Periscope: Winning at Disrupting Social Media Advertising

Periscope, by its very nature, interrupts viewers. When someone you follow goes live or you receive an invitation to view a live ‘scope,’ you get a notification…a cross between a bird’s chirp (possibly a cheeky nod to its owner, Twitter) and a whistle, which signals that something is happening right then. So long as the broadcaster has her saved settings turned on, people can watch the re-play for 24 hours.

However, it appears that many viewers are opting to stop whatever they are doing to watch broadcasts live. I’ve seen live viewer numbers range from 20 to 300 to 400, with John Mayer pulling in about 70,000 live views for a 10-minute guitar serenade. People are stopping whatever else they are doing to enter a different app, Periscope, and watch a broadcast. This presents a huge opportunity for businesses to be heard, seen and patronized.

Periscope was purchased by Twitter for a reported $100 million and Twitter is working hard to ensure that it is a platform that gets broadcasters as much exposure as possible. To that end, Periscope is fully integrated with Twitter, making it easy to connect with and be found by existing followers already comfortable with the Twitter platform, who can then share your content with their followers. It was apparent a few weeks back that Periscope was going to be a game-changer for how businesses interact with customers and for the manner in which news is shared. Just moments after a Twitter board meeting, journalist Jon Erlichman took to Periscope to describe the ‘step down’ of former Twitter CEO, Dick Costolo, in great detail (and responded to live-viewer questions).

There’s already a burgeoning sense of community between broadcasters and viewers on the platform, as well. There have been a number of live ‘Peri Days’ for people from various cities across the world to meet in-person and broadcast simultaneously.

“It’s only been a few months since Periscope came out, but we’ve already seen the creation of a very active and highly engaged community on this social platform,” said Cathy Hackl, social media strategist and director of New York Scope Week. “We created this event because we listened to the community. We are looking forward to continuing to build a diverse community through our event, and build real-life connections with fellow ‘scopers’ and enthusiasts.”

The other day I watched in awe as one of my colleagues earned $1,000 in real-time payments on Periscope by selling a course that he, admittedly, had not yet created; that’s what his viewers–as members of the growing Periscope community described above and paying $97 each- were going to help him do. He completed this feat in 20 minutes.

Periscope, if used well, can be used to:

(1) Position you as an expert in your field.

(2)  Introduce you to a new audience.

(3) Give your current customers access in a fresh and new way.

(4) Provide you with a platform to make personal connections that lead to sales.

In the 1980s Tony Robbins mastered the art of the infomercial. Well, Periscope is now providing that opportunity to you. Amber Wright, The Conversation Coach said, “Periscope has been the energy boost my online presence was craving. I’ve gotten quality leads for my coaching business and [have] grown my audience with lightning speed since joining. I am ecstatic to continue using Periscope and leveraging it to impact my business and bottom-line as it matures as a platform.”

As with any new media, be intentional about how you use it. Just as easily as a brand can excel with social media, it can also fail. Although the beauty of Periscope is that you can delete a video and it will only save for 24 hours, it’s better to be proactive rather than reactive. There are some great guides and tutorials that are already floating around, as well as some interesting Periscope folks to watch. I won’t delve into the nuts and bolts and how-to’s, as I’ve included some great links below.

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