Image: Flickr, Darron Birgenheier
You may have heard of Meerkat and Periscope, two rivaling live streaming apps that broadcast your life real-time to the social media world.
Meerkat made a big splash at SXSW last month, but Periscope has been officially endorsed by Twitter.
Since their release, users have been live streaming anything from golf matches to conferences to what’s inside their refrigerator.
(No, I’m not kidding about the latter.)
As users test this app and better understand how it functions, businesses are beginning to find ways to utilize live streaming as part of its social media strategy.
If you're thinking of using this for your organization, below are 8 ways I’ve seen or brainstormed how live streaming can be used for a business purpose.
8 ways to use live streaming for a business purpose:
-Live stream conferences, especially sessions speakers from their companies are presenting at
-Live chats, either with an interviewer, or the audience itself with the company’s leadership regarding recent developments/announcements
-Internal tours of the company to show transparency/recruit talent (Hootsuite gives a great example)
-Historic moments, such as grand openings and major award ceremonies
-Employee spotlights or “Day in the Life of” series (showcase company culture)
-Corporate social responsibility events (for example, brand’s trip overseas to dig wells for clean water)
-Stages of product development (for example, fashion industry where outfits are traced from concept sketches to store display)
-Product testing (for example, testers’ reaction to newly invented ice cream flavor with commentary)
Keep in mind there are creative ways to do the above without giving away sensitive company information (i.e. showcasing products not yet released, etc.), such as using the live streaming as teasers.
Since the live streaming is not recorded, it may be a good idea to (after your campaign series) put together a quick recap video that lets your audience watch what they missed. It doesn’t have to be exact footage of the series, as long as it shows similar content with the same goal.
What about you? Have you used Periscope or Meerkat?
If you have, post a comment below and let me know what you thought!
Until next time,
Ingrid