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Albert Im, marketing manager for Mama Fu’s Asian House

Because Vine features audio as well as moving pictures, capturing six seconds of music or narration can be a challenge, said Im. “The stop-and-go nature of Vine recording is definitely something to work around,” he said. “I found that what worked for me was to find a song that was fairly non-descript — a song that doesn't have too recognizable of a melody, that way when the recording stops and starts it isn't too jarring. Plus, the stop times between ‘takes’ were fairly short in this case, which helped make the audio relatively coherent.”

Im said he views the Vine snippets as a way to share Mama Fu’s moments with a social-media-savvy audience “in the same way that many moviegoers look forward to the trailers before the film. These days, fans are much more willing to watch quick video bites than commit to a five-minute-or-longer production, which is exactly what Vine delivers every time.”   

Im’s tips for restaurants that want to use Vine are:

• Embrace brevity. “Think about what makes the short, tap-and-record platform unique and approach it as a new creative challenge,” Im said.

• Get straight to the point. That means, Im said, leaving “just enough out to intrigue the viewer.”

• Remember Vine is social media. “The same rules of engagement apply here,” Im recommended. “Watch other people's videos, comment on them and make friends. You'll learn a lot about your audience and find great inspiration for Vine posts in the future.”

Watch a Vine video from Mama Fu's:



Victoria Shparber, co-owner of Black Forest Deli

Shparber features a wide number of guests and her cooking mother in the deli’s Vine videos, which she said helps the neighborhood restaurant connect with its customers.

“It doesn’t always have to be about business,” she wrote in an email to Nation's Restaurant News. When the videos play over and over again in a loop, it can in itself be amusing, she added.

Shparber also suggested engaging Vine users by asking questions. “For example,” she said, “I made a sloppy Joe sandwich on a special today, and I can ask, 'Have you ever had one of these?'”

Watch a Vine video from Black Forest Deli:



Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter or Vine: @RonRuggless