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Is Meerkat and Periscope right for your hotel?

In March, Meerkat and Periscope—livestreaming video apps for Twitter—launched within days of each other, and immediately caught the attention of consumers and brands.

Today, Meerkat has 2 million users, while Periscope has 10 million users, nearly 2 million of which use the app on a given day.

With numbers like these, the question is whether hotels should fold Meerkat and Periscope into their marketing efforts.

What is mobile livestreaming?

 Any discussion about Meerkat and Periscope needs to start with livestreaming, which is being hailed as the next frontier in social media and social media marketing.

With mobile livestreaming apps, users broadcast live videos to their followers. As filming starts, the user’s followers are notified and can watch the video stream in real time. More interesting, however, is that viewers can take part in the broadcast—not just consume the content.

Broadcast viewers can type in comments, ask questions, “like” the video, and invite others to watch the stream. When broadcasters see these comments or questions, they have the option to address them directly in real time.

What are the differences in Periscope and Meerkat?

The two most popular livestreaming apps are Periscope and Meerkat, each of which has its own pros and cons. Still, Periscope, which is produced by Twitter, is the clear favorite.

Periscope advocates favor the app’s clean design and the fact that videos are stored for 24 hours so viewers have a chance to see what they missed in real time. Broadcasters also get to choose whether their video link is sent out on Twitter.

Meerkat defenders like that the app allows users to schedule a broadcast in advance. This means they are given a link to their future live broadcast so they can promote the broadcast in advance on other social media sites.

Additionally, Meerkat video links can be embedded into other forms of Internet media, such as a blog post or Facebook page. However, Meerkat videos are only viewable when they are live, so if a follower is busy when the video is broadcasting, they miss out entirely.

How are businesses using livestreaming?

Companies, including a number of brands in the hospitality industry, have been quick to experiment with livestreaming.

In April, Hilton Hotels Corp. used Periscope to livestream a Nick Jonas concert from the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. The event was reported to be the first time a live concert was broadcast via the app in its entirety.

Not every company, however, has the budget to pull in a chart-topping singer.

Luxury hotel group Dolce Hotels & Resorts has gone another route. Every Wednesday, Dolce hosts Periscope live-chats with customers. Along the same lines, cell phone company T-Mobile livestreams almost daily, offering personal chats with company executives and highlights of its products.

Another company outside the hospitality industry experimenting with livestreaming is Ralph Lauren, which used Periscope to livestream its Spring/Summer 2016 fashion show in New York over large screens in London’s Piccadilly Circus.

How can livestreaming be used for marketing hotels?

There are numerous ways savvy and creative hoteliers might use Periscope or Meerkat to market their property.

The most obvious way is to livestream property tours, making sure to highlight important features such as conference rooms or restaurants. These tours could be for more than just guests; they could also be for event planners, travel bloggers, and members of the media.

Outside of tours, hotels could livestream the preparation of a signature dish or an exclusive spa treatment.

Hotel marketers also can use livestreaming to demonstrate why their area is an important destination to visit by broadcasting local events or attractions that draw in tourists or are popular with locals.

But the question remains: Is Periscope and Meerkat right for your hotel? The answer depends on what you are trying to accomplish, and who you are trying to reach, with the livestreaming apps.

The bulk of both apps users are in the 16 to 34 year old age range. The higher tier of this range are Millennials — a demographic that devours social media and technology. Hotels that want to attract this generation (and it’s growing economic clout) could do worse than test cutting-edge technologies.

For hotels, livestreaming apps offer the opportunity to invite guests in, giving them an interactive and personal experience with the hotel. As with other forms of social media, it can build relationships and give prospective guests a familiarity with your brand and its offerings.

 


By Abi Mandelbuam, co-founder and CEO, YouVisit, New York City

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