As Vine carves its place as one of the most vibrant short-video sharing platforms, a new crop of “celebrities” known as Vine stars have burst onto the scene. Far from the regular Hollywood stars we are used to seeing, they are normal, everyday people who have perfected the art of creating and sharing viral Vine videos. Taking note of the power they wield over their followers, advertisers and marketers have turned to these
Vine stars to get their brand messages across to target audiences. If your brand hasn’t already begun, now is the time to harness the power of influencers and expand your reach online.
Why should brands adopt influencer marketing?
More than four years after its launch, Vine has grown to a massive 200 million active monthly users and over 1.5 billion daily loops. Part of this popularity has also been driven by the explosion of online video — almost
a third of the time spent online is spent watching videos.
The key factor, however, that makes influencer marketing effective is trustworthiness. Vine stars are everyday people, and consumers don’t see them as brand affiliates. Consumers tend to trust brand content that has been endorsed by these internet stars, who they view as their peers. Consumers are also more likely to share Vines from influencers because there’s a character and a personality behind it.
The concept that works behind influencer marketing resembles a real life example. Imagine a stranger comes up and brags about what a good chef they are. You may or may not believe them. However, if a close friend comes up to you, points a finger at this person and whispers that they are an excellent chef, are you likely to believe them? You probably will. This is the same concept that is used in influencer marketing.
Enlisting Vine stars to help your online marketing efforts will also lower your costs. While influencer marketing isn’t free, you generally don’t have to spend all that much money to make it work. Vine stars will generally charge less than traditional paid advertising to communicate your brand message to their audience. Influencers may, for instance, charge $3 for every 1000 followers they have. This levels the playing field by making it easier for small- and medium-sized companies to compete with deep-pocketed competitors on the online advertising front.
What makes influencer marketing effective
One reason that Vine is effective as a brand-building tool is because it’s based on video. Vine influencers produce video content, which gives you a platform to both show and tell potential customers about your products and services. Furthermore, your brand becomes more memorable because people are more likely to
remember what they saw in a video compared to other mediums online.
Influencer marketing allows you to take advantage of the personal relationships between Vine stars and their fans. It is the virtual version of word-of-mouth advertising, which is the kind of advertising that directly influences action. Because their followers trust them, they will be more receptive to your message than if they saw it on television. As an added bonus, some of their followers will likely share the influencer’s Vines on their own social media pages, which could make your brand’s message go viral if other people continue sharing it.
What to do before you start a Vine influencer campaign
Before you start a Vine influencer marketing campaign, you should start building your brand’s presence on your own Vine account. This way, the Vine user can mention your brand’s Vine channel online and spur growth for you. Before you do this, however, you should develop an established following so people take you seriously when they arrive at your account.
One way to kickstart movement on your Vine channel is to buy followers and loops, which will accelerate organic growth and draw attention online for your brand’s Vine account. Before you make a decision to buy followers from a company you find online, be careful to do your research and check out reviews posted by other users. There are many scammers out there who will gladly take your money and provide you with a questionable service that could put your online reputation at risk. Other vendors, however, sell high-quality followers that will improve the appearance and authority of your Vine account. It’s on you to know the difference by checking reviews.
As a starting point, check out our list of the
Top 5 Vine follower providers if you’re interested learning more.
Featured Image via Entrepreneur
