Are you a new streamer who’s looking for Twitch stream promotion tips?
Well, I’m not surprised…
Online streaming has been an increasingly popular way to broadcast your video game content for a few years now.
I mean, Twitch.tv, the most prominent online broadcasting platform, has over 140 million unique monthly viewers and just under 3 million unique broadcasters each month.
Twitch is particularly big in the gaming world; the average Twitch viewer spends 106 minutes per day watching Twitch–that’s almost 3 hours!
Twitch’s popularity has grown so much that many of Twitch’s top broadcasters are gamers who had no previous online streaming experience.
People like Twitch streamer Summit1G, who was a Counter Strike: Global Offensive pro gamer for an organization before he became big on Twitch.
Or current Twitch star Lirik, who started streaming after his World of Warcraft guild fell apart and Twitch helped him escape his depression.
But Twitch broadcasting is harder than it looks, too; Twitch streamers regularly spend hours upon hours each day trying to land their broadcasts in front of large audiences who watch for upwards of 3 hours per day.
Streaming is hard, but using the right Twitch stream promotion strategies can help.
A lot.
It’s important to remember, though, Twitch promotion can mean a lot of things, but for this article I’m focusing on the kinds of Twitch stream promotion strategies that new broadcasters might find useful.
Ready?
Let’s jump in…
1. Start a YouTube Channel
You can never go wrong with good old-fashioned blogging.
A lot of Twitch broadcasters started out by blogging about their favorite games, showing off their best gameplay moments, or just sharing whatever they thought the web might find interesting.
It’s a great way to build a small following that you can then begin to leverage toward your streaming content.
And, of course, with all the money in the world going into producing high-quality YouTube videos, it’s a great way to get your name out there.
Not to mention, because search engines have a hard time distinguishing between blogs and videos, you can use your blog to drive traffic to your Twitch channel.
Promote Your Twitch
2. Build a Discord Community
Discord is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to communicate with other gamers online.
Discord is a chat app that you can easily use to start up a server for your Twitch stream and get a little community going.
In fact, the top 200 Discord servers have over 25,000 members.
That’s a pretty big audience you can leverage to begin building up hype around your Twitch content.
And since it’s built by gamers for gamers, there are countless tools all designed to make your life easier.
For instance, you can create custom bots that will help people in your Discord server identify when you go live or notify them of when they should tune into your channel to see something special.
3. Use YouTube Annotations to Promote Your Twitch Stream
I’m sure you’ve seen YouTube annotations before.
They’re the little prompts that pop up in the lower third of the screen when someone uploads a video, and they can be used to drive users toward other videos or features within the video itself.
Did you know, though, that you can use YouTube annotations to drive traffic toward your Twitch channel?
It’s true, and it couldn’t be simpler.
A video can only have 3 annotations, so make sure at least one of them is promoting your Twitch stream.
Use a picture of yourself and a call-to-action like “Click here to see me live!”
You can use the other 2 annotations to link to other videos on your YouTube channel or to other social networks.
When viewers click these annotations, they’ll be taken to your Twitch stream–simple as that!
Advertise Your Twitch Channel
4. Use Twitter Cards to Drive Traffic Toward Your Channel
Do you have a large Twitter following?
If so, you’re in luck.
Twitter cards are a feature that Twitter just recently rolled out to all their users, and they’re especially valuable for getting your Twitch stream in front of more eyes.
Basically, Twitter cards are just simple snippets that can be linked directly into someone’s tweets if they write something relevant to your Twitch channel.
For instance, if you play Hearthstone on your stream, someone might tweet “I’m about to crush the Arena with this brand new deck!”
When they do, you can retweet their post and attach a Twitter card that says “Click here to watch me play this deck live on Twitch!”
It’s a great way to drive more eyes to your Twitch channel.
5. Use Facebook Ads to Promote Your Channel
Did you know that it’s actually possible for new streamers to use Facebook ads?
I’m not sure why this is the case, but basically, all you have to do is create a Facebook page for your Twitch stream and then select “Promote” on the left side of your page.
You can then pay to boost posts that link back to your Twitch channel.
As long as you’re not spamming Facebook with too many updates, the people who like your page should actually be pretty receptive to these ads, and it’s a great way for new streamers looking for their first subscriber to get the ball rolling.
“How do I promote my Twitch stream?”
6. Promote Your Twitch Stream on Reddit
Believe it or not, you can actually promote your Twitch stream on Reddit!
In fact, /r/live is a subreddit that’s specifically dedicated to streaming and serves as a great source of promotion for any new streamers. All you have to do is find the “Live” section on Reddit, which is usually located near the top of the page.
You don’t have to post links back to your Twitch channel every time you go live.
In fact, it’s probably better if you just use this subreddit as a way to get feedback from other users in terms of what they’d like to see from you.
However, if you give them something special, like a giveaway or some really cool piece of content that’s exclusive to your Twitch stream, then it doesn’t hurt to mention that they can catch the same thing live on your channel.
If you do this enough times and provide value for these redditors by promoting interesting content, it’s actually possible to build up a significant following over time.
Of course, the best way to do this is probably by only posting about your channel when you have good reason.
For instance, if you’re giving away an awesome new video game or hosting a charity event for a cause that’s near and dear to your heart, then it’s totally appropriate to post a link back to your Twitch channel.
However, don’t start spamming the subreddit with links every time you go live, and make sure to actually contribute content that encourages discussion as well.
Free Twitch Promotion
7. Promote Your Twitch Stream on Forums and Other Communities
Finally, it’s also a good idea to promote your new Twitch stream in other communities that are relevant to your interests.
Reddit is great for this, but there are plenty of forums out there dedicated to different topics like video games, sports, news media, and more.
All you have to do is find one of these forums and look for an “off-topic” section, where people tend to hang out and discuss things that aren’t necessarily related to the topic at hand.
For example, if you’re a fan of video games, there’s a good chance that people will be interested in checking out your Twitch stream if you drop by the “off-topic” section of a video game forum and tell them what you’re streaming.
Of course, it’s important not to spam these communities with links back to your Twitch channel.
That definitely won’t go over well!
Instead, try to promote yourself in an intelligent way that adds value for the people who frequent these communities.
Specifically, find a way to share some of your content or stream highlights with them so that they can get an idea of what you’ve got to offer.
Even though the main purpose is to drive more viewership back to your own Twitch channel, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t try and contribute to these communities as well.
Yes, you might actually come across a few people who decide to check out your Twitch stream because of this, but it’s probably not worth blowing off the community in order to chase after them.
Instead, be active and engage with people around these topics so that they can get a better idea of what you’re all about.
In conclusion:
There are several other communities that you can promote your Twitch stream on, but these should definitely get the ball rolling.
And if you really want to drive more contributions back to your own channel, then it’s best to only share links when you have an actual reason to do so.
For example, if you’re attending a special Twitch stream convention or throwing your own live marathon, then don’t be afraid to make the most of this opportunity.
See you on Twitch!
And, as always, have fun gaming!
-The Zombie Writing Team