With so many bandwagons to jump on in the social media space (and we’ve been on most of them at Network Marketing towers), the latest to take our fancy is Periscope. It’s amazing how few people have heard of Periscope, even in the digital agency world, bearing in mind it's a product of Twitter and let’s face it, they’re pretty good at promoting themselves! Video content is king though apparently to Google so maybe this is here to stay. Certainly, there’s been success with 7 second video sharing app Vine but is the world ready for the next step in live streaming app Periscope? What’s the point? (often a query levelled at social media fads). Well, in their words it enables users to, ‘Explore the world through someone else’s eyes’.
Whilst we have seen it used for many personal activities (the Tour De Yorkshire was frequently covered on periscope by eager cycling fans) what does it mean for business? If activity by Mashable, Chris Allen from Blacks Solicitors or Tony Watson from the First Direct Arena in Leeds are anything to go by then there is a very real opportunity here. Mashable, Chris and Tony are all prolific social media users. They already have massive followings on Twitter so converting those followers to Periscope has been pretty easy. Mashable has endless content as you’d imagine, Chris Allen can be seen regularly providing legal updates, changes to law, particularly targeted at the SME sector, and Tony will show you anything from the setting up of an S-Club 7 gig at the Arena to his snail-speed trips over the M62 (hands free of course!). The Guardian used Periscope to great effect with footage of the infamous Baltimore Riots:
Periscope has already (somewhat controversially) had some high profile live streams of events. The most notable of which is arguably the biggest boxing event ever between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquio earlier this month, streamed live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. As well as big sporting events, Periscopes reach goes far beyond with Gloria Steinem’s peace delegation in Korea being streamed live from Pyongyang, taking their scope from not just entertainment, sport and general lifestyle, but across political as well- something fellow video based apps have failed to do so thus far, never mind so early on in their release.
We’d be keen to hear how you are using Periscope for business and how this new channel can potentially be monetised (as it’s likely to be!) IMAGE CREDITS: The Guardian, Mashable
