The video marketing playground is not just about YouTube anymore. Once again, the online marketing horizon continues to broaden as Facebook-owned Instagram recently announced its new video functionality. With this update, Instagram finds itself in direct competition with Vine, owned by Twitter, in the short video sharing arena.
Instagram vs. Vine
Vine is a mobile service that allows users to capture and share 6-second videos that play on loop. Since its launch less than five months ago, it has already attracted a community of 13 million users and averages at 12 million video posts on Twitter daily. Vine’s creators credit the apps success on its simple and easy-to-use design. Having a 6-second cap on your videos may seem challenging, but the limit proved to be part of its appeal, challenging its users to come up with creative and quirky clips.
Instagram, on the other hand, is the popular photo-sharing app that was acquired by Facebook. The app allows users to add vintage filters to photos taken with their camera phones and share them with friends. Created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in October 2010, the Instagram community has reached 100 million active users in February 2013. Just recently, the award-winning app introduced its new short video functionality, which saw 5M clips uploaded on its first day.
Some key differentiators for both platforms include:
- Video length – Instagram videos (or InstaVideos) lets users produce 15 seconds of videos, 9 seconds longer than what you can upload on Vine.
- Filters – Instagram videos allows you to create different looks for your video with the 13 custom filters provided by the app.
- Cover photo selection – The choice to view a video most often boils down to how attractive the thumbnail is. Unlike Vine, Instagram’s video update gives users the ability to select a cover photo that can do your video justice.
- Sharing capabilities – Your video clips on Vine can be shared on Facebook and Twitter. Instagram videos can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, foursquare and via email.
To date, only Vine has an embeddable feature making it favourable for digital marketers to use as a platform for video marketing.
How Your Online Marketing Can Benefit From Video Sharing Platforms
Film has always been an effective way for businesses to advertise their products and services. The most common form of video advertising is through TV commercials. But as we continue to move forward in the digital age, video marketing has also adapted and evolved to meet the needs of businesses and consumers.
Video sharing is undeniably one of the more popular forms of social media. Next to Google, YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine. Now with the recent developments from Vine and Instagram, online marketers have more ways to get content out there.
Whether you opt for Vine, Instagram, or both, here are some ways video marketing can give your business a boost:
- Faster buying decisions. Studies show that people are more likely to purchase a product or services after seeing a video. This is because videos can give consumers a better understanding of your product or service the way print materials can’t.
- Cost-effective. You do not need a big budget to create and disseminate video content. With the right messaging and execution, even a 6-15 second video clip shot on a smartphone can communicate more effectively than printed materials.
- Showcase your product better. Video marketing is proof that actions can definitely speak louder than words. What videos can do better than still images and text is to show your product or service in action. Video materials can also be a great way to show customers how your product works, or how to use it properly, which improves user experience.
- Emotion through motion. If still images can inspire action, how much more with sound and images combined? Again, when done right, a short video clip can be very persuasive.
Want to explore video sharing as part of your online marketing efforts? We can help you. Talk to us.