Periscope: Winning at Disrupting Social Media Advertising


People no longer ask, “Do you use social media in your business?” They only ask, “How are you using social media in your business?” The choices often feel endless and overwhelming and many small business owners are still trying to figure out how to measure the return on time and money invested in social media advertising.

Periscope is a video social media platform created, according to its founders, because “there is no better way to experience a place right now than through live video.” Its inventors call it the closest thing to ‘teleportation,’ and the platform is taking the world of sales and marketing by storm. I first heard of the platform in May from blogger and radio host, Yalanda P. Lattimore (@DryerBuzz), as she used the platform to broadcast a live panel discussion during the BloggerWeek conference.

[RELATED: CBS Launches Site for Small Businesses]

Black Enterprise 2014 Family Business Award Finalist, Lamar Tyler of Black and Married With Kids, has been saying for years that when it comes to accessing our markets, customers, and influencers, ‘the gatekeepers are gone’ due to social media. Periscope is proving that aphorism to be true. It enables businesses to speak and interact in real time with prospective and existing customers, who are then able to share the message being broadcast with their followers on Periscope and Twitter.

Additionally, if activated by the broadcaster, viewers may write comments that the broadcaster may address in the moment. Never before have brands had direct access and the capacity to receive immediate feedback from as broad a swath of the marketplace and with as much or little regularity as the brand desires. In real time, what you’re saying can be spread to an ever-growing audience through social sharing. For viewers it’s like getting an invitation to a great party and being able to attend right away.

The immediate invite and subsequent party attendance is what’s so brilliant about Periscope. Conventional social marketing says that ‘native’ advertising will deliver the best return on investment. As businesses, we’re advised not to ‘interrupt’ consumers’ experiences as they are interacting with social media, and there’s even a ‘Native Advertising Summit‘ held annually since 2013.

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