Twitter’s live video streaming service Periscope claims to offer the nearest thing to teleportation. I’m not so sure about that, although I did feel a little wobbly (probably nerves) when I made my first live broadcast earlier in the week.
Now, I’m going out on a limb here. I believe Twitter was the most important to happen to the Internet since Google saved us from the web’s banner-littered, spam-filled, first generation of search engines. It brought the web into the real-time environment (no more waiting for spiders to crawl our sites before our content found an audience) and also helped bridge the gap between the desktop and mobile environments.
I believe Periscope could be the next big thing. It has the potential to completely change the way we think of broadcasting. Broadcasting is no longer a one-way communication channel. Individuals and corporations now have the ability to connect and engage with their audience directly.
Periscope, like many other social media channels, gives marketers the opportunity to build real relationships with their clients and prospects. As marketers, we should never underestimate how important this is because we can only effectively market to our target audience if we understand their needs and desires.
Video – But Not As We Know It
Periscope is not like other online video services like YouTube. It is largely consumed in the live environment, meaning that once started there is very little that can get in the way of a broadcast. Once shot, there is no editing and no (often vanity induced) opportunity not to upload. This is the main reason why I love it so much. I’ll waste countless hours wondering if a YouTube video is good enough to publish, whereas Periscope doesn’t give you the option to be overly critical of your efforts. As long as you have a valid subject and an engaged audience – you’ll pretty much always be good to go.
Note: Too many marketers delay content-led strategies because they want to deliver the perfect blog post, whitepaper or YouTube video. Sadly, because perfection is rarely attainable, projects are delayed and, often, abandoned. In content marketing, good enough is good enough. Let’s just get on with it.
Instant Feedback
Because Periscope is live, feedback is almost instantaneous. Therefore, it’s a great environment to test ideas for your content-led marketing strategies (including your email marketing). Get lots of “likes” delivered in the form of multi-colored hearts and you might just have a great idea. Lose viewers quickly and you might just have picked a lemon of a subject.
Investing just a couple of minutes via a Periscope broadcast to understand what resonates with your audience will save you hours of wasted time when it comes to creating more engaging, relevant and timely campaigns.
If you’re really stuck for ideas, you can even ask your audience what they want to see and hear.
Periscopes Limitations
As a social environment, Periscope is perhaps not the best place to actively sell from but if your keep your audience entertained, informed and use your broadcasts to build your position as a thought leader and you will drive engagement on your website which will create opportunities to build out your email lists (the perfect sales environment).
Are you using Periscope to engage your audience? Share your tips for live broadcasting below:
This abridged post first appeared on the iContact Email Marketing Blog.
photo credit: brefoto
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Is Periscope The Next Big Thing In Social Media?
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