By Japs Buidon
Many marketers are now leveraging Periscope, a live streaming video app by Twitter, into their social media marketing efforts. Learn why should too.
It’s no surprise as to why marketers are now tapping Periscope as a part of their marketing efforts. Periscope allows real-time, authentic, and more personal connections between different brands and consumers. This popular and engaging live streaming app can help you build your online following by marketing your brand without the “salesy” vibe.
About the Periscope App
Over a year ago, Twitter’s live streaming app, Periscope, was officially launched. This app allows the sharing of live video broadcasts from all parts of the world. “Going anywhere in the world is as simple as changing the channel,” says Tyler Hansen, a designer at Periscope.
Unlike its similar live streaming app, Meerkat, Periscope saves the live broadcasts once finished and allows anyone to view them again for up to 24 hours. With Meerkat, the video is gone once the live broadcast has ended. Periscope really is a game-changer in live streaming.
To broadcast through the Periscope app, you simply need to download the app from the App Store or Google Play, create a Twitter account, and start shooting live stream videos with your smartphone. Whether big or small, your brand can greatly benefit from Periscope.
The Periscope Difference
“Giving opens the way for receiving,” says Florence Scovel Shinn, an American artist, and writer. To make it big in Periscope marketing, you need to produce content and videos that are of great value to your audience. From there, all the benefits to your brand such as traffic, engagement, conversions, sales, etc. will naturally and eventually follow.
With Periscope’s live streaming feature, you can launch an interactive customer service, show product demonstrations, share news and updates, host interviews, connect with industry leaders, monitor competitors, appeal to a global audience, and more. But, in leveraging Periscope, the goal must be to determine what you can give your audience.
Periscope Marketing Tips
Like leveraging any other social media platform, you need to plan and strategize your marketing efforts to save time and resources, and succeed. With that, here are awesome hacks to give your audience valuable content and make the most out of your Periscope marketing campaign efforts:
- Get to know your audience. The first thing to do to give your audience valuable content is to get to know them – their interests, their needs, their issues, their online activity, etc. Get to know your current followers in your other social media profiles, and from there, create different buyer personas.
Take Spotify’s strategy for example; they determined the artists their audience admire the most and featured them on a live interview or exclusive BTS footages. These drove a huge traffic to their Periscope profile.
- Develop a broadcast plan. Think about the topics that would catch your followers’ interests the most. Your Periscope broadcasts should be well-thought of to assure that they’ll add value to your viewers. You also have to think of creative and must-watch headlines for your broadcasts.
Developing a broadcast plan won’t only save you from senseless broadcasts and annoyed viewers, it will also help you plan out your promotions ahead and fulfill your broadcast objectives and schedule better.
- Promote your broadcasts. Because Periscope broadcasts are short-lived and can only be replayed up to 24 hours, you need to announce and promote your broadcast schedules ahead of time. This way, you’ll drive a greater turnout of viewers. You can use all your social media platforms for this.
Periscope broadcasts now come alive within Twitter https://t.co/R346R1lgZb
— Periscope (@periscopeco) January 12, 2016
To announce your broadcast, you can say for example, “On Saturday at 3 PM, J.K. Rowling will be on Periscope to discuss fiction and novel writing. Save the date! The link will be posted once we go live.”
- Encourage viewers to participate. Make your audience feel their participation is much needed and appreciated. Include them in decision-making processes such as offering product choices they can vote on, etc. This can keep them invested in your brand which often leads to customer loyalty.
Another way to encourage the participation of your audience is through mini contests, for example. This strategy will attract them to comment, tag others, and share the live event for an opportunity to win prizes.
- Produce exclusive content. Exclusivity makes people feel special. So, to establish the loyalty of your viewers, give them exclusive content that can’t be found anywhere else. Broadcast exclusive news, events, footages, product demos, etc. that can only be seen through your Periscope account.
If you’re into the fashion industry, exclusive backstage live stream broadcasts of the most anticipated fashion shows can greatly appeal to your viewers; especially to ladies, like us. This can attract a huge audience.
- Show exclusive BTS videos. People are naturally drawn to other human beings. So, to build stronger and longer-lasting relationships with your viewers and followers, you need to humanize your brand by giving them an inside look into your business through raw and exclusive behind-the-scene videos.
Set broadcasts where you walk your viewers through the mundane things that happen inside your company on a usual day. BTS footages help build trust, transparency, and a more personal link with them.
- Facilitate live Q&A sessions. Choose the right ambassador or spokesperson for your brand for live Q&A sessions. Think of useful topics that can give your viewers great value. You can also ask them what topics they want to discuss early on. Q&A sessions will open up real-time communication.
In doing live Q&A sessions, do not forget to acknowledge the name of those asking questions. Give them a shout-out to give them a feeling of connection and make them watch your other broadcasts.
- Follow other Periscope users. The “follow back” approach can work if you follow other Periscope users that are of the same industry or those relevant to your brand. They are most likely to follow you back when you follow their accounts. Create your list of Periscope users to follow and connect with.
More than merely following their Periscope accounts, start watching and commenting on their broadcasts too. If you do that, you won’t only get their attention; their followers may also notice and follow you as well.
- Partner with other industry experts. Look for other industry experts you can reach out and build relationships with. Partner with them in a co-branded broadcast to both introduce your brands to a different set of audience. Co-branding and collaborations with other experts can benefit both parties.
Let’s say you’re into the pet shop industry, you can collaborate with other animal experts that already have an established audience such as veterinarians, celebrity animal lovers, animal welfare advocates, etc.
- Analyze the “hearts” and numbers. To measure the success of your broadcasts, review the numbers that specific broadcast reeled into your account. These numbers include the number of tuned in viewers, volume of comments, number of “hearts”, and viewer retention rate. Be realistic with your metrics.
More than measuring the success of your live broadcasts, analyzing the numbers can help you determine what needs to be improved and applied on your next broadcasts. It can be a change of airing, strategy, etc.
Try Periscope out and explore the many benefits it can bring your social media marketing efforts. Don’t shy away from experimenting and learning new technologies. Consider the above Periscope marketing tips and hacks to build your brand better, establish more personal relationships with your followers, and convert them to long-term customers.
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Japs Buidon is a Social Media Specialist and SEO from http://alwaysopencommerce.com/ . He loves hiking as well as electronics.
