Should Brands Advertise On Twitch?

What is Twitch?

Twitch is a live video streaming platform owned by Amazon. Anyone can create a digital account and share a live video of themselves chatting, painting, gaming, crafting, cooking, exercising… or anything else you can think of!. You can also log into Twitch as a viewer. You can join the chat on live videos, subscribe to creators and channels you like, and even donate to support them.

Twitch has grown from a niche video game streaming marketing platform to a global cultural phenomenon in just a few short years. In October 2021, Twitch users viewed an astonishing 1.9 billion hours of footage on the platform – in that one month!

Who are Twitch Streamers?

Anyone can become a streamer… in theory. But there are a few things that every streamer needs:

• Video equipment and software. It doesn’t offer its own video tools; it just gives you a channel to broadcast on.
• Time. Most livestreams  tend to run for at least an hour. To grow your digital audience and earn money, you need to clock up a certain number of hours each month.
• Something unique to offer. Whether it’s skills, knowledge, access to fascinating interview subjects or personality – every streamer has something that makes them stand out.
• An audience. Some features are only available to streamers who have a certain number of followers. Once you have a Twitch channel up and running, there are several different ways to get paid as a streamer.

Creators on Twitch can become affiliates or partners. This means that it offers them extra features and ways to earn, while investing in their marketing success.

• Affiliates have at least 50 followers and stream for at least 500 minutes each month. They can receive donations, recruit paid subscribers, promote games, and receive a share of the money when viewers purchase extra chat features.
• Partners have to fulfill more stringent requirements, such as averaging 75 viewers per stream and streaming at least 12 times a month. They get all the same benefits as affiliates – plus, they earn money from ads that are shown before their content.

How exactly are brands using Twitch?

Gaming tournaments and esports

No surprises here. Many brand accounts have hopped on the gaming bandwagon either through tournaments or livestreams.

Digital events

From music festivals and award shows to dating contests and beyond, a lot of branded Twitch content emulates traditional TV.

Digital events emulate viewers’ sense of FOMO and Twitch is a prime place to host such events thanks to its massive, built-in audience.

How-tos and “classes”

As noted earlier, there’s an audience for just about anything on Twitch. If your brand or product revolves around something you can teach your audience, it’s fair game for streaming.

Interviews and roundtables

Interviews and discussions are low-hanging ways to engage viewers on Twitch that doesn’t require much in terms of production value.

Working with influencers

For traditional brands that don’t have a Twitch presence, sponsored streams represent a smart way to get your products in front of new viewers.

As an added bonus, content creators are typically social-savvy and will therefore find ways that best fit their Twitch presence and personal brand to make a sponsored stream feel fun versus forced.

Philanthropy

Charity streams and fundraising are both huge on it, making it yet another place for brands to put their money toward a good cause.

Twitch ads

And of course, it has its own built-in advertising platform for brands running video ads. Given that viewers have to watch ads for any channel they aren’t subscribers to, there’s tons of real estate to explore.