Dive Brief:
- Marketers are finding value in live-streaming app Periscope, but Twitter isn’t turning that interest into revenue – at least not yet.
- Brands have been using Periscope to offer viewers behind-the-scenes access as well as for live stream events such as press conferences and product launches.
- Eight-month-old Periscope has already eclipsed its closest rival, Meerkat.
Dive Insight:
Twitter is in a social media battle to grab marketing dollars and it might be ignoring a gold mine in live-streaming app Periscope, which it earlier this spring for slightly less than $100 million. Marketers are using Periscope to share a sense of urgency, immediacy and insider access with viewers.
Zach Gallagher, EVP and director of digital strategy at Deutsch, used Periscope to live stream a Taco Bell press conference and told Digiday, “The possibility of a show going off the rails is compelling.”
He did have one complaint, “Our crew has been seeing it sort of tacked on at the end of Twitter decks, and even when it seems like a perfect fit for an idea, no one is really pushing it on us. We have to ask for it.”
The lament reflects how Twitter has been handling Periscope by lumping it in with all of Twitter’s video features. Only recently have social platforms begun to really embrace the idea of leveraging video and live events for ad dollars, but are finding success. And according to an earlier study by Cisco Systems, consumer video will account for 80% of all internet traffic by 2019.
Live video may be just a sliver of that, but more brands are ready to test it out. Twitter has put emphasis on the live event space with its recent Moments feature roll out, but given the interest, it would be wise for the micro-blogging platform to prioritize Periscope.
