How To Use Vine For Nonprofit Storytelling

We’ve talked about the importance of storytelling and how to do it using things like news cycles, social media, and even Periscope and Meerkat. So now let’s add another tool to your content toolbox. Let’s talk about Vine.

What Is Vine?

At its simplest Vine is a video-sharing app. But to understand what it does and how it works, don’t picture minute-long sweeping videos or even live streaming conversations. Picture animated gifs. Because Vine is designed to share very short stories—no longer than 6 seconds.

Your six seconds of video or images stitched together will then play on a loop. It is important to note that Vine videos cannot be edited. They are shot and then uploaded on the spot.

The short length and the looping nature make Vine ideal for quick little snippets, short and easily summarized stories, or fast expressions of messaging.

Is Vine Right For You?

As with all new forms of media, the first step to thinking about Vine is to determine if it is right for you, your cause, your goals, and your audiences. To determine if Vine might be another channel to send your content through, think about these questions:

• Do you have a short story to tell with a clear beginning, middle, and end?
• Do you have a longer story that can be usefully broken into smaller (6 second) snippets?
• Is your story highly visual and/or can you tell it in a visual way?
• Is Vine’s looping feature useful to the telling of your story?
• Do you have multiple stories to tell that lend themselves to this short and looping nature?
• Are you comfortable with not being able to edit your video prior to uploading?

Vine won’t be for everyone but many individuals, nonprofits, and brands are finding success with using it as another way to tell a story and communicate about their brand and their work.

If you think Vine might be for you, here’s how to get started.

1. Gather Ideas

Start by gathering ideas of which story you want to tell. Here are some that have become pretty popular with brands on Vine:

• Show how you work
• Share your culture
• Give tutorials about your expertise
• Give behind the scenes views of your work

Once you know your story, think about clever or creative ways to present it. From stop-motion animation to simulating a physical flip book to live action, the sky is the limit when it comes to creating something on Vine. And because the video will be so short, more involved set ups don’t feel quite as overwhelming as they might for a longer video.

2. Craft A Plan

Just like with Periscope and Meerkat, the lack of editing ability just means more time should be spent planning. Before even opening your Vine app, plot out your story. It may help to create an outline or even a quick storyboard of the sequence. This may seem like over-planning for six seconds of footage but the better you figure things out before you begin rolling, the more seamless the experience will be for both you and your users. At a minimum, plot out the following:

• What story are you telling?
• What materials do you need to tell the story?
• What are the basic scenes?
• Where will your loop begin and where will it end? And how do the two relate?

Once you’ve plotted out a plan, do a trial run or two to make sure that everything is fitting into place.

3. Be Creative

The good news is that you only have six seconds to fill. The bad news is that you only have six seconds to capture attention and gain hold in your supporters’ memories.

Think of Vine as a way to reach people you may not have reached with more traditional media. As long as you are staying true to your brand and cause, experimenting with the possibilities in Vine can help you reach new audiences and find new and interesting ways to tell your story.

For a little inspiration, check out what some brands have done on Vine, and specifically look at how Dove has used it to support its #beautyis campaign.

4. Open The App, Get Started, And Keep Going

Once you have your plan in place and you’re ready to go, open the app and begin filming. The app will walk you through how to create your Vine and you’ll be on your way. Take a moment to celebrate your first creation but don’t forget about Vine after your first one. Like any channel, this one will serve you best if you keep it updated with fresh content to keep your story going.