Well, I must say, I think I’m hooked.

Last week, I wrote a post about Meerkat and Periscope, two new apps that are getting a lot of attention right now. They are social networks that allow you to live-stream video to your twitter following.

I finally did my first one last week, and I made a few major mistakes, but having done a couple, now, I really get why this is taking off.

First of all, these apps allow you to go places in real time. My friend Eschelle likes to get up in the morning and watch people in Paris sampling jams in the market. You get access to things you’d never be able to have access to–back stage, behind the scenes, in real time. Secondly, the ability for immediate feedback is very powerful. When you’re broadcasting, people can ask you questions (via text), and you can answer or respond, or when you’re watching you can ask questions, and the person broadcasting can respond. It’s immediate gratification and feedback, and that’s very addictive. Thirdly, you don’t have to build a new following. Because Periscope is owned by Twitter, it integrates with your Twitter account. I already have 300 followers on Periscope, and I’ve not really done much with it–but you don’t need followers to get viewers.

Here are some tips on how to use Periscope:

• Download the app
• Login with your twitter account
• To start broadcasting, hit the icon that looks like a camera. Think of a compelling (but accurate) name for your broadcast (for example: LIVE from the Kits Farmer’s Market).
• Periscope then sends a tweet to all your Twitter followers, letting them know you are broadcasting (and it sends a notification to Periscope, as well).
• After you start broadcasting, it’s a great idea to wait a minute before you actually start filming action (if you have a minute). This allows people to join the broadcast, and increases your number of watchers.
• As your broadcasting, people will give you hearts (you do this by tapping your screen), and ask you questions. You can just answer them with your voice on the broadcast. If you want to create engagement, ask them questions, like where are they from?
• To us the front-facing camera (so you can speak directly to the camera/audience), double-tap the screen.
• To finish recording, swipe down.
• In your settings, you can toggle “on” the switch to save the video to your camera roll to use for later. Otherwise, Periscope creates a replay broadcast that’s available for 24 hours.

Using Periscope for Marketing:

Any kind of live event. One of my clients just used the tool this past weekend to broadcast wiener dog races that were part of their annual fair. The list of possibilities for this goes on and on and on–wine tastings, dinners, award ceremonies, concerts, etc. @HelloBC, for example, is live-broadcasting the halftime shows during the Women’s FIFA World Cup here in Vancouver.

Behind the scenes. We’re starting to see a lot of celebs doing this, and it’s powerful stuff. Imagine you could be backstage with your fave rock star right before they go on stage. You can do that with this tool.

DIYs & How-tos. Show people how to do something. I recently made a Periscope video showing people how to make falafel. The funny thing is, my recipe was a huge failure, which is the risk you run when you live-stream stuff like this, but it was still a really fun experience.

Real Estate. If you know me well, you’ll know that I am not a fan of how people in real estate tend to use social media. However, this tool could really change that. Real Estate agents now have the ability to take clients (one or many) through a house, remotely, and be able to answer questions while doing it.

Interviews. This takes interviewing to the next level, because your audience can ask the person you’re interviewing questions in real time.

Is Periscope the second coming of social media marketing? There are still a lot of things that need to be addressed with this really new app. For example, the quality of video can be really bad, due to the handheld, shaky nature of the beast. Second, like any other social network, there are lots of people out there broadcasting what I would consider to be “noise,” and not really something useful. And the app itself certainly could use some improvements. I have not, for example, been able to do a live broadcast outside of wifi for some reason, and whenever I do a broadcast, it kills the battery on my phone really fast.

Having said all of that, it’s pretty interesting stuff.

Have you used Periscope or Meerkat yet? Please tell me about your experience in the comments below.