One of the most significant factors in success on Twitch is consistency. You want to be around as much as possible, interacting with your community and creating an audience for yourself. Read on to learn more about how to grow your brand and audience on Twitch, Youtube, and Facebook.
Pay Attention To Analytics
How are people watching your channel? Do they watch the whole stream, or just click over to watch a few minutes? How long do you need to keep people watching before they start to drop off?
Look at your analytics and figure out why people are staying or leaving. Then, figure out what you can do to get people to stay.
You can find these analytics in a few different places. Check out end-of-stream reports or the analytics dashboard on Streamlabs.com. Toggle to advanced view to look at more advanced stats. There are also public tracking sites like SullyGnome.com or TwitchTracker.com that can help see how you’re doing next to other streamers, and you can also set benchmarks.
Try experimenting! Try different types of content, different camera angles, different games, etc.
All of those other things can help you to figure out what works and what doesn't. Looking at your data and analytics can give you a lot of insight into what your audience wants and doesn’t want.
Ten Tips For Growth
1. Find Your Niche
First, you’ve got to find a niche that’s not already popular. Don’t try to copy a streamer that’s already popular. There are too many people out there to compete with. You will have to be creative and also authentic. Don’t decide on a persona that isn’t who you are because it will take too much work to be someone you’re not constantly.
To find your niche, you’re going to have to look at the top streamers and see what’s missing. What’s the same? Where are they lacking? There’s a lot of room for creativity, so don’t get discouraged.
2. Build a Brand
You’ll need a distinctive name and logo to get started. If you can afford it, hire a designer to make you a logo. It might be expensive upfront, but it’s an investment that will pay off over time. Alternatively, Streamlabs has an excellent logo maker that allows you to use a pre-selected library of symbols and icons to create a unique logo in less than 10 minutes.
You’ll need to decide what your brand stands for and what you’re going to do to differentiate yourself. Are you going to be a comedy streamer? A hardcore gamer? A teacher? A streamer for a cause? A combination of these?
This is where your research about the top streamers will come in handy. If you’re a comedy streamer, you’ll need to find your niche. Are you going to be a more PG comedy streamer or a streamer that makes more mature jokes? Are you going to be streaming games or IRL streaming?
If you’re a hardcore gamer, you need to decide what kind of games you’re going to play and how you’ll play them. Are you going to do speed runs? Are you going to be a “let’s play” streamer or a “walkthrough” streamer?
Do some research about what type of streamer you are, and then get to work on your brand’s logo. You’ll want to make attractive overlays for your stream and have the proper setup for your brand.
3. Branch Out To More Platforms
Twitch is the central hub for streaming, but competing platforms are quickly becoming more popular. When it comes to gaining momentum, you’ll find that branching out to more outlets will increase the number of people you can reach.
Using the Streamlabs Multistream feature, you can broadcast your stream to multiple platforms simultaneously. This means more viewers on your stream, which ultimately increases your chances of monetization.
Consider broadcasting your stream to other rising mediums, such as YouTube Live, Facebook Live, YouTube Gaming, and TikTok. While not as popular as Twitch, these streaming platforms are gaining momentum and can help you grow. Furthermore, platforms with fewer streamers may help you gain more attention.
4. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
Most people are afraid to fail, but streamers have got to be different. They love the idea of trying out new things and being creative, so if you’re worried about failing, you’re not going to grow. If you’re wondering how to get more followers on Twitch, you have to be willing to change what you’re doing to attract new viewers.
Don’t just play your game; find a way to engage your viewers. Build a community so that they’re just as invested in your success as you are. The only way to build a community is to be creative and try new things.
5. Collaborate
It is good practice to not look at collaboration with others as a means to an end, but more like a practice of building genuine and authentic relationships. Collaboration is an opportunity to share your stream and community with others and can help you connect with streamers who have similar interests and audiences.
When you work with others, you’ll increase the number of viewers that can potentially find your stream. The more people who see your stream, the higher chance you have of gaining monetization. We created Collab Cam to make it quick and easy to go live with other streamers. Simply send your private Collab Cam link to whoever you want and they’ll be able to join your stream in less than a minute. Multiple streamers going live together always attracts more viewers, so be sure to use this handy tool regularly to increase your reach.
Broadcasting with others is also an opportunity to build a team of streamers to collaborate and grow together. Group up with other streamers and community members who have complementary skills, such as one who’s great at editing and another who’s great at being social and keeping audiences engaged. Learning from each other is a fulfilling way to both build relationships and improve your stream.
There are many communities you can join that are centered around streaming collaboration. You can find them on Twitch, Discord, Reddit, Facebook, and other social media. Remember that quality is better than quantity, so be selective and only join the groups that genuinely appeal to you, rather than joining many and attempting to manage all of them.
6. Try to Reach Affiliate
Wondering how many followers it takes to reach affiliate level on Twitch? There is a bit more to it than that. According to Twitch, to be eligible for Affiliate, you have to:
- Have at least 50 followers.
- Have an average of three (or more) simultaneous viewers over 30 days.
- Have at least 500 total minutes (8 hours and 20 minutes) of stream time within the last 30 days.
- Have broadcasted at least seven different days within the last 30 days.
The most important thing to remember is that your stream will not hit right off the bat. It will take time to get there, but that’s ok. Remember, it took Ninja a long time to get to where he is today.
To help speed things along, try to get involved in the community as much as possible. Interact with your followers, friends, and other streamers. Be genuine, and you’ll be fine.
Another tip is to get a good group of friends to come onto your stream with you. This will help boost your audience, and it will also make you feel more comfortable and less nervous. Try to keep your friends on the channel as much as possible.
7. Stream the Game You're Best At
Now that you’ve found your niche, brand and made some goals, you need to choose a game.
Streaming is heavily reliant on how many people are streaming the game you are playing, so this is a massive part of the success of your stream. If you already have a large enough audience, you can branch out and play any game you want. If not, you’ll have to stick to a game that has a large audience.
It's a great idea to play a game that you're good at. It's much more rewarding and will keep you motivated to develop your skills. Just because you’re good at a game doesn’t mean it will automatically have an audience, but it’s a great start.
People like to watch people be good at things. Remember not only to stream the game but also make a point to have an entertaining stream! If you’re not a professional gamer, try to be funny and engaging!
8. Engage Your Audience
You can’t have a stream without an audience, so first, you’ve got to build one! One way to build an audience is through other social media. Find suitable hashtags, and engage with those posts and threads. Provide others will valuable feedback/support, and they will likely appreciate it.
If you make a good impression, they may follow you back. You can even build your own hashtag for your stream. Something unique to you and your stream that others can search for and follow your stream.
Try to get your stream on Twitch’s main page to get many unique viewers, which can be achieved by making a lot of quality content with an impressive stream and a unique appearance.
Once you have your audience, a great way to keep them from leaving your stream is to talk to them while you play. This is called talking to the “chat,” and you’ll need to get good at it. Like most things, practice makes perfect.
First, you’ll need a good microphone. There are a lot of great microphones out there that are inexpensive. You can get a good one for around 030.
Next, you’ll need to talk to your audience. Don’t be afraid to get personal, but don’t make it about you. Your viewers want to know about you, but more importantly, they want to know you care about them. This is the number one mistake new streamers make. They are selling their channel, not themselves or their content. If you want to build a following, you’ve got to start by being a natural person.
Then, set up a Discord channel, where you can chat with the community and build relationships. Don’t worry; it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just be yourself and answer questions from your fans. You can also post a link to your stream on Twitter and Reddit.
9. Make Sure You’ve Got Your Basics Covered
Streaming is very different from the traditional way of making a video, and you’ll have to learn how to do it. Luckily, you don’t need expensive equipment to get started, and you can know how to do it on your own. It’s easier than it seems.
Here are some basics:
A. Software — You can start using a free service like Streamlabs Desktop. Streamlabs is very user-friendly and has many features, such as the multistream feature mentioned in section 3.
B. Hardware — You don’t need a lot of hardware to start streaming. All you need is a good computer and a decent internet connection. If you’re playing more graphic intensive games, you will need a great graphics card and a powerful processor. This is because streaming and playing games can be pretty stressful for your computer.
C. Cameras — You can use either a webcam or a capture card. It doesn’t matter which you use, as long as it’s good. Make sure your camera isn’t blurry, and consider your lighting.
D. Lighting — Lighting is the most crucial thing in your camera setup. Make sure your camera can see your face well. Watch some successful streamers and check out how they’ve set up their lighting.
E. Microphone — Don’t skimp on the microphone, it’s an essential piece of equipment, and it will make or break you! You don’t need to go all out and buy a 0300 microphone, but you certainly will want a good enough microphone that your audience can understand you.
F. Editing Software — You don’t need any editing software to start, but as your channel becomes more popular, you’re going to need some serious editing software to cut the time spent on your videos down. This tip is mainly for those who use YouTube, but editing software is excellent for uploading videos of your streams, too. There are great tools for this, such as streamlabs.com/cross-clip
G. Setup — You might need to tweak your setup, so it’s important to know that there is much room for creativity here. Check out other streamer’s channels for inspiration.
10. Give Away Freebies
Streamers do giveaways for a few reasons. The first is to keep viewers watching, and the second is to give viewers a reason to come back.
If you start with a great giveaway, you are much more likely to gain followers. If you are giving away freebies, think about your niche and what you could give to benefit your viewers.
Try to give away something that would be helpful for what they are trying to do. For example, if you’re a streamer of sports tips and tricks, try giving away sports equipment. If you’re a makeup artist, try giving away makeup. If you’re a streamer trying to help people with their businesses, try giving away office supplies or things like that.
These giveaways help you build your brand, build your audience, and give people a reason to come back. Gifting can be a powerful tool, and it should not be overlooked. Streamlabs offers a unique giveaway tool through their merch feature, which allows you to giveaway some of your merch while engaging your viewers in chat.
11. Just Start!
Once you’ve got your channel set up and you’re ready to go, you’ll want to start with a couple of test runs and make sure that everything works the way you want it to.
Make sure your audio is clear, your video is working, and the lighting is good. Also, make sure you have fun with it. The whole point of streaming is having fun and making a name for yourself by being a personality.
Conclusion
This guide is meant to teach you how to get followers on Twitch fast. To grow big on Twitch, you need to network yourself and put a lot of effort into developing your persona and brand. Follow these ten tips to help get your stream started! Remember to constantly check your data and analytics to find ways to improve your stream and videos.