There is no denying it; the world of Social Media is changing. A few years ago Social Media barely even figured in a typical marketing plan. It all changed with the emergence of Facebook, Twitter, and some of the original Social Media sites whose names most of us are too young to remember. Now we are trying to get as much bang for our buck as possible; generic followers are no longer sufficient, we want good, valued connections and to build mutually beneficial relationships through the creation and maintenance of good Social Media profiles.

Take a look at Google+, a small player for a while that looks set to become dominant in Social Media over the next year or two. Bring on snapchat, an opportunity to “chat” via video, text, photos and drawings, with the added twist that the messages (known as “snaps”) are deleted after a specified period of time (from 1-10 seconds, according to the users’ preference).  Spontaneous, fun and relatively “safe”, this application reportedly allows people of all ages (over 13 years) to express themselves without the risk of images or messages coming back to bite them…. This would explain why over 400 million snaps are reported to be sent every day, compared to Facebook’s 350 million and instagram’s comparatively paltry 55 million.

But What Was 2013’s Fastest Growing Social Media App?

Social Media is on the up. With the key platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, Skype and  Facebook Messenger showing growth rates between 107 and 115% between the first and third quarters of 2013, and imaging apps WhatsApp, Instagram and flickr clocking up 123-146% increases, Social Media is setting the scene for 2014.

It looks like images are where the apps were at for 2013 as well as where they are going in 2014, so it is no surprise that the fastest growing app for 2013 was Vine, Twitter’s video platform, which celebrates the first birthday of its launch today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VINE!

Named for the word vignette, defined as “a brief evocative description, account, or episode”, or a portrait, Vine is an app available on iOS or Android that allows users to post videos of up to 6 seconds in length. The app stands out for two primary reasons: the sound is defaulted to mute (so refreshing if you are sick of music or soundtracks suddenly blaring out of your computer uninvited), and the short video plays continually on a loop.

Claiming that the 6 second time constraint encourages imagination, just like the 140 twitter limit, Vine is being credited with the re-emergence of stop motion photography. One thing is for sure: just as Social Media has evolved with us, and we have evolved with Social Media, Vine is likely to become a key player in branding and raising Social Media profiles, giving users the opportunity to raise brand awareness through the creation of shareable content.

Vine gives you just 6 seconds (on a loop). So, for funny dads and cute kids, for major corporations and big brands, Vine could give users the opportunity to reach a large audience, provided you can get your message across in the allotted time. This can be a challenge for brands for corporations and less visual brands, which is where your digital marketing company comes in.

With access to some great creative minds and our outstanding Social Media prowess, the Bravr team are well positioned to create Social Media campaigns that really hit the mark. We pride ourselves in staying ahead of the game, which makes us the digital marketing company for building brands and creating a distinguished online presence throughout all Social Media platforms.