There is a new live streaming app on the market, and it’s called Periscope. Bagging a million users in its first 10 days, Twitter purchased the app in February - before it had even launched, for a rumoured sum of just under $100 million. So Twitter have put their faith in it, but what is Periscope and how can we use it for our business?
Like YouTube and UStream before it, the app records your movements and broadcasts it live to your followers. Nothing new there then, but why are we loving it so much?
Well, to start with, you are able to record using your phone making it incredibly accessible from wherever you are, as long as you have 3G coverage. Are you attending a lecture which colleagues couldn’t make? Periscope it to them back in the office. Are you visiting a site which needs input from partners over the country? Periscope it to them. Are you wanting to get feedback for a new product that is under construction? Periscope it.
At the moment there aren’t a lot of businesses using the app but when logging on you are indundated with individuals across the globe allowing you an insider view to their world. Periscope say ‘what if you could see through the eyes of a protester in Ukraine? Or watch the sunrise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia? It may sound crazy, but we wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation.’
Few celebrities are using the app too, allowing their followers to have a backstage VIP pass to their movements and giving people a real voyeuristic view to their life.
You can interact whilst the stream is live, by ‘liking’ which involves tapping the screen to release hearts, or you can comment on the video. This allows further interaction, giving the filmer the opportunity to hear first-hand the opinions of those watching the stream.
We can’t help but think that this could prove tricky at times, but you have the opportunity to block followers if you receive any abuse online.
We’ve written before about the potential of video and vlogging for your business, with the statistics indicating that by 2017, 74% of all internet traffic will be video, so how can we take advantage of this by using Periscope for our business? Here are our top 5 reasons…
Professional How-To’s
Expert in your field? Why not offer some live how-to’s on Periscope? It is the main reason that YouTube is the 2nd biggest search engine, but you can answer questions at the same time, live! Which of course, YouTube can’t do.
Q&A’s
You may want to film live Q&A’s with staff members, directors or customers & clients. Or even open it up to a weekly session so people know when to tune in to ask their questions.
Focus Groups
Do you want to ask your existing clients or potential customers what you are doing right (or wrong!) with your business? At Cosmic we recently held some great focus groups, but periscope could really open it up for those who couldn’t make the session. Invaluable!
Behind the Scenes
We are always telling our clients to show their customers behind the scenes on social media – your followers are interested in your background story, and this could possibly be the best way of getting people engaged with your business story.
Support
Do you find you get the same question all the time? Why not live stream the support query to your customers? You can advertise the fact you are doing a live support session and you can answer multiple questions in one go!
There are also other numerous ways of promoting your business through Periscope including live demos and flash sales just to name a couple – but the main attraction is the immediate engagement with your customers and clients.
Why not give it a go and let us know how you get on?