Allow me to properly introduce you to Periscope. It’s going to build your community, grow your audience, and humanize your brand.
What is Periscope?
Periscope is a mobile app that allows you to broadcast live video from your smartphone to the Interwebs. It’s free and easy to use.
Because Periscope is owned by Twitter, it integrates beautifully with that platform. You can automatically update your Twitter followers when you’re broadcasting a video, called a scope.
Periscope was launched in March of 2015. It’s less than a year old, but has already surpassed 10 million users. It was also named iPhone App of the Year for 2015.
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What’s so Great About Periscope?
Periscope is one of the most important apps you’re not using, but should. Let’s take a look at why. You can:
+Connect Instantly with Your Audience
There’s a lot to be said about immediate connection. On Periscope, you can speak directly to your viewers. Live video allows interaction like no other medium.
+Share Your Personality
Periscope makes it easy to show off your personality. Through video, especially the unedited and candid variety, your customers can see more of who you are. They can see your excitement and hear your passion through video– something often lost in the cold vastness of the Internet.
+Sell Your Product
With Periscope, you get in front of a whole new market. While you may bring over your current fans and followers, you’ll also be exposed to new folks. You can use your scopes to highlight products, showcase your services, and provide informal webinars.
+Be a Pioneer
Because Periscope is relatively new, your competitors probably aren’t using it yet. If they are, they’re not experts. Here’s your opportunity to get in while there’s still plenty of space to establish yourself as an authority in your niche.
Because Periscope is relatively new, your competitors probably aren’t using it yet. Click To Tweet
Is Periscope Right For My Business?
The short answer is yes. Here’s the long answer:
Periscope is a good idea for most businesses. If you’re selling something, especially business to consumer, you can benefit immensely from creating informal, inviting videos that mimic actual human interaction. It’s almost impossible to be robotic when you’re interacting live with followers and answering their questions.
Periscope may not work as well if your current or prospective customers aren’t already on Periscope.
How to Optimize Your Scopes
+Decide on Your Goals
What would you like to accomplish with Periscope? As I mentioned earlier, there are three ways broadcasting on Periscope can improve your business:
Grow your business – Periscope is great for marketing. Do you have a product to sell? Would you like to promote upcoming events? Would you like to drive traffic to your website?
Use Periscope to:
Build your community – Periscope can help you build and engage your community on a regular basis. Hang out with your community to discuss a current hot topic, or use Periscope to advertise a contest.
Add a human face to your brand – Use Periscope to show behind-the-scenes videos of your team. Host a Q+A session. Or go completely personal and share the sunset.
+Watch Other Periscopes
If you’ve ever been on a chatroom, you know the prevailing rule is, don’t talk first, observe. Unfortunately, a lot of people never get out of observe mode but fortunately that won’t be your story. Limit yourself to five or less.
+Follow Folks
Don’t just follow for the sake of following: do it like a true fan! Get engaged. Give hearts. Participate. Share.
Now, here’s the caveat. You don’t want to follow random lowlives like this woman who posted a scope of her drunk driving around Lakeland, FL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0ktN59iZEA
Instead, follow people who are influencers in your industry. Those who speak to your audience without directly competing with your business. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, look for wedding or event planners to follow. The more you participate in their scopes, the higher you get on their radar. Then, you can establish partnerships or collaborations.
+Choose a Clickable Title
Please don’t ignore the title or carelessly add something boring or obscure. To woo your followers or anyone else who may be browsing for live scopes, you need a rocking title.
I recommend planning titles in advance. Think about what topic you’d like to focus on and select keywords that your customers will get excited over.
Need some help? Check out our Essential Copywriting Tips for Absolute Beginners, where we discuss how to create a strong headline.
+Be Welcoming and Social
When you get people on your scope, it’s good practice to say hello. In the beginning of your scope, before launching into the main topic, spend a couple of minutes (or so) welcoming your viewers. Ask them where they’re from to break the ice.
+Make Room for Interaction
When you’re on Periscope, you must multi-task. Periscope is all about conversation. Because it’s live, people will expect you to see their questions and comments and respond accordingly. While you may not be able to respond to every comment, it’s a good idea to start each scope with a welcome and end each one with a brief Q+A to make sure that any burning questions are answered.
+Share on Twitter
Make sure you click the Twitter icon to share your scope with your Twitter followers.
+Ask for Shares
Whether you have one person watching your scope or one hundred, ask that they share your scope with their friends. Give them the instructions to swipe up (for Android users) or swipe right (for iPhone users) to call up a share menu.
+Save Your Scopes to the Cloud
A scope is only available on Periscope for 24 hours. Then, it disintegrates into the ether. However, you can save your scope on your phone to be repurposed for later use. You can upload that video to YouTube or Facebook and share it with your audiences there.
But that’s not my favorite way to save scopes.
I definitely prefer and recommend Katch.me. Katch.me allows you to save your scopes to the cloud. You can restrict, share, embed, fast forward and rewind videos.
+Just Do It
I won’t lie to you. Before you click “Start Broadcast” for the first time, you’ll suffer from a mean case of stage fright. You’ll feel insecure, you’ll question camera angles, you’ll worry that people will throw tomatoes at you.
Just do it anyway.
Besides, no one throws tomatoes anyone.
But there will be trolls. Here’s how to handle it: block them and keep on living.
Most of the people on Periscope, and in life, want you to do well so that you can share something valuable with them. Focus on the value and let that drive you through your nervousness. The first scope is the hardest.
Final Thoughts
Periscope can be a great marketing platform for your business. Remember that, as with all social platforms, practice makes perfect. The more you scope valuable information, the more you can build an organic community of followers.
Would you like to know the top 11 brands that are killing it on Periscope? Subscribe to receive this extra resource.