What is Periscope?

Periscope (http://Periscope.tv) is Twitter’s new live-streaming video app that allows you to watch live video from all across the globe. Periscope also has a function even more important to marketers, the ability to create videos that vcan be seen around the world.

The beauty of Periscope is that it saves the video streams once you are finished, so that anyone can view them for up to 24 hours.

Periscope’s live feeds can be shot from iPhones and iPads and watched through smartphones, desktops or laptops, either through the app or on the Twitter website.

A viewer can watch recent broadcasts (Periscope records them automatically) or can browse live video streams by pressing the TV icon on the bottom left of the screen.

History

According to the founder of Periscope, Just over a year ago, they became fascinated by the idea of discovering the world through someone else’s eyes. The vision that drove the development of Periscope was, What if you could see through the eyes of a protester in Ukraine? Or watch the sunrise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia?

It may sound over-ambitious, but they wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation. While there are many ways to discover events and places, they realized there is no better way to experience a place right now than through live video. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but live video can take you someplace and show you around.

Periscope users are growing on a daily basis, and the system has just passed 1 million Android downloads. (The Andriod app was recently announced after an earlier launch just on iOS.)

Services

The services of Periscope are available in the mobile application itself as well as on Twitter. Periscope users can allow other Twitter users to see links tweeted and use the links to view the live stream.

Users of Periscope are able to choose whether or not to make their video public or simply viewable to selected users, such as their friends or families.

Periscope allows viewers to send “hearts” to the broadcaster by tapping on the mobile screen as a form of appreciation. Under the People tab in the app, there is a Most Loved List that shows the users who have received the most hearts during the live broadcast.

Why marketer must take advantage of this free service

It helps to build your relationship with other people in your audience that you otherwise would never meet. They know you from watching you do what you do. If you “click” in their minds, they will come to like you, as well, and even trust you.

Periscope is about intimacy and simplicity. No editing. No webinar slides. No countdown timer. No commercials.
You can give exclusive previews of products, how-to tutorials, a quick tour of your facilities, or show off your services. And, of course, you will have the potential to respond in real time to feedback from viewers.

So, Periscope gives emerging brands to have the opportunity to build an intimate and loyal following, even with a global audience.

Some of the Tips and tricks of the service include:

Use the right content.

On Periscope, product launches, promotions, educational videos and VIP access can make viewers feel like they are part of the moment and witnesses to a special event.

Make the most of your content

Don’t waste any of the video, which disappears from Periscope within 24 hours. So, point more viewers there after you’re done rolling, and even distribute the videos to Twitter users in Promoted Tweets.

Interactive Customer Support

Approximately 80% of Twitter users access the site through mobile devices. Twitter’s strong mobile presence and superior video streaming capabilities make Periscope an ideal platform for interactive customer service.

As a result, a growing number of brands leverage the platform to improve their customer service strategy. Live video chat is transforming the way companies provide customer service. One of the biggest advantages of Periscope services is that you can save videos for customers to replay later for references. In a customer service setting, this is a feature you can’t afford to miss.

The bottom line for the marketer

There are many other advantages Periscope provides and many other ways you can maximize your effectiveness on Periscope. If you want to know more, check out Cindy Battye‘s new software and training she calls WP Scope, which we are advertising, as an affiliate.

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