Volume 6

Issue 2

February 2015

Sneaky, Sneaky

Advertisers on social media networks walk a fine line between being subtle and harassing. Many users feel overwhelmed and annoyed by the types of ads that pop up on their social media platform of choice. Facebook is one of the biggest advertising offenders, so much so that other platforms have learned from Facebook's mistakes and have explored more creative, less obtrusive, ways to generate revenue.

Vining for Attention

With smartphones becoming the device of choice, short-form advertisement mediums such as Vine are becoming widely popular. Vine--an ad-free social media video platform--invites users to share life-in-motion with creative six-second videos. Revenue-producing ad-free platforms may sound oxymoronic, but are completely achievable.

Vine was acquired by Twitter in 2012, but has come into its own in the recent past. According to Statista, there are more than 40 million registered users on Vine. Brands that have their own Vine accounts and videos include Lowes, MTV, Virgin Mobile, BELLA, and The Home Depot. These companies are not paying Vine to promote their ads. They simply upload videos and have a Vine presence. Despite the lack of paid advertising opportunity, branded Vines account for 400% more shares than branded videos, plus branded content accounts for 4% of the top 100 Vines. There are, however, other brands doing the same, plus more.

Influential Advertising

Brands such as Coca-Cola and iHeartRadio have taken to paying Vine influencers (heavily-followed, popular Vine users) to create and share Vines containing their products or branded hashtags--a new twist on product placement ads. Using Vine influencers to create native short-form content--and establishing unique strategies for distributing the advertisement--are keys to reaching mobile-driven generations. In 2014, Hewlett Packard partnered with Vine influencer Robby Ayala, who had over 3 million followers, for its HP Pavilion x360 campaign. Robby Ayala's first Vine for the campaign received more than 240,000 revines and over 13,900 comments. The Vines were later commissioned into a U.S. TV spot that ran for 5.5 weeks.

Without big brands paying Vine to advertise, you may be wondering how the company makes money. It doesn't, at least not directly. One way Vine generates revenue is with the recent Twitter acquisition of Niche, a company that brokers deals between brands and digital influencers. Big brands pay influencers to promote their brands, which Niche takes a cut of. After the deal closes, Twitter absorbs that revenue. Vine also directly links to its parent company, Twitter (which is not an ad-free platform) through user tweets. Statista reports that five Vines are tweeted every second.

Branded Vines have become such a widely used form of advertising that companies geared toward providing micro-content ideas, native videos, and engagement analytics have begun sprouting up to assist companies looking to capture their target audience in six seconds or less.

Advertising on ad-free platforms is an achievable concept that brands, both established and small, can use to engage their ever-growing digital audience. With some creativity, ad-free platforms can help companies turn a profit and grow, without offending their audience's fragility.

Sincerely,

Mona Graham
The Monogram Oak Leaf
Monogram Communication Services

798 University Avenue

Sacramento, CA 95825
Phone: 916.922.0930
Fax: 916.922.0929

www.monogramcommunications.com

In 2015, we want to help you get the most from your marketing budget. Call us today to learn how we can take away the pain that often comes with creating brilliant solutions.

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