Engage Periscope Web Trolls to Create a Treasured Audience

Published by Tina on August 11, 2015August 11, 2015

Troll: A being that is living in isolation and rarely described as helpful or friendly.

With the advent of live video streaming, you may be creating Periscopes or actively engaged in Periscope videos as an audience member through the Periscope app. In either role, you may have become aware of so-called Periscope Web “trolls”: People viewing the videos through the Web via a desktop, seemingly unengaged. Unfortunately, this negative connotation may be leading “scopers” to neglect an important segment of their audience.

Let’s get those Periscope Web trolls engaged to create a treasured audience!

About Periscope

Created by Twitter, Periscope is an app that was just released for iPhone in March of 2015, and for Android in May of 2015.  It allows someone to stream live video and then it is available for replay for 24 hours after the live video feed has concluded.  As they put it, “A picture may be worth a thousand words, but live video can take you someplace and show you around.”  They announcement blog post can be read [HERE].

While the Periscope phenomenon may just be the result of “Shiny New Object Syndrome,” many small businesses and entrepreneurs are testing out the waters to see if they can incorporate this new social media platform into their business strategy.  While I think it’s still too early to tell how big of an impact it will make on the social media play in business, it certainly is an interesting new option and one worth at least checking out.  If you’d like to read more about Periscope, they have information on their website, as well as a blog.

Why Web Troll?

Now, why would people even “Web troll” to begin with? Well, some people don’t have a smart device, so they can’t view Periscope through a device like that. Also, they may have yet to see any real benefit for Periscope and, therefore, have not downloaded the app. Then it may be that they are at work, and the use of smart devices is restricted/not allowed. Therefore, the only way they can view that Periscope is through the Web.

Tips for Periscopers

Create unique hashtags.   Creating unique hashtags will do two things. One, create the ability to further Twitter search for your specific content, as well as use those hashtags to communicate on Twitter.

Use keywords in your Periscope title. Getting those keywords into your title will again make your Periscope more searchable on Twitter. Periscope pushes out a tweet once your video goes live that starts out “LIVE on #Periscope” with the unique URL and title.

Engage on Twitter before, DURING, and after live Periscope. Before you are going to go live on Periscope, be sure to send out reminders.   You can do this on many social media platforms, not just Twitter. The Twitter/Periscope auto tweet will go out shortly after your video starts. Be sure to suggest to your audience to either to chat within Periscope or communicate through Twitter using either your unique hashtags or as a feed under the auto tweet. Remember: That auto tweet that Twitter/Periscope pushed out is likely where your Web audience originates from. This is a great place for you to then start and continue to engage them. Once your Periscope video has ended, don’t disconnected with your audience! Continue the conversation either on Twitter, your Facebook group, or even encourage them to contact you directly.

Keep Twitter open. I realize that this is not always possible.   You may not have a separate device available to view and communicate through Twitter while on Periscope. In this case, I would still recommend reaching out to your Web audience and encouraging them to communicate with you once the video has ended. Acknowledging their existence is a great start.

Record your Periscope video onto your device. Then you can use that video for more content. You can either push that singular Periscope video onto another platform such as YouTube, or you could even take several Periscope videos that you’ve created, put them into one cohesive video, edit it, and push that out onto YouTube or onto your website, etc. You could also be creating a webinar or something to that effect.

Also, the content within the Periscope itself, you could be getting that transcribed or just taking some notes. You can use that then to create blog posts, newsletters, or other type of copy material.

Remember: Those Periscope videos are only available for replay for 24 hours once the video has ended.   However, those searchable tweets will still be out there on Twitter. When a person clicks on that link and realizes that the video is no longer available, don’t miss the opportunity to pull them back in and engage them. Reply to those corresponding tweets, such as the auto tweet, and let your audience know where to continue the conversation (such as a Facebook group) or a link to find the video achieved on a platform such as YouTube or Vimeo.

 Tips for Treasured Audience – through the app AND through the Web

Use Twitter search! Using Twitter search on a desktop will allow you to find Periscope videos and watch them, but without the ability to engage directly in the app itself. However, searching Twitter on your smart device allows you the ability to find Periscope videos you may be interested in that are being produced by handles you’re not following. AND you’re able to then click on that link within Twitter and bounce over to the Periscope app where you can watch that video and engage in the chat. Plus, you’ll be able to give plenty of hearts, which Periscopers love to receive.

Keep Twitter open along with Periscope if possible. If you are on a desktop, I highly recommend you open a new window and then minimize both Periscope and Twitter so that you can view the video while communicating.   Obviously if you have more than one monitor, you could split the windows that way. If you are actively in the Periscope app, but also have access to Twitter, you may also find this useful, as more conversations may be happening within Twitter as well.

Trolls to Treasured Audience

Again, when you are Periscoping, you may find that you have some people out there who are viewing your videos through something like a desktop, and you might think of them as just Web trolls, but they’re not. Get those people to engage in a conversation with you. Turn those Web trolls into a treasured audience.