Ultra.
There’s never been a better time to be a streamer, and mobile is no exception. Audience sizes and hours watched continue to rise, but that begs the question, how do you stand out and make your stream unique as a mobile streamer? In this article, we’ll break down some tips to gain viewers and keep them coming back.
Setup
Before you can grow your channel, you need to set up your stream. On mobile, this process is especially easy. Like Streamlabs Desktop but for your mobile device, our app lets you go live in minutes with all the widgets from Streamlabs like the alert box, chat box, and recent events. Download it here on the App Store and here on the Play Store.
While the startup cost for mobile streamers is significantly less than it is on desktop (one of the reasons why mobile streaming has taken off), it’s still a worthwhile investment to make sure you are using a clear microphone. Especially on mobile, viewers come to hear you, so make sure they can!
Included in setup is the actual setup of your stream. With the Streamlabs mobile app, you’re able to add professional mobile-only themes to your stream, custom images like your logo on stream, and add alerts with the same theming. Whatever you decide, the important thing is to be consistent. If a viewer stops by your stream today and tomorrow, try to make sure they’re looking at the same thing. If your theme colours are different, your camera is in a different place, or you’ve changed your logo, they might not remember you were the same person they enjoyed from last time. Be consistent!
Speaking of your camera, one of the best features of the Streamlabs mobile app on Android is the ability to add a screen source and camera source to your stream simultaneously. That means that viewers can be watching your mobile gameplay and looking at you on camera at the same time.
The important thing to remember, again, is to be consistent. That advice extends beyond your actual stream. When you’re posting on social media, make sure you’re using the same branding as you do on stream. Your objective is to carve out a place in your viewers mind, so whenever they see your content across any medium (like Twitch, Twitter, YouTube, or TikTok), they remember it’s you and come back for more.
Use Trends to Your Advantage
The best streamers have their finger on the pulse of updates, trends, and new tools. Staying up to date with streaming trends gives you the opportunity to use updates to your advantage.
One of the most important aspects of staying on trend is the game you play. While there might be older games that you enjoy playing, there isn’t necessarily an audience for every game. The competition is higher on popular games, but there’s also many more viewers to go around.
Here are a few of the of the most popular mobile games to play on Twitch right now.
- PlayerUnkonwn’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)
- Call of Duty Mobile
- Arena of Valor
- Garena Free Fire
For more information on the best mobile games to play, check out this article.
If you’re streaming IRL, the thinking is the same. Find your niche within your particular category, and use that as a way to grow. For example, shopping streams are growing in popularity, as are travel streams over the last half decade. Maybe the niche you target is a combination of the two, where you review products of which you can’t read the label!
There’s no shortage of ways to make your stream unique, but keeping up to date on the latest industry trends will help carve out a piece of the pie for yourself. As the pie/industry grows, so too will your following.
Keep a Consistent Schedule
Sticking to a consistent schedule will create a sense of expectation and anticipation with your audience. Consistency is especially important when you’re just starting out, hoping to move your channel from one growth milestone to another.
It’s easy to get enthusiastic in the beginning, using the exciting momentum to produce an unsustainable amount of content. Unfortunately, the silence that so often follows can contribute to a disinterested audience.
Keeping a consistent stream is tough, but it’s easier for mobile streamers who can use the Streamlabs mobile app to go live from anywhere at any time. Once you have a consistent stream schedule, make sure you also communicate it to your viewers.
Prioritize Engagement
Viewers might come because of a game you play, but they stay because of YOU. It’s the same with film and television, a plot can only take you so far, at the end of the day you need interesting characters. More important than what you’re doing on stream is what you’re thinking while you do it. Be an open book and speak to your viewers, and, critically, listen when they speak back.
Engaging with your audience is one of the most effective ways to have viewers return. If I’m watching two identical streams and am typing in chat, you can bet that I’d come back to the one where the streamer responds to my messages.
No one expects you to speak all of the time, but consistent effort at communication with viewers can increase engagement. And, when the time comes, it’s important to thank new subscribers for joining your stream, share insights into your strategy, and walk viewers through your thinking as your stream unfolds.
With mobile streaming, this is taken to the next level. Going live IRL is a great way to connect with your fans. Remember, they come to see YOU.
Social Media
There is a myth out there that streamers need to be streaming all day every day. The thinking goes that if someone stops by your stream, you need to be live. The reality, however, is that very few people will ever stop by your stream if they don’t know about your stream, and the best place to tell people about your stream may not be on Twitch.
Social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and especially TikTok offer unparalleled ways to get noticed. Their algorithms are adept at finding the right type of viewers for your videos. A more effective strategy than streaming every spare second you have, then, is to create content for these other platforms as well, and lead those viewers back to your main streaming channel.
One tool that you can use to do just that is called Cross Clip. It allows you to take clips from your stream and create vertical-style videos suitable for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Consider adding Cross Clip to your repertoire as a way to maximize your content on other platforms.
Check out this blog article on Cross Clip for tips on how to increase your social media presence as a streamer.
Incentivize Your Audience
Give your followers a reason to return through various incentive efforts. As a streamer, you have the opportunity to be creative with attracting viewers and rewarding them for their commitment.
For example, you can hold a giveaway contest for members and subscribers, encouraging people to hit the “subscribe” button. Teaming up with sponsors is a great way to get the ball rolling with incentive programs.
Attract Sponsors
Speaking of sponsors, getting a brand on board can help you grow your audience significantly. If your channel already has a decent following, then you can grow your channel further with the help of a sponsor.
When viewers see an official name alongside a streamer’s channel, it helps to add credibility. The endorsement opens you up to additional avenues of revenue - and the mobile app makes it even more accessible.
Leverage Multistream
One of the most effective ways to grow your channel is to multistream to multiple platforms at the same time. For example, if instead of streaming only to Twitch, you multistream to YouTube and Facebook as well, you’re increasing your chances of a potential viewer coming across your content.
On the Streamlabs mobile app, like on Streamlabs Desktop, you have the ability to go live to multiple destinations at the same time with Ultra. When you click ‘Go Live’, toggle on multistream and add additional platforms.
In Conclusion
Hopefully there was something in this article that was new to you, whether it was the need to engage with your audience or how to use social media to attract viewers to your stream. These are just a few of the strategies we’ve seen people use successfully to grow, but every streamer’s journey is different and there is no right way to be successful.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, learn more about our mobile streaming app. And remember, if you’re not a streamer, the first step is just to get started. There’s never a perfect time for anything, but on mobile, the barrier to entry to start streaming is extremely low. All you need is a phone.
Happy streaming!