Andy Calloway
I remember clearly the day I heard about Periscope. It had come up as a new news item, and I read it a couple of times to make sure I totally “got it”. If you’re still in the dark about this new take on social media, let me just explain.
It allows you to do a live broadcast from your phone that can then be viewed by others in real time.
That’s it. Neat huh?
I know, it doesn’t sound so brilliant, but the first thing that came to mind was “why hasn’t this been done before?” I mean, it’s so brilliantly simple.
So what’s the point?
Weirdly, finding uses for Periscope will likely be difficult because there are just so many. You could film your trip to the beach, maybe live-broadcast a local bike race, or maybe you’re just about to reach the top of a mountain and want to broadcast it to all your followers?
As it’s bound to Twitter, you’ll also get a pretty instant audience, too. Your followers on Twitter will know that you’re broadcasting right now, so they can tune in to watch.
The videos stick around for 24 hours, so if they miss you, they can replay it for up to a day.
What about business use though?
How Periscope Is Used in Business
If anything new comes along, you can bet that a marketer somewhere will be finding out how to use it to reach more customers. Technology like this is screaming to be used for business, so we scouted around to see what some of the top marketers are doing with it. Here’s what we found:
Dan Norris is an award-winning content marketer and entrepreneur. He wrote “The 7 Day Startup” and when Periscope came along, he got very excited:
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a little bit excited about Periscope. Think webinars but for busy people, via your phone and with loads more interaction – “one with many” instead of “one to many” I heard someone describe it as.
Follow Dan here : https://twitter.com/thedannorris
He makes a good point there. Webinars are everywhere at the moment, my inbox is full of invites, and I probably view one or two a month. Firstly, they’re too time-consuming. Secondly, you need to sign up and download software to view them, or if you want to present one, you need to buy into a service that can sometimes be expensive.
You can do the same thing with Periscope for free. Just announce when you’ll be broadcasting and then broadcast. Job done.
Chris Marr is another content marketing expert who has embraced Periscope. He says:
In the past few months something amazing has happened – mobile live streaming via Periscope! For me, there are two major benefits. Firstly, it so simple to tap into your audience and share your thoughts and experiences as they happen.
I’m a podcaster and this has just taken things to a new level for me. Secondly, as a consumer on Periscope I am able to build my relationship with other people in my audience that I otherwise would never see or hear from.
In short, the barriers for access to people have just been blown out of the water and there has never been a better time to get involved in social communication. Have fun with it and don’t forget to be awesome!
Follow Chris here: https://www.twitter.com/chrismarr101
The important point here is “the barriers for access to people have just been blown out of the water”. Now anyone can broadcast that’s where Periscope will really come into its own.
And finally, how about Chris Ducker, a blogger and podcaster who also sees the benefit of Periscope:
For me, Periscope is about intimacy and simplicity. No editing. No webinar slides. No countdown timer. No commercials.
And if done correctly and consistently I believe Periscope will become the go-to platform for personal brand builders who wish to deepen their relationship with their audience.
Follow Chris : https://twitter.com/chrisducker
Another great point. When setting up a webinar or a tutorial video for YouTube, there’s a tendency to over-think it. People spend ages making the background right, getting the sound perfect, making sure all the lighting is spot-on and not on the content, which is what matters.
Periscope is pure content, delivered in a format that ignores all the ‘niceness’. It’s just raw and available to all.
How will you use it?
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