Instagram Video vs Vine: Which Mobile Video App to Use?

Image via Techcrunch.

Shortly after Twitter launched their mobile video service Vine, Instagram introduced their Instagram Video.  While clients often ask me what is better, if they should use one, the other, or both, the answer, in short, could be: depends.  It all depends on what you want to achieve, what kind of short videos are you (or your social media manager) able to do, and on the social media strategy that you already have in place.

Here are some of the differentiators between both, Instagram Video and Vine, which might help you decide on which video app functionality to use:

Image source: Techcrunch. Since they published the article Instagram enabled video embed and importing functionality, that’s why we corrected it with YES.

What I like about Instagram is that with 15 seconds you can create slightly longer videos, that you can add filters (although I realized that I hardly use them) and that you can import the video from your phone stream (it doesn’t have to be taken at the moment).

I think importing videos functionality has its pros and cons.  I like the importing function because sometimes it just feels better / easier to record the video with your phone’s camera.  I often take videos at the ocean and with the wind blowing too hard, the beautiful scenery becomes difficult to watch with the scratching sound of the wind – in such cases I find it useful to be able to correct the sound on my computer, and then upload to Instagram.  It would be very useful if Instagram adds a sound editor function as well.  On this point I like Viddy and Videolicious apps where you can add music to your videos from the app itself. With importing video functionality I wouldn’t like to see on my Instagram feed a flood of videos done professionally, and then uploaded to Instagram.

What I like about Vine best is its looping functionality, which can turn a 6 sec video into an endless stream of let’s say waves at the beach, sunset, fashion defile and so on. I also like it because of the creativity it encourages.  Many brands have embraced Vine with stunning, creative and fun videos, which I believe brings them closer to a new audience.

For example, Burberry, a 156 year old global fashion brand, has fully embraced Vine as part of its social media strategy, using the platform to showcase the runway show from AW13 London Fashion Week show:

LA76 Strategic Design’s Creative Director @MADianito has Vine as well, and I love how creative and fun is this post:

Which mobile video app are you using, Instagram or Vine? How do you use it? Which functionalities you like best? I look forward to hearing your comments or questions below.