It’s been a pretty long while since a social media app came out of nowhere and disrupted the industry. Meerkat did just that and Twitter is opening fire with a powerful and more superior competitor called Periscope. Both of these apps take focus on live streaming which isn’t new but it is taking leveraging on the smartphone’s popularity for social media activities. The question is, can it be used as a marketing tool? As these platforms are still in the early stages, hopping on board early could lead to good things.
Live is Trust
There already is an existing form of marketing used to get viewers to trust the company or marketer and that is video marketing. The problem is, a lot of people are getting into the business including those that tend to not deliver on their promises. Even if the presentation is good and professionally done, it can be hard to figure out how relevant the video is unless it was uploaded to YouTube.
A live stream could make a difference as you can react to what others have to say in real-time. Maybe some people have a few concerns that need to be addressed and you can discuss them on the spot. If you have a bunch of viewers that are hesitant in joining your list, your live presence has a huge opportunity to reel them in.
The End of Traditional Webinars?
Marketers and online coaches still launch webinars to get potential customers interested in the things they are promoting but we all know how tricky these things can be set up for novices. With Meerkat and Periscope, all you need is a huge Twitter following. Attending a webinar with your smartphone is difficult enough but the power of push notifications make it easy for you to host a live event and let all your followers know when to tune in. Then all they have to do is launch the mobile app and start interacting.
Live streaming apps won’t fully derail the traditional webinar just yet. For instance, Periscope streams only remain accessible online up to 24 hours after the end of the live recording session and it is a bit more complicated with Meerkat. But with Meerkat’s recent funding and Twitter’s strong backing of Periscope, you can expect these two apps to redefine the way people stream stuff online. So now is the time to build your Twitter audience so you can do some serious marketing magic. Expect to some Periscope and Meerkat tips posted here in the future.