Social media has given the average Joe something that was once reserved for only the most notorious and infamous among us; a following. Of course, at the same time, social media has created plenty of trapdoors for our much-cultivated "following" to fall through. Vine used to be a perfect example.
We say "used to be" because, until recently, no one could share a direct link to their profile with anyone else on the site. As of December 20, 2013, that all changed. The site now reserves Vine profile URLs for registered Twitter users. Welcome to the web, Vine.
How Do I Get A Vine Customer URL?
The story doesn't end there. Even if you were among the first adopters of a Vine URL by default, you still have to logon to the website to claim it. We should warn you, the mad dash for a customized version of the default reserve has already begun.
What's the motivation behind the rat race? Whether automatically reserved or individually customized; a Vine URL is unchangeable. That's right; once you set it, you can forget about ever resetting it; at least for now. Vine opened the floodgates In December, allowing unverified users to create their own, one-of-a-kind URLs. It will appear as vine.co/(username).
Are the wheels in your marketing department turning yet? It boils down to this: don't miss the opportunity to claim your brand identity. If you want your company name or brand identity to be easily traceable on both twitter and Vine, you need to register your URL before someone else claims it.
What Do I Need To Do To Register My Vine URL
If you're among the unverified Twitter users, there are two ways you can claim a potentially beneficial URL:
1. Become a registered Twitter user today and put your URL on hold.
2. Develop a custom vanity URL and claim it as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may fall victim to the free-for-all and end up trying to work with whatever handle you happen to grab first.
All in all, this is the very strong marketing strategy.
So, put some thought into it and when you're ready to make it official, log onto your Vine account and you will be automatically redirected to the URL registration page. Follow the simple instructions and, just like that, consider your claim staked.
There are different schools of thought on why businesses should claim a marketing tool when its value has yet to be defined or proven. Some businesses need luxury of time to strategize, others simply want the URL so someone else can’t have it. The front runners will already have campaigns in the works. Our advice: register it now just in case you need it later.
Questions and Final Thoughts
Have you used Vine in your business’s online marketing strategy?
