Heads up! The latest social media darling has arrived, and it’s taking tech blogs and SXSW roundups by storm. In our Dissecting Digital series, we give you quick tips to make an informed decision about how you should or should not fold this into your digital strategy. Today’s topic? Meerkat.
Meerkat is a live video-streaming app for iOS that allows the user to share what’s going on around them. Streams can’t be watched once they’re over—this is ‘ephemeral’ video (think Snapchat). Users need a Twitter account to sign up, and all activity on Meerkat is linked to Twitter. When a user taps “stream” from the Meerkat home screen, a tweet is sent out on their Twitter handle. Be sure to add context in the text box above to increase interest in your stream (“Monologue rehearsal. 2” below).
Users can also schedule streams in advance and add a photo to the announcement tweet, which appears as part of a web card when followers click to expand the tweet. A second tweet won’t be sent at the scheduled time your stream starts. Tweet a reminder to get followers to tune in when your stream actually starts.
Once the stream is over, broadcasters can save videos to their iPhone’s photo album.
As a viewer, you can see how many people are watching the live stream, and can participate in the conversation happening around it. When you “like” the stream, you also favorite the broadcaster’s tweet. When you comment, you send an @ reply from your Twitter handle to their tweet announcing the stream. This means that while the video itself is ephemeral, the conversation and engagement that happens around it is not.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. There’s always pressure to go after the new, shiny social object, but it’s important to think about whether the platform maps back to your overarching social strategy. Are you doing it to be the first, or are you doing it because it presents a unique opportunity to achieve your goals?
Consider what is truly valuable to your audience. We love the unprecedented, authentic access that Meerkat can give to an organization’s ethos. Streams should be relevant to the average consumer. A glimpse at your sold out event is exciting, but showing the crowd gathering to get in is probably less compelling. Here are a few ideas that could help you create an intimate connection with followers:
- Take your audience to a remote location where you do on-the-ground work, where the heart of an election issue exists, where your brand reaches and their imaginations never have.
- Show your executive’s inspiring speech, or your creative director’s process at play.
- Give a tour of your unique office environment, production facility, neighborhood, or fundraising gala.
You may have a great idea for a broadcast, but equally important is the copy that hooks people to get them watching. Don’t just describe what’s happening; make it sound like something they can’t miss! Even better, there’s no need to devote precious characters to a CTA. The ask is implicit in the tweet.
Have fun with ephemerality, and be sure your followers can too. Streams during work hours will probably go unnoticed if your audience is among the 9 to 5 set. Grab their attention in the morning, during lunch and after office hours.
No one is expecting perfection in an app’s infancy, but test runs are always a good idea. We’ve seen that the Meerkat camera zooms in more than many realize. Take a step back to capture the full frame before your subject’s head is cut off in your stream.
Streams we’ve got our eye on: Cory Booker, DoSomething.org, Red Bull, Ashoka.
What’s getting you excited about Meerkat? Let us know by tweeting @BSD (or tweeting us a Meerkat).