6 Reasons Why Periscope is Truly Revolutionary for Modern Marketing
With 10 million users in just 6 months, Periscope is here to stay, as is the ever-present trend of real time marketing. Plus, Eddy Cue, Senior VP of Software & Services of Apple, recently called Periscope truly revolutionary. After all, the founders wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation.
Periscope is a live streaming app that converts your phone into a television show, literally. It gives users the individual attention with a broadcaster, even if there are others tuning in to the video. Applebee’s, Harley Davidson, BMW, Zappos and Royal Caribbean are just a handful of disparate companies and industries cashing in on the live stream trend to engage and grow their audiences. Live streaming has consequently created loyal followings that neither television networks nor brands can create as successfully.
Here are 6 reasons why it is key for you to jump on the growing trend. And how its consumption can help in content and digital marketing.
Getting Up Close and Personal
Social media made branding and advertising a two way street, allowing interactions with audiences (Twitter), communities (Facebook) and co-creation (Pinterest). While blogs are the closest to spreading great ideas, Periscope takes all this a step further. Each scope is a live stream of daily activity, be it in your brand’s office, or most commonly used, at a relevant event. A brand thus elevates beyond personification and becomes a real person. Loyal followers and scope watchers can watch and interact live, adding authenticity to a classic “About” section on a random website.
Raw and Authentic Content
After the advertising industry has been slapped with many cases of over photoshopping and fabricating and consequently selling an overly aspirational reality, the raw authenticity of a brand is much desired. Live mobile video offers raw visuals, not brushed up ones, making them relatable to those who may be customers or end users of products and services. As Jay Manuel, creative director for America’s Next Top Model said, “Live streaming seems to seamlessly bridge the gap between TV and social media. Having the opportunity to communicate with viewers in real time changes the game.”
Live Interaction, Finally
Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram are everyone’s breakfast and lunch for inhaling and promoting content. With the ability to reply or retweet or regram, it almost feels live. But Periscope puts it live in your face, as you are able to respond to comments live. In real time, watchers can comment and like your scope. The engagement level is also visible to other users, live. Acknowledging and responding in real time is key for brands, putting pressure on the quality and nature of the scope.
Accurately Covering Live Events
Amidst the uses of Periscope as a Q&A type discussion, office hours for versatile needs and behind the scenes coverage, the notion of live lends itself best to events. Day after coverage by magazines and the likes is so 2006. Now, customers want to know conference keynote takeaways live. They want to see the Victoria Secret Fashion show with you. They want to know watch a Michelin star restaurant creating its dish live. The appetite for real time has resulted in engaging audiences, especially around events. See why Periscope was called the ‘it app’ for Fashion Week. Whether you are actively involved in, simply attending, or even mildly attracted to the content of an event, scope it to your followers. Your ROI metrics will thank you.
The Modern Day Headline
Remember the age of newspapers when the headline was everything? Almost as a vintage callback, the title of the Periscope is one that merits more undivided attention than a Facebook caption or a tweet. The title is the only thing that separates Featured and Recent streams and encourages watching the broadcast for up to 24 hours. Keeping it either factual like Microsoft’s Surface 3 launch, exclusive like backstage show access at New York Fashion Week, or informative in a Guy Kawasaki kind of way, are all dependent on your audience.
Repurposing Valuable Content
While some may say content marketing transitioned to digital to influencer, it still really is about the content produced. With Periscope, pushing a scope onto twitter is key, keeping it live for 24 hours. Downloading the scope and repurposing it will ensure you get the most ROI from it. Uploading it onto YouTube, exchanging it for a blog post, or keeping track of questions and feedback in rectifying a product are a handful of simple follow-ups. On the latter note, a video plus blog post are nothing short of a podcast or online tutorial, which can magnify your cross channel, and hopefully promise a successful email marketing database to follow.
