I’m reading a really creepy but really wonderful book right now. (A.K.A My favorite kind.) It’s called “The Circle” by Dave Eggers and it really captures the power and the transparency of our online world.
Things have become so real time it’s almost invasive. Things online are so share-y that it’s scary. Scary how easy it is to broadcast every minute of every day – to the entire planet.
Think about it.
There was a time that we had so many hoops to jump through to reach our friends and family. Long distance calling cost a mint per minute.
Sending photos of the kids to Grandma meant buying film, putting the film in a camera, taking the photo, bringing it to the photo developing place, waiting for it to develop, going back to pick it up, sorting the good shots from the bad ones, putting it all in an envelope, going to the post office, buying stamps, mailing it off.
Days (days!) later it finally arrives and Grandma finally gets her cute photos of her little angels.
These days? It takes minutes. Seconds!
You whip out your phone, snap a picture, share via email or text and Grandma gets instant “awwww.” All for free.
The way things are, you’d almost think we had made things as effortless – as frictionless – as they can be. I thought so too.
Until I discovered Periscope.
Now, before you completely despair and wilt at the idea of adding yet ANOTHER new platform you have to learn to your already piled-high list…don’t panic. Don’t wilt. Don’t Cringe.
Periscope is very fun to use. And extremely frictionless. You literally download the app to your phone, login using your Twitter account and you’re done. You’re all set up.
What is Periscope? In Wikipedia terms:“Periscope is a live video streaming app….When connected to Twitter, Periscope users can allow other users to see links tweeted in order to view live-stream.
Users of Periscope are able to choose whether or not to make their video public or simply viewable to certain users such as their friends or families.
Periscope allows viewers to send “hearts” to the broadcaster by tapping on the mobile screen as a form of appreciation.
Under the People tab, there will be a Most Loved List that shows the users who have received the most hearts during the real-live broadcast.
In layman’s terms it’s basically live broadcasting from your phone.
Instead of taking videos of something, saving it as a massive file and then trying to find a way to send it to your friends or posting it on Twitter, you literally hit a button and everything your phone camera can see…so can your followers.
In real time.
It’s really fascinating and fun. And so easy! If you can take a photo with your smartphone, you can broadcast live via Periscope!
Now lets talk about the why’s and how’s of successful Periscoping. Or as the kids call it, “scoping.”
The Whys:
1. Improve Trust Through Transparency:
Imagine if you could give every single potential customer a tour through your office or your warehouse. Imagine if you could ‘shake hands’ with them, tell them about your company’s history and let them poke around your workplace.
Don’t you think they’d like and trust you more? With Periscope you can do just that. It has the makings of a killer branding and conversion tool.
2. Focus Groups:
Broadcast about a topic and then invite viewers to give you their opinion. This is nothing new. It’s old-school focus grouping gone digital.
Instead of luring local folks into a conference room with the promise of free doughnuts and swag, you can lure people all over the globe to join your focus group. From their favorite bar, couch or beach! The market research potential is infinite.
3. Behind the Scenes
You don’t have to be a celebrity to pique people’s interest with “Behind the Scenes” content. If you are about to speak in front of a crowd, you can Periscope from the stage and make your followers feel like they are there.
If you are at your supplier’s warehouse shopping for parts, you can Periscope. Giving ‘non-public’ access to your public is a great way to use Periscope
4. Q&A
Days before you broadcast live on Periscope, you can alert your followers that you are actively taking questions that you will answer live at a certain date and time.
They can tweet you their questions or comment them live during the broadcast. This is a webinar-like use for Periscope. Only much fresher, more live and more interactive.
Not to mention that the Periscope app seems far less buggy than many webinar tools out there!
5. Beat the Competition
Widespread use of Periscope is only a few months old. Twitter just acquired it and tied it to people’s Twitter profiles in April 2015. So jumping on this now makes you a smart, early adopter.
Start getting your feet wet now before your competitor does and by the time he logs on, you’ll already have a load of loyal followers!
6. Hearts as Market Research
Hearts, in Periscope world, are similar to likes. During your live broadcast all a viewer has to do is tap the little heart icon to show their approval of your broadcast.
The best thing about these hearts? Unlike retweets, likes or shares… viewers can heart something more than once! Tap, tap, tap!
The Hows:
7. Be Real
The best way to broadcast on Periscope is authentically. The “live” nature of Periscope is half it’s appeal. (Otherwise people would just be watching pre-recorded YouTube videos.)
So be natural and normal and talk to the camera as if you would a good friend. Any stuttering, um’ing or ah’ing is to be expected and might actually endear your audience to you.
8. Title It Enticing
When you post a broadcast, make sure to give it an interesting, clickable name. Often, when a viewer jumps onto Periscope, no one they follow is actually broadcasting. They want to watch live video but no one they know is broadcasting.
So when they check the Global List, they can browse all live broadcasts. This is why you need to make your title or ‘headline’ enticing! Draw those casual browsers in.
9. When People Join, Greet Them
Getting people to watch and send you hearts is often dependent on how attached to you they feel.
So when you’re periscoping, make sure you greet those folks who just joined. Say “Hi there BillThrill2000, glad you are joining us!”
Answer questions that are posted! I just spent 15 minutes watching a periscope of someone walking down the streets of Paris.
Even though she had a lot of viewers when I logged on, she greeted me warmly by name and answered my questions about what I was seeing.
That made me really like her and want to follow her…so I did. Interaction with your viewers is key!
10. CTA Those Hearts and Shares
When you are broadcasting, don’t be afraid to throw out a few calls to action. Thank your viewers for watching, answer their questions, ask a few of your own. And occasionally, overtly ask for shares and hearts.
The more hearts you receive, the higher up on the “Most Loved” Periscope list you rise. So ask for them! People will be happy to throw some your way.
11. Watch Your Replays
The best way to fine tune your broadcasts is to watch them yourself. This way you will get a sense of what your viewers see. Any jumpiness, any nervous tics you didn’t know you had.
Any strange turns of phrase you use when you get anxious or are trying to segue into a new topic.
Witness them yourself, make notes on what to differently and then scope again!
How about you? Have you been Periscoping for weeks or is this the first you have heard of it? What kind of interesting business applications can you think up? Tell me in the comments.
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