In the past If there was a new game released that you were interested in, you had to visit someone who had the game and watch them play it. Nowadays it is very simple, you go to Twitch and check out the new game while others are streaming it in real time.
Streamer’s can make money on Twitch from ad revenue, donations, and subscriptions. In this article you will learn how to promote your Twitch stream. And become a successful Twitch streamer.
Set Goals For Your Channel
With any successful endeavor, it all started with someone setting goals. And creating a strategy towards achieving those goals. With that said there are tons of people that start to stream on Twitch everyday. In order for you to rise from the ashes and differentiate yourself from the rest. You also have to set goals for yourself and the direction of your Twitch stream.
Keep your goals clear, concise and put a time-limit. Your goals should be aimed at creating high quality content to gain more views and subscribers. A goal example would be “Stream 4 times a week”, “Get 1,000 subscribers in 12 months”. You can access data about your Twitch stream through your stream analytics tool. This will allow you to keep track of your results and milestones for your stream.
Promote Your Stream On Social Media
The 80/20 rule also applies on your Twitch stream. 20% of your time must be spent on streaming to your channel, planning and creating content for your audience. The rest of the 80% will be spent on promoting yourself on various social media platforms.
Always post on your social media accounts when you are live. Use relevant hashtags so that your post will be seen by people who follow those hashtags. Your activity across the social media platforms plays a very huge role in your stream’s growth.
When starting out you may have little to no followers across your social media accounts. You will need more time in promoting your stream on social media groups and forums related to your content.
You must be active in those groups and forums and contribute to their community and not spam them with your Twitch link. The more helpful you are in these groups and forums will increase the attention they will give back to you. It is vital that you are active across many platforms as possible.
Below are some of the platforms you can use in promoting your Twitch stream.
Promoting your Twitch stream on Twitter can be very beneficial to you. Even without any following on Twitter you can still reach a lot of people by using relevant hashtags when posting a tweet. Twitter’s age demographics usually are young. Twitter can show you to your target audience better than most of the social media platforms out there. You have to research what hashtags are perfect for you and your stream to be seen by those who are also interested in what your content is all about.
Twitter is also one of the easiest social platforms to create and post content which can be shared easily for all the users. Make sure to post captivating and highly shareable content. It is also one of the few platforms that allow you to easily find your audience. If you consistently post content on twitter that is very relevant to your audience, you can gain followers quickly.
When you start streaming you should always post on twitter so that your target audience can see that you are live on Twitch. When you are not streaming make sure to create posts that your audience will like and is related to the content you are creating on your Twitch stream. If you only post on your Twitter your Twitch stream many people will not be interested in following you. Because you don’t post relevant content that they will like or share.
YouTube
Another great platform to share your content is YouTube. YouTube can be a promotional tool and it can also generate income for you. You can post highlights of your stream on your YouTube channel. The same as streaming you also have to be consistent with producing high quality content on your YouTube channel.
The best way to use YouTube as a promotional platform is by uploading memorable moments on your stream. These include special achievements and funny things that happened on your Twitch stream.
A great example of stream highlights is posted below.
Every time you upload or post on social media platforms make sure to include your Twitch channel. Post the link on the description of the post or video to direct the audience to your Twitch channel.
Discord
Discord is an instant messaging platform for creating communities dedicated to gamers. Users communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging in private chats or as part of communities called “servers”.
Most of the top streamers use Discord as a way to communicate with their audience and followers. If you want a loyal audience for your Twitch stream make sure to create a discord server for your stream.
Discord also has the ability to host videos on your servers. You can use it to display your live stream and also your highlights. Discord is a great way to connect with your audience and followers and build a community among them.
When starting out it is also a great way to take part in servers related to your content. This is a great way to promote your stream to other servers because they have already established a large community on Discord. This will help you get some viewers to your Twitch stream.
Online forums like reddit are a great way to promote your Twitch stream. Reddit has thousands of subreddits dedicated to a specific hobby, niche or game. Each subreddit has their own active community.
You should be active in subreddits that are related to your stream. You should be posting relevant topics on the subreddit. And not just promoting your Twitch stream. If you are very active and helpful on the subreddit then it will be very beneficial for you and your Twitch stream. Because they will follow you because you are known in the subreddit community.
When you are aiming to grow your Twitch stream you must be very active on many social media platforms. Not just the ones listed above. It is vital that you find a community that is relevant to your stream. Be helpful and be active as much as possible to them. This will make the community trust you and make it easier for them to subscribe to your stream. Being in a community can get you your most loyal subscribers. Because they already know who you are and they are always interacting with you on various social media platforms.
Twitch
We covered most of the big social media platforms but one of the communities you should be also active in is Twitch, yes Twitch!
Try visiting other streams and start chatting with their viewers and the streamer. Don’t spam your twitch stream, just interact naturally, be kind and be helpful. Build a relationship with other streamers so that in the future you can both collaborate.
If you can build relationships with other streamers you can both play games together. You can stream together. This will help you gain attention from their subscribers. They can also get attention from your subscribers so it is a win-win for the both of you.
Networking
Networking can be very beneficial to the growth of your Twitch stream. It is also one of the most powerful ways you can grow your subscribers and views. It will take a lot of time and effort but it will be worthwhile.
You can attend Twitch events and conventions. Attending conventions is a great way to build relationships with other streamers fast. Because you meet in real life and you can bond with them faster than when you are online.
The key to networking is to treat everyone as your friends and not as a way to get yourself promoted. Building relationships with other streamers is a great way to meet new friends that have the same goals as you do. Always be helpful so that they can see your value.
Conclusion
Growing your Twitch stream is not an easy task, it takes months or even years to be successful at it. Keeping these guidelines in mind will help you with your journey of becoming a successful Twitch streamer. Most of the successful streamers you see now started the same as you with no followers and nobody knows who they were.
There were also streamers that started with them but we never knew their names. Because they did not put in the effort to create high quality content and promote their Twitch streams like the ones who did attain success.
Always work harder than everyone else and keep promoting your stream. Don’t get discouraged and be consistent always. All of the hard work will eventually pay off. For a guide on how to setup your Twitch channel check out our Beginner’s Guide To Twitch Streaming article.