Periscope: What You Need to Know About the Newest Platform

Social media marketers should pay attention to Periscope, the newest and most interesting social media platform.

Periscope is a live video streaming platform, allowing users to record videos and broadcast them anywhere and in real-time. Definitely one of the missing aspects of social media, Periscope has broken barriers by letting you do a lot more than video-conferencing with a single person or a small group of people. With Periscope, you can finally broadcast to the masses with a single click.

On its first ten days alone, a million users joined the new social media platform. The demographics appears to be mixed, with different genders, ages, and social backgrounds all coming together to try out what Periscope has to offer.

This, it seems, makes it a powerful marketing tool, with the potential to make your message known to its continuously growing band of users.

Getting Started with Periscope

Signing up can be done in two different ways:

• Linking it to your Twitter account
• Create an account using your mobile number

Marketing tip – Use your Twitter credentials, as this would give you the option to share your posts on Twitter as well. This way, you promote to both your Periscope AND your Twitter followers.

Once you’ve fixed up your profile, its time to learn the lingo. Remember that each social media platform has its own culture, something that’s applicable to this new channel as well.

Here are a few terms to remember:

Scope – To broadcast a session live. It uses the same principle as a ‘tweet’ or a ‘post’.

Scoper – A Periscope user.

Hearts – It’s the same thing as the ‘like’ button on Facebook or the ‘favorite’ button on Twitter.

Follow – It’s the same concept as following a Facebook page or user, or a Twitter user.

Replay – Allows the video being broadcasted live to be recorded so that other Scopers can replay the broadcast later on.

Once you’ve blended in with the crowd and are 100% sure that you’re ready, you can start broadcasting your first Scope live to your waiting audience.

Every Marketer’s Dream

Would you believe that Scopers broadcasting live feeds of them walking their dog and doing other mundane things actually get hearts on a regular basis? So just imagine what kind of response you’ll be getting if you were to post something more meaningful and substantial, something that markets your product or brand.

Here are a few ways for you to make the most out of Periscope in terms of marketing:

Showcase and demonstrate new products.

Have audiences see exactly how to use your new product by broadcasting a live product demo the moment you launch it. You can even make it interactive and have your followers ask questions and field comments as the demo goes on.

Share relevant news.

Let your audiences find out exactly what’s happening the moment it happens. Periscope can be your very own news channel, something you can use to deliver breaking news to your followers. It could be about a movement in the company, or an exciting new product that you’re about to release.

Connect with influencers in your field.

Follow all the influencers in your field and never miss out on any of their broadcasts. Use these broadcasts as a chance to make your presence known. Don’t just stay quiet and observe from a corner. Ask insightful questions and make sure you are remembered.

Make a personal connection with audiences.

It doesn’t have to be about the products all the time. Show your audience what the brand you’re representing is all about. You can take them around the office for example, or show them around your work area. Share a little bit of yourself with every post. You can see people connecting on Periscope with their audiences by showing them what’s inside their home or office. This builds a certain connection between marketer and client on a more personal level, something that could push them to respond to your call-to-actions more positively.

Create content that other Scopers can use on their own channels.

Don’t make it about the brand all the time. You can share tips and tricks about the industry, or anything general. This way, other Scopers can replay your Scopes and share it with the rest of their audiences without making it seem like they’re blatantly promoting your brand.

Periscope is definitely a marketer’s dream. There’s sure to be much more in store for Scopers as the new platform grows even further.