Mobile broadcasting, or live streaming, is becoming increasingly popular.
Apps such as Meerkat and Periscope are being utilized by more individuals, and businesses, with each passing day.
There are a few reasons why I think mobile broadcasting is skyrocketing in popularity and becoming a critical component of one’s social media marketing strategy:
- People are visual: They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well then, a video (or a live-stream) must be worth a million. There is so much value to be gained from allowing people to tap in to your business, or event, in real-time and actually get to see what is going on behind the scenes. No blog post or article can paint a picture of your work like a video can.
- People like to be a part of the action: When you hop on Periscope and join a live-stream, you truly feel like you are at the event and a part of the action. Similarly, you can play off people’s fear of missing out (FOMO) by posting on social media to let them know you’ll be having a live stream and now is their chance to tune in. Live-streaming is a great way to enable your customers to still “get in” on the action without having to physically be there. Similarly, from the customer’s perspective, it is exciting to realize that you are participating in something along with people from other cities or even countries!
- People like people: Live-streaming adds a more human, personal side to a business by showing the people who actually do the work. Similarly, it is a great way to let your customers feel more connected to the organization by giving a glimpse into the corporate culture and working environment. Start thinking about the individuals in your organization (for example, your CEO or customer-facing employees) that your customers would like to see more of.
- People like immediate answers: Many live-streaming apps, such as Periscope, have a chat feature so that people can ask questions while watching the video stream. This is a great way to provide your customers immediate feedback or answers on questions in real-time!
It is critical that businesses start to leverage this kind of technology as an avenue for education, storytelling and engagement.
I recommend Periscope, as it is a great solution for organizations looking to live-stream and have their broadcasts available to a large community.
For a comparison of Meerkat and Periscope, two popular live-stream apps, check out this article from Social Media Examiner.
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Photo Credit: Anthony Quintano
