Live streaming is a great way to increase your online presence, using applications like Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Twitch, Mixer, and many more. You can either choose one or multiple platforms at the same time to live stream your content.
It takes time to build your live stream audience. The challenge will be building your audience. The tips we are about to show you in this article can help you on How to build an audience for your live stream.
Observe Topics That Are Trending
When choosing content to play on your live stream, you will want to choose the latest and popular games that are appealing to your audience. Trending games are probably going to have the attention of the audience.
Check gaming sites and search engines to know the latest trends in the gaming community. Learn what is getting attention from other players. Twitch also shows a list of popular streams among the audience if you need the inspiration to find ideas.
You don’t want to choose games that already have a lot of streamers broadcasting the same game. But if you choose to stream popular games you must make your content unique from the rest of the other streamers.
It is also difficult to compete with established streamers that have covered a particular game for a considerable amount of time. The audience of highly viewed games tends to stick to the streamers they already know. Therefore, you may want to start with less mainstream but still popular games.
Make It A Fun Show
If you want your audience to continue watching and to follow your stream, you need to keep your content entertaining. Have you ever watched a stream for hours and felt interested for the whole time? It is because they follow a structure during their live stream. The same as a TV show would structure their content.
They promote and hype everything to keep you stuck to the monitor. Being energetic during your live stream is fun for the audience. Don’t drag a topic for too long. You have to remember to always keep your live stream entertaining. You must not have a lot of pauses or dead air during your live stream sessions.
Another way you can get your audience entertained during your live stream is to create a contest with a giveaway. You can ask your audience to participate by creating mechanics for them in order to win something from you. This gives them the motivation to continue watching your stream.
In exchange for being active on your stream and sharing your posts, you can offer your audience:
- Prizes related to your content
- Subscription-Based prizes
- Branded Merchandise
- Gift Vouchers
There are literally endless ideas of prizes you can offer your audience and the list could go on and on! Twitch offers subscriber-only streams. You can also use that as a prize for your audience to get on your subscriber-only content.
Interact With Your Audience
Keep The Conversation Going
Don’t just sit while playing your game on a live stream. There will be no reason for other people to watch you. Keeping a conversation with your audience will keep them engaged when watching your live stream.
If you are playing a skill-intensive game. Explain your strategy and what you are doing. When playing something more casual give them a walkthrough and a commentary of your first impressions.
The type of conversation you will have depends on your audience. It is important to know who your audience is, so you can communicate with them more clearly.
Thank New Subscribers On Your Stream
Subscribers and followers are your gauges on your live streaming channel. You should thank them on your stream so they feel they belong in your community. Make sure your audience knows you appreciate them.
Take Game And Song Requests
There is another way to let your audience feel that you care about their opinion. During your live stream, ask them which game they would love for you to play on your next streaming session.
Also if you like to play songs during your stream, you can also ask your audience what music they want to play during your live stream. This allows the audience to interact with you during your stream.
Ask Questions
Finding out your audience’s opinions on topics you are discussing is a great way to get them involved. A live stream is also an opportunity to learn more about your audience. Listening and answering will definitely get them more engaged with you.
Answer Their Questions
You can also tell your audience to send some of their questions. You can reply to some of their questions live. It can also become a way for you to create new content.
If you notice some questions that are frequently asked. You can create a recorded video or an FAQ(Frequently Asked Questions) on your about page. You can also have a live question and answer session that will be directed to all their questions about you and your stream.
Use People’s Names
Additionally, you can greet your viewers by their name or username during your live stream. You are building a close relationship with your audience and their names are relevant. The simple act of mentioning some of their names will set the mood for your stream and make them feel welcomed.
If you are answering your audience’s question, make sure to mention who it’s from. It will encourage other viewers to interact with your stream because they can see you are paying attention.
Interact With Your Followers On Social Media
If you live stream consistently, you will start to grow an audience. Some of your audience will interact with you outside of your live stream. You should share with your audience, where they can find you apart from your live streaming channel.
Even though you are not sharing game-related posts, many followers will be interested in what you are doing when you are not streaming. It is also important to interact with them even when you are not live streaming.
Make Sure Your Equipment Is Good
One vital element that affects your audience’s experience is the quality of your stream. Don’t worry about getting the perfect streaming setup. But you need to make sure that the quality you are giving your audience is more than acceptable. The first thing you need to prioritize is your audio.
A bad video with good audio is forgivable. But having bad audio will make your audience click away from your stream. Also, have a fast internet speed. This will greatly improve your video quality if your upload speed is fast.
Try to go live a few times and test out the quality of your stream.
Collaborate With Other Streamers
One awesome way to grow your audience is to collaborate with someone else. Invite streamers who already have a few followers. Try to find streamers with whom you have something in common. Banter is one of the most entertaining activities that can entertain your audience, especially in multiplayer games.
While live streaming is often a solo journey. It is great to get other streamers in your community to get involved in your stream. You can also be a guest on other live streams. This can give you extra exposure to your potential new audience.
You can also ask your guest to promote and share their appearance on your steam across their social networks. This will introduce you and your content to a new audience that has not seen you before.
If you decide to bring on guests, it is a good idea to meet with your guest ahead of time before you start your live stream. It will help you and your guest to be in the mindset of being live on camera. This will start the stream on the right foot because you already warmed up with your guest beforehand and both of you are relaxed.
Announce On Social Media
Before you start your live streaming session. Make sure to announce it on multiple social media platforms. Let people know when and where they can watch your live stream session. Also, let them know why they should watch your live stream.
Here are a few ways to promote your live stream:
- Create an eye-catching graphic for your promotion
- Publish multiple promotional posts, spread out amongst the days of the week
- Include a hashtag in your post to give it visibility
- Get people to share your post
- Tag people who you know might be interested in your live stream.
Stream Content Consistently
To be successful in any form of content creation, you need to be consistent when starting out. This also applies when starting your live streaming channel. You can create a schedule depending on your own time. But make sure you are always consistent with your schedule so that your viewers will not be disappointed when you are not online.
It is better to maintain a regular short stream than one long stream and be offline for uncertain periods of time.
The audience prefers consistency over irregular streaming schedules. If you can’t commit to a daily stream, it is better to stream once a week.
Apart from streaming consistently. You need to create content that is worth watching. What makes live streaming unique is that people watch because the action is happening in real-time.
Conclusion
Building an audience for your live stream will not happen in one day. It takes time and effort. It will take more time than you might think. The key is to be consistent and be positive. Keep making new content and try to make your sessions better than the last. If you are consistent and try to keep on improving, you will eventually get the audience you want.