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].