30, 2013

4. Show An Exclusive Sneak Peek

What better way to generate buzz about an upcoming product than to show a sneak peek with a vine video. It's the perfect way to show an actual prototype or unreleased product and get people talking. French telecommunications company Orange chose to display their upcoming product Livebox Play in what could be the coolest Vine video yet.

La démo de #LiveboxPlay en hologramme dans les boutiques : à voir absolument ! vine.co/v/bnAFb7qi2Ba — Orange France (@Orange_France) February 5, 2013

5. Share Tips and Tricks

Not all Vine videos have to show a product in use. Lowe’s Home Improvement orchestrated a full campaign in which they posted videos with helpful tips and tricks that anyone can use around their house. By making these simple videos, they were able to expand their reach because of the interactions they generated, exposing them to their followers’ followers and so on. In this video, Lowe’s reveals how two everyday household products can be the solution to a common nuisance.

Clean your cookie sheets with baking soda and peroxide. #lowesfixinsix #howto #stopmotion vine.co/v/bx9iEFdwvJ0

— Lowe's (@Lowes) April 30, 2013

6. Relate to Your Audience

You don't need to mention your company or product for your Vine video to be successful. Dick’s Sporting Goods uses Vine to show M&T Bank Stadium roaring before a Ravens game. Even though this has nothing to do with their company, it appeals to the interests of their customers. It's important to be social. Don't just promote your products or services, relate to your audience.

Ready & waiting for @ravens to arrive from the #SB47 parade in Baltimore. Check out the view from inside the stadium vine.co/v/bnb5Vb9DPvw — Dick'sSportingGoods (@DICKS) February 5, 2013

7. WOW the Watchers

Thanks to Vine, stop motion animation has experienced a rebirth. In this video, Kuwaiti graphic designer Pinot Ichwandardi simply has some fun and shows his personal capabilities, leaving his viewers amazed.

Drawing a rubber egg #art #animation #stopmotion #magic #drawing vine.co/v/bv9dvKvDIBX

— Pinot (@pinot) February 13, 2013

8. Take Your Viewers Behind Closed Doors

Vine is a fantastic social media platform. Don't be afraid to have some fun with it! One of the greatest assets of Vine is its uncanny potential to humanize your company.  Take users behind the scenes and show your employees having some fun in the workplace. WeWork Labs made a Harlem Shake video, and this video was captured after an unexpected walk-in on the filming of it.

Came to @wework for a meeting and this is what I walked into. #tuesdays vine.co/v/bvxL2BuJEg3

— Helena Price (@helena) February 12, 2013

What are some other ways that you've seen businesses using Vine to engage and interact with their followers?