THE POWER OF THE PLATFORM: VISUAL STORYTELLING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS 109 TIPS for Engaging on Vine • Make sure your social media manager has • Run a contest, and ask users to post their full approval to use Vine because clips are own video responses. Urban Outfitters posted instantly. launched a Vine contest with Converse in • It is best to approve content ideas in which fans were asked to post clips show- advance because you can’t save drafts. ing a day in the life of their Converses. • Stop-motion videos are among the most Videos had to be tagged with #yourchucks, popular for brands. They allow you to be and the winner won items from both 141 creative with your footage by turning it into Urban Outfitters and Converse. an animation or else shortening a sequence • Tag your clips to ensure that they are to highlight product features (for example, found by people who are not following showcasing how a kitchen gadget works or you directly. how a piece of furniture is assembled). • Keep it simple. Many people will be • Vine is perfect for creating a short prod- watching on smartphones, so don’t try uct showcase ahead of a launch. Taco Bell and make your clip too detailed or overly celebrated the release of its Cool Ranch complicated. Doritos Loco Taco with a Vine video, and • Don’t rush your footage just to fit it it was rewarded with more than 2,500 into the timeframe. Think of it as a 139 minicommercial. retweets. • Instead of the 30-second or one-minute • Think about the sound as well as the ad, think how you can convey your brand vision. If you are recording live footage, message in 6 seconds. try to eliminate background noise, and/or • Have fun with your ideas. Dove recently consider using a backing track. posted a clip of a bar of soap “ball” hit- • You can essentially make animations using ting shower gel bottle “pins” in a bowling stop-motion shooting. Many brands have 140 game. gotten creative with this idea to make • You can get behind the scenes at your com- beautiful or impossible things happen pany by posting fun footage—but make around their products. sure that everyone is aware of the filming before you start.