Twitter's livestreaming service, Periscope, is the talk of the social marketing world. Yes, it's another great point of presence for consumers to interact with the brands they love or are just finding out about, but Periscope has more powerful applications for brands and individuals than appear on the surface. Sure, it's awesome to be a supremely talented social marketer that's out there pitching Periscope or Meerkat, but why? Why should brands use it?
First, let's state the obvious: there are great ways to personalize what you do on Periscope. Just like other forms of social media, giving personality to your brand and allowing consumers to connect with your employees behind the scenes will increase engagement. No one wants to talk with a generator company without personality. Find one by having your team "scope" their next installation or assessment. Work in a cool place? You can share a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your office and show off what makes your office so incredibly different.
Second: supplemental content. This is one of the many things that Huffington Post Live does really, really well. This isn't just a ringing endorsement for the social strategy that they have at HuffPo; it's just common sense. Show people what they normally would not see and they will tune in to see what else you're doing. What's going on behind the scenes is just as cool as what you're putting out there for traditional broadcast. And it's exclusive to those "in the know." Checking out supplemental content brings "cool hunters" to the table. Those early adopters are learning more about the events, people and brands because they just consume the stuff en masse. It's a win-win. They want to be known for finding fresh ideas and fun stuff and you want to be seen as that "cool stuff."
Back in July, Entrepreneur put out a great article, "How Brands Are Paving the Way for Periscope Marketing." This method of communication is not new. Last year, we saw one of the newest web series festivals in the world, Miami Web Fest, use this strategy to connect with those fans that could not come to South Florida for the 4-day festival. Screenings, panels, speakers and the red carpet award ceremony were all streamed live from the venue to all who tuned in. The overall audience? Tens of thousands! As a result, their attendance this year is set to double because people now understand how the show was presented and how it delivered on its promise of changing the game.
As an agency, we also contributed to the Periscope world for the Miami Children's Health Foundation's 5th annual MCHF5K run/walk in Coral Gables, Miami, Florida. It was a great morning and event for all of those who participated. Our original goal as it pertains to the audience level of retention was to garner around 150K impressions via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram over the day. We thought that, as an agency, that was a pretty respectable goal that could safely be delivered, but set us up for greater success.
I am really happy to report that we over-delivered at the event. Using our team of 6 social media interns and coordinators, as well as the assistance from those discovering the event on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as a result of the #MCHF5K hashtag, there were over 720K impressions that day.
Most business owners would embrace that kind of visibility and in the case of MCHF, the increase in exposure from the day really continues their message of coming together for the children that rely on Nicklaus Children's Hospital daily. But it's in how you quantify that spend that matters. You can only really measure the ROI on this type of event based on the amount of spend, as Periscope current serves as a tool to engage.
Also, since Periscope is tied to Twitter, it's a built-in promotional vehicle for that audience. You can activate the crowd that's already following you or, by sheer force of people seeing your live "scopes" on the global maps, you can earn more followers from the tools as well. Find a younger, more mobile audience for your brand so that you don't solely have to rely on Instagram to engage that demographic.
One last thought about Periscope: you get a chance to broaden your reach to a global audience. As the marketing landscape shifts, many millenials have pulled the plug on traditional television and instead favor mobile and tablets consumption of the web. Who would have thought that was possible ten years ago? Either way, going global will open your vision up to a bigger audience. Run an international soccer goalkeeper glove company? Run some "scopes" behind the scenes at your factory, show keepers testing the gloves and even stream some footage of your top endorsees in action. The borders of traditional advertising are suddenly opened up in a way that was previously never thought possible without a huge advertising investment.