One of the most important jobs we have as marketers is to find a way to be the best answer for our customers, when and where they are looking. With so many new platforms to test on a consistent basis, it can be hard to move through the clutter and find ways to connect that will better engage your target audience.
Social media platforms provide new opportunities to resonate with your customers. Each time a new social media platform launches, there are the early adopters that explore how the platform works, test to see if it’s stable and then figure out how it can best be leveraged.
One of the biggest platform launches of 2015 was the live video streaming app, Periscope. As of August 2015, Periscope had a total of 10 million users, with over 40 years’ worth of video viewed every day.
A number of people have already jumped on board, using Periscope for trainings and video casts. But how can marketers use apps like Periscope to better communicate with their audience?
Leveraging Periscope for Marketing
Demonstrations: Show how a particular product can be used. Discovery the different uses, options, upgrades and attachments. Engage your audience by allowing them to interact and ask questions so that you can provide value and gather insights that you may not otherwise have access to.
Interviews: Interview current users your products or services. Ask how have they benefited from its use and how it’s changed their life? This could include people from the research and development group, the owners of the company or the team that developed the product or service.
Live events: Promotional events of the product or service. An example might be a trade show where the featured product or service is being displayed. Additionally, you could include challenges that include customers that use the product, and have them develop new ways to use it or how to use it best.
7 Steps for Incorporating Periscope Into Your Marketing
Step 1: Create an image/announcement that talks about your what you will be presenting on, (1 single Periscope video) and then post it on your social channels so that your audience knows that you have a Periscope account, where to find it, and when you’ll be going “live”.
Step 2: Do an off-camera walk-thru of what you hope to accomplish and cover during the scope.
Step 3: Create an outline of what will be covered or said during your video.
Step 4: Use a stand or have someone with a steady hand hold the camera while broadcasting the scope. (Vertical scopes are the standard, but landscape scopes are now an option when broadcasting)
Step 5: When titling the scope, be sure to incorporate Twitter handles and/or hashtags if deemed appropriate.
Step 6: Let the audience know that they’re free to ask questions during the scope or if there will be time made available at the end of the scope for a Q&A session.
Step 7: After the “live” broadcast has been completed, consider saving it to your device and uploading it to YouTube channel or some other video sharing platform for future and repeated use.
Companies Already Utilizing Periscope
Some companies that have already have jumped into the Periscope “stream” and are incorporating it into their digital marketing mix. Below are examples of companies that have created a consistent Periscope presence:
- Applebee’s
- Dell
- Lays
- Life Time Fitness
- Macy’s
- Mayo Clinic
- Sleep Number
- Urban Outfitters
Preparation and practice won’t create perfection, but it will create progress. The more scopes that you do, the better that you and your company will be in creating and producing videos via Periscope. Try it, and join the next form of social media, live streaming.
If you’ve already tested Periscope for your company, what did you find to be the benefits and challenges?
Disclaimer: Dell is a TopRank Marketing Client
Image via Shutterstock
