On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA April-May 2016 | Page 10

SOCIAL MEDIA KATHY JENTZ Video goes with Periscope: move over Youtube L ive, streaming video is super easy and inter-active now, thanks to the newest and fastest- growing social media tool — Periscope. With this new app, you can also have your viewers join in and contribute to the conversation. Imagine being able to walk around your place of business and introduce your customers to your employees and show them your facilities. Most exciting of all, in my opinion, is that you can offer live tutorials and classes to anyone in the world. Periscope is owned by Twitter; naturally, the optimal way to see, share and find broadcasts is via Twitter. Since it is a fairly new technology, Periscope is updating its app and functions daily, adding new options and constantly improving. One key thing to be aware of is that Periscope broadcasts are only live or visible for 24 hours, but there are ways to extend the time. Sign up for the free Katch.me service, which will send out a tweet after you’ve ended a broadcast and keep that broadcast saved until you want to have it deleted. TAKE A PEEK Before you do your first broadcast, join in and participate on other people’s scopes. Tapping on the screen when they say something you agree with or show an item they like sends hearts to their screen and they will know you appreciate what they are sharing. THIN KSTOCK. COM/HSTOCK S To begin, download the Periscope app to your smartphone. It will log you in under the Twitter handle you are logged in to on your smartphone. To alert people that you are going to do a Periscope broadcast, tell them to follow your Twitter handle. Promote it a few days before your broadcast time so people know to tune in by posting on Facebook and any other social media accounts. 10 JAZZY TITLES Give your chat a good headline that will pull folks in. Something like “Testing My Newest Garden Tools,” will let folks know what to expect and will prime them to interact and ask questions. When you start a Periscope broadcast, introduce yourself and your business. Welcome your viewers and invite their questions. Be sure to thank people as they join in and participate. Remember to mention your website or other ways that customers can contact you, but don’t be spammy and too commercial. Periscope is a very casual and friendly atmosphere that quickly builds up personal relationships, and you don’t want to come across as too much of a salesperson. Let your products and services sell themselves. At the end of your live chat, swipe down from the top to stop the broadcast. After you are done, you can download, embed, or view your videos from the Katch.me website. Most of all, remember to have fun with this new technology. Keep it short and sweet to start; then, as you build up an audience, you can start to schedule regular broadcasts and connect with others on a deeper basis. If you have a specific social media question or challenge, please share that with me and I will address it in a future column. Kathy Jentz is the Editor/Publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine, the publication for Mid-Atlantic home gardeners. She is the former Brand Ambassador for Meadows Farms Nurseries and the social media guru for various nonprofit organizations, including DCGardens.com. She can be reached at [email protected].