A large Twitter following does not necessarily translate to Periscope success
Brands that have developed a large following on Twitter do not always perform as well through live-streaming services, as only specific facets of content drive successful Periscope results, initial findings show.
These findings come from production company Al Roker Entertainment?s new division, Roker Labs, which focuses on live-streaming talent and is creating a list of brands and personalities that warrant the most sizable Periscope audience called the Al Roker Entertainment (ARE) Index.
"While Periscope is Twitter owned the forms of content consumed on each of the two platforms are entirely different," said Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile, New York. "It therefore is no surprise that there is no universal correlation between the number of Twitter followers a person may have and the number of Periscope followers that same person has.
"Twitter's content is based on short bits of text whereas Periscope's is based on live video streams," she said. "Twitter's content makes it ideal for breaking news and its hashtags make it a ideal for aggregating content around a specific topic.
"Periscope's streaming makes it ideal for artists, foodies, or people who want to relay their day-to-day activities. The platform is also ideal for streaming concerts, lectures, or monumental speeches, though that hasn't quite taken off yet."
Streaming positivity
The production company is focusing all its efforts on providing brands leveraging Periscope the tools to create positive live-stream content. The division understands the effectiveness that these live-streaming platforms offer in connecting brands to consumers creating lasting bonds.
The ARE Index is showcasing findings through research that show what factors go into creating a positive Periscope stream. The peak hours of streams that receive high traffic are typically seen during evenings, while most consumers are off of work.
There are five categories of streaming content that appear to acquire better engagement than other subjects such as city atmosphere, food, music, selfies and travel. Those streaming content that shows a cityscape, city life, anything relating to food and beverages, footage of the users themselves and travel destinations such as exhibits, monuments and beaches draw in a larger crowd than those streaming other content.
Live-streaming footage of selfies is currently the top category of content being streamed. Of these users about 30 percent discuss topics related to beauty products, day-to-day activities and food.
This data can give brands insight on how to better reach consumers. For instance beauty product brands now know that there is a significant reach on Periscope for their audience, and may want to leverage users with large followings to discuss their products on a stream.
The leaders in streaming through Periscope come from locations such as United States, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Italy and Qatar. The celebrities with the top followings are Hilary Clinton, Kevin Hart and Tom Green.
However, celebrities are not the only leaders in Periscope followings, a few users have developed fans solely through their content on the streaming platform. For instance user @AmandaOleander has a following of 224.4K and shares content regarding city life.
Periscope examples
Brands are flocking to the live-streaming service Periscope to better connect to users.
For instance, Bloggers and fashion brands such as Perry Ellis and Nautica took to Periscope to drive hype surrounding the premiere New York Fashion Week: Men?s, and increase promotion for their respective upcoming 2016 spring and summer lines (see more).
Also, Fox 2000 Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures rolled out a second unique social media marketing tactic today for their collaboration on the Poltergeist remake, this time with Twitter?s new live streaming service Periscope, as they look to leverage millennials' interest in fear-inducing content, personalized material and social media (see more).
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer
"Since Periscope is fairly new brands who role out on the platform quickly will have a substantial competitive advantage," Ms. Lowy said. "That competitive advantage is particularly powerful because Periscope has a lot of users but not as many content producers.
"Brands who wish to roll out on Periscope should do so quickly, as we've seen in other digital environments, the more time goes by the more competitive the landscape gets and building a social following becomes a lot harder," she said. "Secondly, brands should focus on building quality live stream content. Quality content is always a crucial factor in building a social following.
"Lastly those brands should pay attention to when their target audience is most likely to be on the app as well as where their audience is likely to be tuning in from. Currently a major gateway to discovery in Periscope is when consumers scout what's currently streaming when they log on, the streams are sorted on a map which makes local streams more likely to be picked up."
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer