In the world of viral videos, apps like Vine and Snapchat, and the ability to share videos through different social platforms, we clearly love our videos. With the time span of these videos growing shorter and shorter, we have to figure out ways for our businesses to keep up. Instagram videos are only 15 seconds long, Snapchat is only 10 seconds maximum and Vine videos are a quick six seconds! Our attention span as social media users is now less than a goldfish. How crazy is that?

Say Hello to Periscope

Enter Periscope, a Twitter-owned app for iOS and Android, which is changing the video sharing game. Periscope has quickly become the new platform for sharing content with customers. As consumers, we all want to feel like we are getting specialized attention from the brand or company we choose to engage with. We want to feel like we are personally involved with a company before we will give it our business. However, once we feel included, you have our business for life.

Periscope is a live-streaming app where you can communicate with your followers or customers in real-time via the app or a desktop link. The videos are available for 24-hours and can be tweeted out through the app. Questions can be posed within the live video stream and you can answer within the platform. Incorporating this highly engaging feature allows you to make each user feel like they are getting a personalized experience with your brand.

You may be thinking…how in the world can I make this work for my business? Here are a couple ways to leverage Periscope for your business.

Behind the Scenes

Sharing office culture will allow your customers to have an inside look at a day in the life of your company. Let’s be real, social media has basically eliminated the idea of secrets. We feel we are entitled to as much or as little information as we want, without consent. By sharing glimpses into your office, through brainstorming sessions, chats with employees, live Q&A sessions or outtakes from the day, we give customers a peek at what they crave.

Exclusive Offers

With Periscope being a new social platform, the ability to track conversions is not as advanced as other platforms. One way to track how well a certain type of video is doing is to offer some kind of incentive. By offering an exclusive offer to only Periscope users, possibly with a unique code, you can have a concrete way of measuring how many conversions you got from that platform. You can also tease the exclusive offer on other social media channels, to try and gain more traction using channels you have established already. Cross-promotion is key when introducing a new social channel into the mix.

Focus Groups

What better way to get instant feedback regarding new products, ideas or changes to current processes than hosting a focus group through Periscope? Organizing a traditional focus group can be a daunting task. With Periscope, you can create a large group of your ideal market with the power of 140-characters on Twitter.

Inviting customers through your other social networks, or even an email to subscribers, can get you a large sampling of the right people with little effort. Using this live-stream to create space for real life customers to offer feedback on new ideas is priceless!

Live Demos

Did you just launch a new product? Do you get a lot of feedback that one of your products is difficult to use? Create a live-stream to demo how to use said product and allow viewers to ask questions that you answer in real-time. You can also save these videos to be repurposed or for future reference. Showing this level of customer care will win you big points with your customers!

By using applications like Periscope to benefit your customer, you show that they are valued in your company. They are important and worth you taking the time to be as available to them as possible. The more transparent you can become as a brand, the more you will gain your customers trust. Once you have that, the rest is smooth sailing.

How do you feel about this live-broadcast stream idea? Is it helpful for businesses or just another social platform?

By: Blueprint