Thursday, March 14, 2013

Vine App: The Ultimate Guide to More Likes and Followers

Likes and Followers Vine app




Ever since Twitter relaunched Vine a few weeks ago, I've been testing it out on my own and with a handful of client accounts. Since Vine is still so new, I thought you might find my notes on how to get the most out of your time on Vine useful, so I reworked them into this guide. I hope you find it helpful! 

Update Your Profile 

When I joined Vine my profile was imported from Twitter. This was a great start, but due to the unique nature of Vine that might not be ideal for you and could reduce your chances for success.
In my case, my Twitter bio didn't make sense because it talks about my web marketing experience but I have no intention at the moment of posting web marketing related videos to Vine. Ideally your profile should convey who you are and what you'll be sharing on Vine - I updated my profile to mention dog videos since that is what I'm currently posting most often.
This is important because one way people discover others to follow is though the people search function. Previously, I would have been found for searches related to WordPress and SEO which have nothing to with what I'm currently sharing on Vine. I may have picked up a few followers because of those terms, but they would not be my ideal Vine audience since I don't post videos on those topics.
This simple step will greatly improve the interaction you recieve on Vine since you'll be attracting the most appropriate audience for your content.

Connect Twitter & Facebook

vine-twitter-facebookI connected both accounts, but I don't share every video with each one. If you'll be sharing Vine videos that your existing followers on Twitter or Facebook will be interested in then you'll definitely want to connect since the larger audience you reach with your posts, the more likely you are to grow your connections on Vine.
To connect your accounts from the main Vine menu go to Profile > Settings and then scroll down a bit and you'll see the SOCIAL NETWORKS section.
It is especially important to consider connecting and sharing to Twitter.
Since Vine is a Twitter product you'll find the largest number of Vine users there which means great exposure for your videos when you tweet your Vine videos.
Another reason to connect Twitter is to find existing contacts you may have that you'd like to connect with on Vine. In my case, quite a few of my Twitter followers were already on Vine and followed me on Vine as well as soon as I added them using this method. To do this, first connect Twitter, then go toProfile > Settings and scroll down a bit and you'll see the FRIENDS section, click the Find Peopleoption.
Unfortunately, Facebook blocked similar functionality right after Vine launched. However, you can still let your Facebook followers know you are on Vine by regularly sharing videos or even posting an image of your profile to Instagram.

Before You Record Your Video

Vine VideosA large number of people on Vine are just creating videos just to experiment with the app (myself included), don't get distracted by all that noise. If you are looking tocreate videos that get attention you should make videos that fit what has already been proven to work well on Vine. Here's a few good ways to get a feel for which videos are working best:
  1. Regularly browse the Editor's Picks, and Popularsections within the Vine app. You can access these under Explore on the main menu.
  2. Use the Search by Tag feature to review the types of videos that are being posted by others in your niche. You access Search by Tag at the top of the Explore menu.
  3. Use a Google site: search to locate videos by keyword. Here's an example using the keyword 'dogs', just replace 'dogs' with your own keyword to find videos on your topic of choice.
  4. Browse a few of the 3rd party sites that display Vine videos. I recommend:
    • All Around The Vines, Vine Peek, Vine Fav - Each of these sites provides a slightly different view of the latest videos posted to Vine.
    • Vines Map - Provides a nice map view of videos by location
    • VineRoulette - Offers a full screen visualization of Vine videos that you can view by tag.
  5. Review what other brands are doing on Vine already. Megan Sullivan covers 7 brands, Tim Grimes covers 10, and Nick Cicero covers 15 brands using Vine.

Use Popular Hashtags

vine-tagsWhen using the Vine app hashtags are highlighted in the Explore section as one of the main methods of navigating videos.
This means you should use tags in your poststo get your videos noticed. Using hashtags will also help your video get noticed on other tag friendly services like Twitter.
Currently the most popular tags on Vine are:
  1. #firstpost
  2. #vineportaits
  3. #remake
  4. #cute
  5. #loop
  6. #magic
  7. #pets
  8. #travel
  9. #sports
  10. #food
  11. #nature
  12. #howto
  13. #fashion
  14. #vinefavs
While it is important to use the relevant popular hashtags when posting to Vine, don't be afraid to add others that are even more directly related to your post.
Since people can search by tag from within the app, you improve your chances of being found even when you use tags that are not on the Explore page.

How-to Share Your Vine Videos

vine-google-plusSharing your Vine videos on other networks is a great way to increase your exposure and attract new followers.
You can share directly to Twitter and Facebook from within the Vine app, but what about all the other networks, or your blog?
To share to these other locations you'll need to have the url (web address) of the video you would like to share. Since Vine doesn’t currently provide the url to your own posts directly you will have to share your video to Facebook or Twitter first. For example, you can see the url in my share to Twitter.
Once you have the url you can then share your video wherever you like - here are some of the more common methods.
  • Embed Vine Videos in a Blog Post -There are a variety methods you can use to add your videos to a blog post. If you would like to do that, Jesse Luna has a good post covering each option right here.
  • Upload Vine Videos to YouTube - Vine saves each video you create to your iOS Photo Library so all you have to do is select the video and upload it to YouTube.
  • Share Vine Videos on Google+ - On G+ if you have instant upload enabled the your Vine videos will upload automatically, or you can upload them manually to your account. Once uploaded you can share the videos as normal. Mark Traphagen covers this process in-depth in this post if you need more details.
  • Pin Vine Videos on Pinterest - The most effective way to post a Vine video to Pinterest is to upload the video to YouTube first (instructions above). By doing this the video will be playable on Pinterest. Once that is done just pin YouTube's share url to Pinterest.
  • Post Vine Videos to Tumblr -See the Blog Post tips above and/or check out the other options that Emily Price covers in her post.
  • Convert Vine Videos to GIFs - Due to their short nature Vine videos are very well suited to be converted to animated GIFs. Since animated GIFs are one of the most shared forms of content on the web, converting your videos to GIF could be a great way to reach audiences that might not otherwise watch your video. To do this, you simply add ‘gif’ in front of any Vine url like this:http://www.gifvine.co/v/bnIZDFL36zn_, or if you are a Mac user you can also use the VineGifR app to convert the video in a similar manner.

Like, Follow & Comment

vine-like-followAs with any other social network, it is very important to participate and socialize with other users in order to get noticed.
Start by using the search feature to search for tags (or people) to find people that consistently post the types of videos you enjoy and follow them.
If you are interesting to them as well, they will often follow you right back. Make sure you've posted a video or two and filled out your profile completely for this to be as effective as possible.
Like and comment on all the videos that you enjoy.
When you like or comment on a post it will automatically be shown in the Activity feed of the all the other people that have also either commented or liked the post. This can attract a lot of new followers quickly if you approach this properly.
Avoid being spammy, but be smart about your likes and comments - there is nothing wrong with ensuring you always comment on posts you enjoyed and happen to notice have a lot of comments or likes already.
Also, try a little strategy, don’t just follow the crowd and cross your fingers! Something like this:
  1. Post a video on a specific topic, for example ‘dogs’. Don’t forget to share it to Twitter and Facebook if relevant.
  2. Immediately after posting your video, explore the related tags on Vine (#dogs, #dog, #puppies, #pets, #cute, etc) looking to videos that you enjoy. Like and comment on those videos and follow anyone that you really like.
  3. Rinse and Repeat
What will happen following a simple posting strategy like that is you’ll get attention from an audience that is perfectly targeted to the video you just posted. Since they'll see a similar video on your profile to what they have also been posting they are more likely to like your videos and follow you as well.

Quick Recap

  • Update your profile to better reflect what you'll be posting on Vine
  • Connect and share to Twitter and Facebook if those audiences will like your videos
  • Review the videos created by others to gain an understanding of what to post
  • Use relevant hashtags in every post. Don't forget the most popular tags if they are relevant
  • Share your videos on other networks and sites when possible
  • Use a little strategy when you Like, Comment, and Follow
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