Promotion is one of several methods of Twitch growth, but it is tricky to do it right. People tend to be turned off by people who are overly promotional, but without some self-promotion, it will be harder for people to find your stream.
The purpose of this article is to help you find the right balance so that you can attract people to your channel as you learn how to grow on Twitch.
How to Promote Your Twitch Stream
Before you promote your stream, you need to understand who you are and what you want your stream brand to be. Part of creating your brand is a solid understanding of who your target audience will be and where they hang out online.
Don’t compare your success with bigger streamers. Most of them have teams of people helping them with their promotion, marketing, and outreach. They have also been streaming long enough to have extra money that they can use to get their name and brand out there.
It is a good idea to keep an eye on what they are doing and what things have brought them success. While you shouldn’t copy them, they may inspire you to market yourself on a smaller scale.
Twitch Promotion Tools
While Twitch is notoriously known for not having in-built tools for promoting your stream, there are a few things you can do to make it a little more likely that people will click through to your stream:
Channel Branding
It’s also crucial to create distinctive branding for your channel. Your branding is a great place to start when trying to grow your channel. It’s best to have a consistent theme or color palette. Creating familiar, consistent, and unique publication materials for your channel will help people to remember you and your channel and will help them come back to your content. This includes your thumbnail, logo or display picture, banner, etc.
Make sure that your thumbnail is appealing and interesting. When Eljayem_ began to stream, he used a unique green screen background that compelled people to stop in and comment on it. Take the time to look at how your thumbnail looks. If your webcam is covered by the Live icon, move it. Have a couple of friends look at it to see if anything can be improved.
Game Selection
Choose games where you will be seen in the top 3-5 rows of the game category. If you play over-saturated games as a new streamer, it will be very difficult for you to be found organically. You can also take advantage of a new game release. Be one of the first people to stream the game to potential viewers who are looking to purchase the game but want to see its graphics and gameplay first.
Boost This Stream/Hype Trains
Eligible channels will be able to set up a channel reward that will allow viewers to work together to boost a stream on the front page. Some people enjoy looking for these streams because they know that there are strong communities behind them. In the same way, Hype Trains will boost your stream to the front page as well.
Bonus: Engage with the Gaming community
As a new streaming channel, it’s important to socialize with fellow streamers and content creators whenever you have the chance. Attending gaming or streaming events will also give you a chance to mingle with other creators to discuss streaming ideas. This will help build a network and hopefully establish collaborations with other Twitch streamers on their Twitch channels.
Where to Advertise a Twitch Stream
It’s evident that social media platforms heavily influence people. You can use this to your advantage as a Twitch streamer. It’s ideal for creating social media accounts dedicated to your Twitch channel. This is a great way to connect, update, and direct your viewers to your channel for upcoming content and streams.
Regardless of where you choose to promote yourself, you should make sure to follow the rules of each platform or group. Spamming links to your channel will not make a good impression, and very few people will follow them.
While each platform has pros and cons, if you spend some time on market research, you will be better set up for future success. Choose 1-2 of the following social media platforms to really focus your social outreach:
Promote Your Twitch Channel on YouTube
It is easier to build an audience on YouTube than it is on Twitch. There is a better search algorithm, and people are interested in looking at highlights and edited compilations. That being said, to really grow on YouTube, you do need to put out quality content. Watch YouTube videos about editing or take a class on SkillShare.
Here are a few things you can do to grow your audience:
Create educational tutorials about new games that come out. Fill them with relevant information that isn’t being covered by everyone else.
Edit comedic compilations or highlights of your gameplay. If you focus on smaller, indie games, you are more likely to be seen early on.
Publish at least once per week. YouTube is more likely to promote your videos if you consistently publish them.
Ask for constructive feedback on your videos and continually strive to make them better. At the end of each video, give a call to action to your Twitch channel. This type of promotion offers value to the viewer first. If they like your content, they may follow your Twitch channel and may eventually subscribe.
Example of YouTube Promotion
EverythingShemerson built his YouTube channel before he ever started streaming on Twitch. His videos on Albion Online were for a niche game, were creatively edited, and had an educational purpose.
Promote Your Twitch Channel on Twitter
Twitter is the best social platform to build as a streamer. It is a great platform for networking with other streamers and following the top brands in the industry. Here are a few ways you can utilize the platform:
Create Sharable Memes
Think of something that will resonate with the gaming community. This will create a lot of engagement which will help you grow your channel.
Shout Out Raids
If you are raided, create a shout-out at the end of your stream to the other streamer to thank them.
Share, Retweet, or Like Other’s Posts
If you engage on accounts similar in size to yours, you’ll often find that people will return the favor.
Twitter has a character cap that makes shout-outs short and sweet. You will be able to learn how to perfect your posts to bring in the most engagement.
Twitter is also a massive platform for brands and sponsors for streams. Follow those who you want to potentially work with so that you can be updated with their new products and services.
Promote Your Twitch Channel On Reddit
Promoting yourself on a subreddit can be a powerful thing to do, though you do need to be careful. Most subreddits don’t allow promotion of any kind (unless you advertise), so make sure to read the instructions before you do anything. That being said, you can grow using Reddit in a few ways.
Be active on the Twitch subreddit. Create discussion threads, answer questions, and participate in conversations. While you can’t drop your link in this subreddit, you can add your Twitch name as your flare.
Find niche games with a following and participate in chat. Casually mention that you stream the game occasionally, but don’t overdo it.
Create a campaign on a game and request users’ input. Message them afterward if you use their ideas in your stream.
Post images in the game’s subreddit if you reach achievement or create something amazing. Mention that you reached the milestone while streaming. Again, don’t overdo this.
Example of Subreddit Promotion
Our Partner Lachlan promoted his stream using Reddit. He created a campaign on XCom and contacted the subreddit for character-creation ideas. He messaged each person who submitted an idea personally and let them know when they were used on the stream. Several Redditors visited his channel to watch their character in action. You can read the whole story in his article about how to stream on Twitch.
Promote Your Twitch Channel on TikTok
TikTok is another social network that revolves around visual videos. Going viral on TikTok has launched many online careers. TikTok is also sharable on other social platforms, making it easy to create content for two different platforms. TikTok videos tend to get a lot of engagement on Facebook and Instagram.
TikTok is a great platform for Just Chatting streamers who have a physical presence. While short clips of gaming don’t generally do well on TikTok, short memes, dancing, and live music typically do well.
A good example of TikTok done well is Alanya Demuri. She creates short clips on TikTok, then posts them to both her Facebook page and her Instagram, where they get even more views. That way, she has the chance it being shared on three different platforms. Several of her videos are very creative.
Promote Your Twitch Channel on Instagram
Instagram is a great platform for streamers who are into art, cosplay, and IRL streams. Posting images of yourself in your environment or places that you visit (for travel streamers) can build a large following. Many people follow people on Instagram to see another way of life, get reviews about different products or services, or enjoy artistic photographs.
An important point to remember on Instagram is to post regularly. You will want to stay active on this platform in terms of posts, stories, reels, replying to comments, and more. This will increase your reach and engagement to help you pull a broader audience.
Promote Your Twitch Channel with Facebook
It takes a lot of time and effort to build an organic Facebook page as a streamer. For that reason, we don’t recommend it for new streamers unless they are using it as another place to post TikTok videos or use Restream to broadcast on both Twitch and Facebook.
You can also create a Facebook group for your channel and your audience to engage with them more personally. In addition, you can join other Facebook groups to promote your channel. This can help you gain more viewers but of course, it’s not guaranteed.
While there are a few good Facebook groups (such as the Twitch.tv Streamers Facebook page) for Twitch streamers, they are better for networking than they are for growing organic viewers. Once you have been streaming for a while, try creating a Facebook page and promote it from your other socials.
Promote Your Twitch Channel On Your Website
Creating a website related to your Twitch channel is also a great way to promote your Twitch content. Your website visitors can see relevant content like your live streaming schedule, games you stream, etc. What’s more, you can embed social media content on your website and encourage people to follow you on those channels to see more of your content.
Curate the Perfect Streaming Schedule
Promoting your channel on other social media platforms is vital to gain traction and help introduce your content and channel to new people. However, all those efforts may be in vain if you don’t have a regular streaming schedule.
The best way to grow your channel is still to stream regularly. A frequent streaming schedule will help current and new viewers to keep up with your channel and know when you are streaming on Twitch.
Why Promotion is Important to Your Twitch Growth
Promotional marketing is important to your Twitch growth to put your channel out there for other people to find. New streamers have a difficult time getting their foot in the door, and networking and promotion will help potential followers see them.
Promoting your channel to find viewers will potentially give you the following rewards:
Affiliate/Partner Status
Both Affiliate and Partner status will unlock features that will help you grow and monetize your channel. While it could take a few months to reach Partner status on Twitch, even with proper planning, the grind can become lucrative.
Sponsorships
If companies can see that you are effective in marketing yourself, they will be more likely to partner with you. When you are taking the initiative to grow your brand, they will see the overall potential in what you can do. There are many gaming sponsorships in the space that you may be able to work with in the future.
Monetization
If you want to stream on Twitch as a potential career, you need to market yourself to grow your channel. However, if you monetize – whether through donations through viewers or potential sponsors- you need a thriving channel.
Conclusion
Promotion is necessary for growing your Twitch channel. Start out small, but continually track your engagement, find out what works, then double down on the process.
Eventually, when you earn money, you can hire an expert to help you streamline the process. Now that you know how to promote your Twitch channel, we hope you find success and gain a wider audience as your channel grows!
Chris is a digital marketer with a strong background in small business and influencer branding. He applies his knowledge of content and promotional strategies to design actionable advice for new and intermediate streamers. When he’s not busy crunching analytics, he can be found in the salt pits of League of Legends.
