Periscope Gives New Meaning To Marketing
Did you miss the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight? If you did, then you may not have been aware of Twitter's new Periscope app. Individuals without TVs or the inclination to spend the steep $100 pay-per-view price turned to Periscope, where anyone with the app could start a live broadcast, pointing their device camera to the TV and passing along their own view to anyone following the user’s live stream.
The recently released Periscope app from Twitter allows a user to broadcast live video to the world. Their tagline reads, “Explore the world through someone else’s eyes,” which is appropriately fitting as this new technology is technically the closest thing to teleportation.
Since the release date about a month ago, Twitter had 1 million users sign in to Periscope within the first 10 days. This alludes that there is a growing interest users have in live-streaming videos from wherever they are, and marketers everywhere need jump on the real-time video bandwagon ASAP!
But first, why the sudden take off? Because consumers care! According to OOYALA’s Global Video Index, time spent watching video on mobile devices increased 160% year over year in Q4 2013. Additionally, mobile users will watch an average of 21 hours of video per month from their mobile devices by 2019, up from 12.7 hours in 2013! Are you starting to grasp why it’s SO important for us marketers to get a foot in the door?
Video Marketing means BIG business and plays an important role in 3 aspects:
1. Company engagement
In case you hadn’t noticed, we are in the midst of an attention-driven economy. Personally, I’ve come to the realization that the average person has a lower attention span than a goldfish, which means we need to be particularly conscious about how we are conducting and maintaining audience engagement.
The directness that video marketing enables is in large part why we as marketers were amongst the first to recognize its undeniable potential. Because why not? Brands can use the six or fifteen second videos, like Vine and Instagram to showcase their products, display their identity and provide an inside look at employee culture. Understanding the relationship between video length and viewer engagement can help you be sure your audience is getting the most out of the videos you are producing.
2. Brand awareness
Increasing brand awareness through video is all about conveying a consistent style, look and feel that represents your business. When viewers watch your video, some may actually do more than simply “like” or “favorite it”, but actually “share” to their audiences or friends online. Therefore, you are getting in front of new people and reaching a group of consumers who were unaware of your business prior to your post.
This simple and effective way to improve shareability of your video content requires 4 quick steps:
- Find your target audience and create niche marketing videos that appeal to this specific group; focus on what they need most or would highly enjoy.
- Discover which social sites this targeted audience visits the most and get involved.
- Identify your customers' needs, problems, concerns, and passions then use that information to generate video content that resonates.
- Finally, customize your video for your targeted audience within the appropriate social site and hit them with engagement within the first few seconds. If you fail to do that, you may have already lost them.
Each video you create should leave your audience craving more valuable information. Short, memorable videos trigger interesting conversation topics whereas helpful videos can persuade viewers to convert into customers.
3. Building trust with your audience
It’s not difficult to acknowledge why video marketing is important for building trust with your audience. There’s just something about seeing a real human that connects with us on a personal level. It becomes the basis on which we build trust, enabling us to be more “in sync” with one another. Viewers can see you share your emotions and develop a relationship with you. This assists in reinforcing the message with intonation, eye-contact and phrasing that clarifies the intention.
The foundation of this is about building rapport with your audience. Consumers purchase from those they like and trust. The “real-timeness” that live stream video apps like Periscope provide is a great example. Consumers can witness first-hand an inside look of your business and gain a true sense of what you are all about. When shooting your video, as nervous as you may be at first, be sure that you smile, remain relaxed and showcase confidence.
So, what does it mean to produce really great videos? How do you incorporate videos into your inbound marketing? To ensure content doesn't fall on deaf ears, marketers must attempt to understand what actually drives, motivates and engages consumers. Video marketing, particularly Periscope, is quickly unraveling into the world of marketing, with no forecast of a decline.
At Stratus, we are experts at incorporating video content into your inbound marketing strategy. If you’re stressed about where to start or interested in learning more, follow our lead! Schedule a free consultation and we’d be happy help you determine if/how/when video marketing can improve your overall inbound marketing strategy!
