C2C
Some are already calling 2015 the year of video streaming, the year when it went big. Well they may be right, the twitter of youtube has arrived, or, the snapchat of vimeo. Let’s take a closer look.
Mobile social media applications have a new kid on the block, video streaming live on demand. Who are the players? Meerkat & Periscope. Why is this important? It continues the trend in Marketing of consumers to engage in your brand’s advertisment, what I like to call C2C (consumer to consumer) marketing. It tells about each person’s Journey either with a product, service, experience. It’s really in the hands of the consumer.
The digital world is about instanteous sharing (we saw this with Snapchat, where the new generation is living more than ever “in the moment”, quite literally). I can safely say I find Meerkat’s pretty cute and a wonderful brand mascot-icon, however my hunch is Periscope will prevail. The reasons will be obvious after reading this article and seeing these videos.
The next generation of mobile users don’t particularly care about privacy and are more than willing to go online and review a product, share an experience and likely involve tons of Brands in the process. In age where we know how to “tune-out” advertisments and delete spam message, social media content that combines video that is consumer created is trending and will likely explode.
What does this mean for your brand or company?
Periscope’s connection to Twitter (acquired and linked) contacts and its ability to replay streams, does mostly likely give it an edge. What do you think? Have you tried either of these apps?
it’s ability to send hearts to the broadcaster, means the creation of a more positive experience. If a bit on the fuzzy side. Periscope > Meerkat for functionality, even with its later start (Meerkat already has 100m users) less superior icon and name.
- Broadcasts saved for 24 hours
- Heart count
- Basic stats
We all have smartphones now, with good cameras and fast LTE connections. And we’re desperate for more unmediated access to the people we care about. The potential here is for families, social networks and not just celebrities using an app like this.
Sharing Moments Live
So why care? Because it’s actualy sharing of experience:
It’s arguably more immediate & intimate than Twitter, Instagram, even Snapchat. It’s life, right now, through anyone’s eyes I choose. It’s intoxicating.
Mechanics are Easy
The mechanics of Periscope are really simple:
- Tap a button, and start streaming whatever your camera lens sees.
- Anyone who follows you gets a notification to tune in (you can also host a private broadcast for a few selected people), and they can watch in the app or any web browser.
- Some streamers are silent, others prefer to narrate the action. Some streams are selfies, which makes onlookers feel like they’re in a Baby Bjorn attached to the broadcaster’s chest, watching them talk down into the camera.
Consequences for Digital Marketing
- Free consmer driven markting exposure for your brand
- A way to portray your brand as more authentic, human and interpersonal
- Videocasts that create urgency (only around for 24 hours, the snapchat effect in video)
- Spontaneous customer reviews on your product, service, anywhere and anytime
- The consumer interface and start of the experience of the Internet of Things revolution
- Live feeds on your company, insights into boardroom, manufacturing, office culture, whatever you want to share
- Potential for nearly instanteous social media sharing and trend-factor amplification
Quick Look:
Short Periscope video review:
Whether these apps are a form of consensual voyeurism (perspective of Baby boomers) or the future of online journalism, an important revenue and channel for digital marketing and advent the human interface in the internet of things, is based on your perspective and likely your age. Who would you trust, an advertising campaign made to convert you or your own peers, family and friends? That’s the bottom line of what makes customer to customer marketing one of the next big things in social media and how we are plugged in or turned into the digital world that is changing every year, that is nearly unrecognizable each decade.
Can you think of ways to use this technology? Let us know.
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