Vine, Twitter’s app that allows you to create six-second videos, launched a couple of weeks ago with mixed emotions. From being called “the next generation of Instagram” to “a major time suck,” strategy for businesses emerges from the chatter.

Until you download the app, you’re assumptions are probably the same as mine – a straight 6-second video, but it’s not exactly like that. The end result is a 6-second video, but you have the ability to shoot different scenes—to make it more artistic, I suppose.

Last Tuesday, Jay Baer showed us his seaweed eating experiment:

My experiment with chipotle seaweed… vine.co/v/bJtdA2jrhO7

— Jay Baer (@jaybaer) January 29, 2013

I asked why he was eating seaweed in his bathroom – maybe shooting Vine in the bathroom is equivalent to mirror pics on MySpace.

I took my nail polish off then painted my nails. You should check it out, it’s really exciting. (@ChelseaRhane)

I’ve come up with 5 Ways Brands can use Vine to Excite Customers and, our favorite, advocates.

Behind the Scenes Access

Take your customers behind the scenes of your test kitchen, product development lab, or even the entrance of your corporate headquarters.

Sneak Peeks

Whether you’re launching a new product or putting together a conference, your customers (advocates, especially) enjoy seeing things from your brand that not everyone has access to.

Mini Series

Create a regular mini series highlighting awesome employees, product features, or something exciting about your brand that the average Joe wouldn’t typically see.

Product Promotion

Plain and simple—we all want a way to promote our products, why not do it in a quick and creative way. Hotels can showcase different rooms, while restaurants can feature new menu items. Do you have a digital product? Show how easy it is to use.

Encourage Customers to Showcase Your Products

Gone are the days of Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest contents, okay not really, but add Vine into the mix. Your customers (specifically Advocates) are your best word of mouth content generators. Enourage, even without a contest, your fans to share why they love your product or service—some may be doing it already (hello, previously mentioned nail polish).

Brand Advocates are already talking about you, and they are going to be talking about you on Vine, probably making really creative clips that you can share with your fans. If you’re not sure where to start, or how big you want to go – test it with your Brand Advocates, first, they know you the best and aren’t afraid to give their input.

Have you been using Vine? Do you have a strategy? Let me know  below, I’d love to connect with you 

Date: Tues, Dec 11, 2012  |  Time: 11 AM PST/ 2 PM EST  |  Hashtag: #BrandAdvocates

To register, click the orange “Attend” button in the player below.

You have a secret content marketing weapon: Brand Advocates. As your most loyal, engaged, and enthusiastic customers, they’ll gladly create positive reviews, glowing testimonials, and more. Unlike your high paid agency or in-house copywriter, you don’t have to pay them thousands or hundreds of thousands or dollars to create compelling content. Simply make it easy for Advocates and they will happily create fantastic and authentic content. Intrigued?

Register for the webinar and learn how to:

• Identify Brand Advocates via social, digital, and mobile channels
• Turn Advocates into content creators
• Amplify and leverage Advocate content
• Track advocacy content results and optimize

Expert Speaker: Rob Fuggetta (@robfuggetta), Founder/CEO, Zuberance and author of Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers into a Powerful Marketing Force (Wiley, 2012)

Rob Fuggetta is the world’s leading expert on brand advocacy. Fuggetta is the author of the ground-breaking new book, “Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers into a Powerful Marketing Force.” Published by John H. Wiley & Sons, Inc., a major business publisher, Brand Advocates shows how companies are leveraging Brand Advocates to build their brands and businesses – and how you can too! Fuggetta is the Founder & CEO of Zuberance, a social media marketing company that powers Brand Advocate programs for top consumer and business brands. Prior to founding Zuberance in 2008, Fuggetta was the Chief Marketing Officer at Genuity, a Verizon spin-out. He also was formerly a partner at Regis McKenna, Inc., the legendary high tech marketing and communications firm in Palo Alto, where he co-led the global Apple account.

We’ve heard it all before: The customer is always right.  A satisfied customer is a loyal customer. Customer, customer, customer.  But, it’s true, the customer is the heart of any business; and in today’s super-competitive business economy few things are as crucial to a company’s bottom line as pleasing its customers.  Which is why, according to an article by eMarketer.com, 64% of marketers are planning on using their budgets to improve customer segmentation and targeting.  In order to effectively promote your product or service, drive sales, and increase the NPV of each customer, you need to segment your market and subsequently target them with appropriate messaging.

Enter, Social Media?  According to a Harvard Business Review survey, 50% of respondents said that Social Media has “increased awareness of our organization, products, or services among target customers”.  The next slide says that 55% “use social media to monitor trends among [their] customers”.  What is confusing here is that the eMarketer survey presents only 2% of respondents allocating budgets towards Social Media and Word of Mouth channels in order to generate leads and promote their organization.

Word of Mouth is the #1 influencer of purchase decisions. So the statistic from eMarketer that 7% of those surveyed will be spending money on radio is staggering to me.

Marketers should focus on leveraging Social Media more than other marketing channels that are presumed “dead” or dying.  Meet the customer where they are, and where they are going to recommend you – which is on all the major social networks, the 3^rd party review sites, and the blogs and/or forums associated with your industry / products or service.  Social Media tools are becoming more and more prevalent, relevant, easy to use and measureable.  Generate, engage and monitor your customers through these modern means – and save money while you’re at it.

-Lucy Arnold, Marketing Intern, Zuberance