Vine vs. Instagram 3 Differences, What They Mean to You
However minimal these differences may seem, they are the value that Vine and Instagram provide to marketers.
They are what define them now, and what they will grow from into the future in terms of social media marketing.
1. A Quarter vs. a Tenth: Who’s Counting?
Vine videos are six seconds. Instagram videos are 15 seconds; what a coincidence, because that’s also called a 15-spot. You know, the fast commercials on TV that aren’t unbearable to sit through.
It turns out Instagram has been counting, and they’ve nailed the right length of duration for videos that marketers want to use. They’re not so short that they can’t express value, not too long that users will get bored and avoid clicking on them. Instagram hasn’t been bashful about reminding us that they’re in the business of making money, and they plan on making that money from advertising dollars.
They stated pretty clearly that Instagram users can expect to see ads coming very soon. Ads all up in everyone’s faces.
The Time’s They Are a Changin’
Whether these ads will be the largely distrusted banner ads or more relevant video ads that will be less invasive in users’ streams, this is to be decided with time, and some common sense.
On the other side, there’s that little old Vine, sprawling the Twitter wall, the social media darling in danger of being weeded by Instagram and Facebook. Launched in January and featuring six second, no-nonsense videos, Vine already had the lead in terms of brand integration.
It’s was a natural progression, without much explicit selling going on, only good-ol’ social media branding. The now-famous Lowes Fix in Six DIY videos show how six seconds can create impact despite a brand’s disadvantage in time to show value.
Although there are no products being sold in the Fix in Six series, they are very much using the authority and usefulness of Lowes as a selling point.
Both platforms can be viable mediums for promoting a brand. But, both aren’t viable platforms for advertising.
2. Can 130 Million Users Be Wrong? Not In Marketing
Instagram’s monthly active user base is reported at 130 million users while Vine claims 13 million monthly.
The discrepancy in user bases should be enough for businesses to choose to run their ads on Instagram over Vine, if they had to pick for budget reasons, or what may have you. The more people online to see your ads the better, right?
Of course. This isn’t a trick question. We don’t have time for that.
However, a healthy user base, with a diverse sample of consumers to choose from is not the only reason to choose Instagram as the social platform to market your brand. The most important reason is simply that it’s owned by Facebook.
3. Facebook Has Instagram’s Back
Don’t underestimate Mark Zuckerburg’s quest for world domination. OK, social-media-world domination– still very Lex Luther-ish of him.
Though the suits at Instagram, employed by Mr. Zuckerburg, have been thinking about integrating video for a while now, at least part of the reason for adding a video feature has to be to compete with, or crush, Vine. That may or may not be successful.
Either way, Instagram will likely become a haven for marketers on social media.
Facebook has broken down their data silos so they can now trade all sorts of user information with Instagram. With Facebook’s textual data combined with the trend of Instagram users opting to log their Geolocation data, comprehensive measurements about the tastes and spending habits of users, collected by reality mining any of their public information, will be sold to businesses.
Cash In On the Data-Gold Rush While You Can!
Data from reality mining is more revealing of a consumer’s unfiltered preferences than traditional data-gathering methods such as focus groups or consumer interviews, which can inadvertently influence, or limit responses–this happens because people don’t want to sound weird to strangers, but social media rewards this kind of behavior. Reality mining data can be seen as more valuable because of its candor.
Being predominantly mobile apps, Vine and Instagram will maximize on logging loads of valuable user data; in essence they can map where users log in and where they record their content, to tailor ads to feature geographic relevance.
Whoever makes this information most useful to brands will ultimately win– if they don’t overkill users with these ads, of course.
Which Social Media Platform Should You Choose for Your Brand?
Social media is a risky place to advertise. The overwhelming majority of consumers don’t trust ads on social media sites, but Instagram is on the verge of solving that. If you want to cash in on the burgeoning platform of social media advertising, your safest bet will be on Instagram.
To simplify it, if you plan on using an explicit ad, go with Instagram’s targeted ads.
If you are running a promotional, value based campaign, something like Lowes’ FixInSix, maybe use Vine, where users are open to novel ideas.
