Last week Aerosmith performed a private concert next to my office at Petco Park for the IT convention Cisco Live. Sadly the stage faced away from our windows, so I wasn’t able to watch the performance, until I discovered Periscope. Periscope is a live streaming app that allows concertgoers to live stream video from their phones to mine. I pulled the feed up and my coworkers and I watched the show from my phone and could hear the show from the roof patio. The game has been changed.
LIVE on #Periscope: Aerosmith live – Cisco live private party. https://t.co/AJZmzlm0EC
— Ryan Lynn (@rtlynn) June 11, 2015
What are they?
In the live streaming app world a battle is raging between the Twitter owned Periscope and the first to market app Meerkat. Both apps rely on Twitter to notify and link users to live streams as well as power the comments and chats within the streams. The quality of the video can be questionable at times because they demand so much bandwidth to stream the video, which can be limited in a crowded stadium. They also rely the streamers camera operating skills from whatever cheap seat they purchased off of craigslist.
How can they be used for B2B?
So how do B2B brands jump on the live streaming trend? Periscope can be used the same way that brands are currently using other social channels. Just like other channels, it isn’t about using it for the sake of publishing content. It’s all about creating content that provide value to users. If your content is compelling and video is a good medium for sharing, live streaming might be a great tactic.
At our agency we host quarterly events we call The Speaker Series. Each of these events features a different topic from the marketing world. In the past we have live tweeted the event and next week we are going to live stream it on Periscope for the people who couldn’t make it down to San Diego. If your company attends conferences you can live stream the keynote, or a particularly interesting booth or exhibit. If your company is sponsoring a community event, concert, or festival you can live stream the most interesting parts to leverage the buzz around that event to gain more brand exposure and Twitter engagement.
What could be dangerous for businesses?
What’s the worst that can happen? Just ask CBS that after they live aired the 2004 Super Bowl with Janet Jackson’s famous wardrobe malfunction. Live events can be wild, and the people who attend them can be even more unruly. Before you fire up the live feed from the big playoff game, think about what the mic might pick up from the guy sitting behind you that just finished his sixth Bud Light. As the apps gain popularity, venues and events will be more restrictive of them. While its impossible to completely control live streaming, it’s likely that they will try to combat the streams to save revenue. Make sure you don’t give yourself an escorted trip to the parking lot by giving your followers a free ticket to the show.
Photo credit: @steven_cox
