6 Vine Tips for Nonprofits
Vine is so new that it still has an air of mystique and not necessarily in a good way. A nonprofit has to constantly be open to trying out new venues in social media networking. Vine is one of the newest iterations of that phenomenon. You may be a bit leery in getting started. That’s why it’s good to have some guidance. What follows are some helpful tips in getting started.
1) Proceed with caution. It’s important to remember that once you put something up on the ‘Net it’s there to stay. So think carefully about what you’re putting out there. That goes for everything you put out there, not only on Vine, but it’s a good rule of thumb to remember in approaching this brand new social media tool.
2) Think out of the box. Vine gives you just 6 seconds to make an impact, so use your time wisely by brainstorming some ideas. Think of the brevity as a challenge. One of the most popular children’s books ever, Green Eggs and Ham, was written as a response to a challenge. Writer Theodore Geisel, A/K/A Dr. Seuss was challenged to write a book containing just fifty words. Green Eggs and Ham was the result of that challenge. The gauntlet was laid down by Geisel’s editor after the writer’s book prior to this one, The Cat in the Hat, was composed of just two hundred and thirty-six words.
3) Make a storyboard. There’s a temptation to use Vine on the fly. That would be a mistake. You’re likely to end up with something sloppy and unappealing. The best Vine clips are backed up by solid planning and a good old-fashioned storyboard.
4) Think small, then smaller still. The shorter Youtube clips may come in at half a minute, such as this one: http://youtu.be/nEL8dGQj3I4 that spoofs the jingle of the car donation charity, Kars For Kids, but in watching this 30-second clip, you get the point really fast. After the first several seconds, it’s just more of the same. What you want to do is to distill the essence of the idea you want to convey. That way your audience will be captivated all the way through to the end of your Vine clip.
5) Be unique. Do something no one else is doing and then do it with panache. Be funny, surprise your audience, be cooler than cool, do a loop of the most amazing second in time ever. More than anything else: dare to try something different (keeping tip #1 in mind, of course).
6) Share it like crazy. You’ve got a quality Vine clip, so why NOT share it like crazy? You’re offering something great. You want it to go viral, don’t you? You need to kick-start the wave.
