
People have always loved playing games on the computer. Video game launches have always managed to create quite a buzz. But checking out a new video game in the past was not very easy. Most of the time, you had to look over the shoulders of friends or family members who managed to get the new game. However, things have changed now, thanks to live streaming platforms like Twitch.
Twitch happens to be the largest online video game streaming platform in the world. It was launched in 2011 and managed to hit more than 3.2 million users per month in the first year itself. Three years later, Amazon acquired Twitch, and the platform now has more than 140 million monthly active users.
Did you know that more than 107,000 live broadcasts are happening on Twitch at any given time? As of February 2021, there were about 9.5 million Twitch streamers worldwide. Twitch attracts more than 40 million viewers every month who watch live music, video game broadcasts, and more. Top Twitch streamers earn handsomely, with some even making thousands of dollars every month. It goes on to show that streaming on Twitch could lead to a lucrative career in interactive performances that attract a large audience.
Starting a Twitch channel does not mean that you will automatically start earning a lot of money. A thriving Twitch channel requires consistent hard work, whether you are live streaming or not.
How do you make money on Twitch?
Your ability to earn on Twitch depends largely on the type of user you are. Twitch users can be categorized into:
- Everyday Twitch users
- Twitch Affiliates
- Twitch Partners
Most everyday Twitch users don’t have the intention of using Twitch to make money. They spend time on the platform playing and watching others play. Few everyday Twitch users may have a large enough viewer base to earn money from Twitch.
If you want to earn from Twitch consistently, you need to become a Twitch Affiliate. For joining the Twitch Affiliate program, you need to meet the following criteria:
- Stream for at least 8 hours in the last 30 days
- Stream on at least 7 days in the last 30 days
- Receive at least 3 viewers per stream
- Having a following of at least 50
However, if you want Twitch to be a serious income source for you, then you should try and become a Twitch partner. For that, you need to increase your support base to such a level that Twitch offers you the opportunity to become a partner.
If you are new to Twitch, you should focus on improving your streaming skills and building up a following. You need to have a considerable following before you can think about making money on Twitch. Building up your following could take a significant amount of time. To shorten the process, you may buy live Twitch viewers.
Here are a few ways to earn from Twitch:
Affiliate links
This is not to be confused with the Twitch Affiliate Program. Joining affiliate programs of various brands is one of the common ways for people to earn from Twitch.
In affiliate marketing models, the affiliate can earn a commission for marketing another brand’s products. Usually, you are given a customized link to a website where potential buyers can shop for the product. If your followers on Twitch click on the link and make a purchase, the brand will pay you a commission for that.
Amazon runs one of the most widely-known affiliate programs in the world called Gear on Amazon. Since Twitch is owned by Amazon, it becomes particularly easy for Twitch streamers to become Amazon affiliates.
Custom merchandise
Selling custom merchandise is another popular way Twitch broadcasters can earn money. However, unless you have a large following, not many people would want to buy merchandise from someone they have never heard of. However, if you are a prominent name on Twitch, your fans would be happy to spend money on your customized merchandise. If you want to increase your Twitch following, you should buy Twitch viewers.
Setting up an online store and linking it to your Twitch page is perhaps the easiest way to sell custom merchandise. You can promote your online store in your feed, directing your followers to your online store.
Donations
You must be a Twitch Affiliate or Partner to have access to Twitch Bits, which are mini donations from viewers. Bits is a virtual currency that viewers can spend on their favorite gamer’s site.
Twitch viewers can cheer their favorite broadcasters with Bits. When viewers cheer, they can pay Bits to participate in a chat on a particular channel. Bits can also be used to buy emotes used in chats. The bigger and more animated the emote is, the higher the cost.
Before you request donations on your page, you will need to set up a link using an online payment processing system, such as Paypal or Stripe. You could provide these payment details in your stream when you are making requests for donations.
Using a third-party website such as Patreon could make collecting donations a lot simpler. You would need to first set up a Patreon profile and then link it to your Twitch account. Affiliates and Partners get paid about a cent by Twitch for every Bit that fans spend on their channels.
Sponsorship
Twitch is the go-to site for gamers and gaming enthusiasts the world over. Viewers tend to stay a lot longer on this platform than other social media platforms.
Therefore, it is the perfect platform for brands whose target audience is gamers.
Brands that feel a natural affinity with a particular streamer’s audience would feel encouraged to sponsor them and engage in influencer marketing. Companies that sell products to gamers can significantly benefit from Twitch sponsorship. This includes brands that sell gaming consoles, computers, smartphones, accessories, fashion, music, and more.
A brand could sponsor any Twitch streamer, and it does not matter if you are not an Affiliate or Partner. However, as with all cases of influencer marketing, a brand would only like to work with a broadcaster who can influence the decision-making of their followers. Therefore, it is quite rare for broadcasters with a small following to get sponsorship deals. You should buy viewers to increase your follower base and become more attractive to brands.
Tournament winnings
Another way for gamers to earn money on Twitch is by playing in tournaments and winning. Unfortunately, this option is usually restricted to professional gamers because it is often difficult for average gamers to beat them.
Smaller players may be able to enter tournaments with GameBattles by MGL or ESL and earn money broadcasting the tournament as you play.
Twitch subscriptions
Streamers can generate recurring income through Twitch subscriptions. Your followers can subscribe to your channel for a monthly payment of $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99. Usually, half of the money collected goes to Twitch, but some streamers have been able to negotiate a higher cut for themselves.
When you become a Twitch Affiliate or Partner, the subscribe button appears automatically on your page. You can use alerts to encourage your followers to subscribe to your channel. The signs you see pop up on your favorite gamer’s channel saying that someone has subscribed to their channel is an alert. These alerts are quite popular among users who love to see their name on their favorite gamer’s page.
Additional options for Twitch Partners
A few additional options to earn money is exclusively available to Twitch Partners only. The Twitch Partnership program is by invitation only. Unlike the Affiliate program, the Partner program does not have any published criteria for eligibility. However, streamers that produce great content and have a high level of viewership are more likely to be invited to become a Partner. This is another reason why you should focus on increasing your viewership and, therefore, pay for live Twitch viewers.
Other ways that Twitch Partners can make money are:
Selling games and in-game items
As a Twitch Partner, you can sell games and in-game items from your page. You may get 5% of the revenue you generate through these sales.
If you play a game that Twitch sells or has in-game items to sell, then a sales box automatically appears on your page below the video screen. If a viewer purchases by clicking on the box, you get 5% of the revenue. It happens automatically, and you need not do anything as a Twitch Partner.
Although the sales box may appear on the page of all streamers, only Twitch Partners receive a portion of the cut.
Video ads
As a Twitch Partner, you can choose to play ads on your stream. You can also select how often you want to run ads. You can run ads from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, as long as there is an 8-minute gap between commercials. Like YouTube, Twitch also shares its ad revenue with Partners. The more money the platform makes, the more it pays you.
Twitch pays you a flat-rate CPM, which is the cost per 1000 views. However, the CPM does not remain constant throughout the year. That is because gaming companies pay more for ads during a product launch or during the holiday season. Therefore, by running ads during these times, you can earn more.
However, not many Twitch fans like ads, and so you should experiment to see which ads resonate with your audience. Placing too many ads could upset your audience.
Why should you buy live Twitch viewers?
Besides increasing the number of viewers you have, there are other reasons why you should purchase Twitch viewers. Having a large following not only leaves a great impression on people checking out your streams but also gives your account much-needed social proof.
When you purchase high-quality viewers, you can significantly boost your account, enhancing your earning potential at the same time. When new people see high-quality viewers watching your streams, you can leave them impressed straight off the bat.
The truth is, the more viewers you have, the higher the viewer rate you get. With a high viewer rate, you can make your streams go higher as well. With a high enough viewership rate, your streams may even go viral. After all, the more viewers you have, the more popular your channel becomes. The more popular your channel, the higher you rank on the Twitch trends list, helping you connect with more people and widen your audience.
When you have more viewers, your Twitch streams are also a lot easier to find. You get featured on trending pages, helping more people find your streams increasing your viewership. If you only have a small following on your account, you should buy viewers to make more people find your streams. By investing a little in growing your account, you can automatically also help your account grow organically on Twitch.
However, you should always ensure that if you buy Twitch viewers, you should also buy high-quality ones. Buying a lot of low-quality viewers may make you look good for a short while, but the benefits end there. Low-quality viewers have a bad retention rate, and that does more harm to your account than good. A bad retention rate means that these viewers stop watching your streams after a while. It makes it quite evident to the other viewers that you have spam on your account.
Using spam to get ahead is looked down upon, and nobody would want to associate with a channel that does that. Low-quality viewers will make your account unpopular very quickly, so steer clear of them.
How do you benefit when you pay for live Twitch viewers?
To understand the benefits, you need to first understand why many people choose to purchase live viewers. Considering the number of people that are using Twitch right now, it is the right place to be. Growing a Twitch channel all on your own is quite a challenge. Given that there is massive competition on the platform doing everything manually could be nearly impossible.
Having a lot of followers on the platform helps your content perform better against the Twitch algorithm. When that happens, you get a more organic reach without having to do much at your end. You should pay for live viewers to increase your following, but it should not end at that. You have to ensure that you create real engagement with your viewers because Twitch can easily identify fake engagement.
Other benefits of buying Twitch viewers include:
Attracting more people
When you have a noticeable number of views and followers on your channel, the likelihood of other people visiting your channel increases. It is human nature for people to be automatically attracted to something that has a large following. By offering good quality content, you can easily convert the new viewers that visit your channel into your followers.
Boosts organic growth
When you buy live Twitch viewers, it increases your following and enhances your visibility on the Twitch platform. More visibility translates to more organic views and followers. When it becomes easier for your channel to be discovered, more people visit your channel, allowing you to convert them to followers.
Helps in creating great content
If you want to create great content, you need to pay undivided attention to it. When your mind is constantly thinking about ways to increase the number of followers, you may not be able to pay that much attention to your content. You should purchase viewers because then you can focus only on your content and do not need to worry about growing your account. When you offer great quality content, you will automatically get more and more viewers.
Builds confidence
Having a considerable number of followers gives you the peace of mind that you have an attractive channel and people are interested in watching your streams. It boosts your confidence, and you will be able to offer more engaging content.
Increase your potential for earning
There are numerous ways to earn money on Twitch. However, Twitch Partners and Affiliates have a higher earning potential than regular Twitch users. You need to have a considerable following to become an Affiliate or Partner. When you buy viewers, you accelerate the process of becoming an Affiliate or Partner, enhancing your potential for earning on the platform.
Top 10 ways to increase live viewers on Twitch
Streaming can be a rewarding career, but you need to have a solid strategy to increase your viewers on Twitch.
Here are the top 10 effective ways that can help you increase your live viewers on the platform.
1. Stream games with fewer channels and more viewers
You will only be unnecessarily increasing competition if you plan to stream games that are already being streamed by many other channels. Also, if you decide to play a game that no one has heard of, then also you are not likely to attract any new viewers.
Ideally, you should stream games that you want to play yourself. However, if growing your account is your priority, then it is better to stream certain games than others. Start by looking for game categories that do not have a lot of live channels but have a large number of viewers. This cuts down the competition, giving you more visibility on the platform. If a viewer has to scroll through hundred other channels to reach yours, how is that going to increase your viewers?
So, how do you find such games to play? You can use tools like Twitch Strike to help you find games that meet the criteria. These tools may also be able to tell you the right time to stream such games.
When you stream games with fewer channels, you increase your chances of being closer to the top of the page. It helps viewers spot your game easily, increasing your visibility and the potential of increasing live viewers.
2. Create a strong fanbase on other platforms
Sadly, Twitch does not have any system in place that can help small streamers get discovered. An excellent way to increase your viewers on Twitch is to create a fanbase elsewhere, preferably YouTube. You can create YouTube videos of your game content. If you create a large following on YouTube, you can funnel them to your Twitch channel.
YouTube is also very competitive, but with proper keyword research, good editing, a strong thumbnail, and a good title, you can start to grow your YouTube audience.
3. Engage with your viewers
Interacting and engaging with your audience is perhaps the best way to grow your following on Twitch. It also keeps people coming back to your streams again and again.
Try and keep a flowing conversation whenever you are live streaming. Your viewers want some explanation when they are watching a live stream. There could be many things to talk about during a live stream. You could share your thoughts about the game, your strategy, or you could consider answering questions from your viewers. Of course, it is not necessary that to only talk about the game. You can talk about anything you like, as long as you keep your viewers engaged. Once you create a community, they will also join in to interact with a larger audience.
When you focus on engaging and communicating with your viewers, your channel will become an interactive community. Moreover, your viewers will find value in your streams since it will no longer just be a stranger playing a video game. An engaged audience means higher levels of viewer retention and followers on your platform.
4. Pick the right time
There are times throughout the week that are better to stream than others. There could be times when a particular game is saturated with other streamers, making it difficult for a small streamer to get noticed. For example, if you are looking to gain new viewers, the worst time to stream is perhaps during a holiday. That is because more streamers would be free to stream, while viewers may be busy with their holiday plans.
Picking the right time to stream could ensure that your channel is discovered easily, helping you attract more viewers.
5. Use an attractive Stream Title
If you think that your stream title is not important, you couldn’t be more wrong. Most viewers flock to a channel attracted by the title alone. It is worth your while to come up with a title that is interesting or humorous. You could consider using puns related to a game or even questions. A funny stream title is more likely to get people to click on your channel.
6. Be original
When there are thousands of streamers on Twitch, how do you stand out? The truth is, most of these streamers are playing the same games and offering the same content as the others.
That is why being original is so important. You must come up with ideas that make your stream unique.
7. Stream frequently and consistently
If you want to gain loyal followers on Twitch, you need to stream frequently and consistently. It is best if you can stick to a consistent schedule. You could create a schedule and share it with your viewers as it will promote trust and encourage viewers to regularly watch your streams.
When you have a consistent streaming schedule, you establish yourself as a professional who takes live streaming seriously. Without a schedule, viewers who like you would not know when to come back, and so they may move on to someone new. By sticking to a schedule, you are already differentiating yourself from thousands of other streamers who have no schedule in place.
8. Offer value to your audience
If you want Twitch to become a strong income source for you, you need to treat your channel like a business. That means your streams are your products and your viewers are your customers. Like any other business, you must offer your customers value, or they will move on to your competitors.
If you want to attract new and repeat viewers to your Twitch channel, you must offer them something of value. That will give them a reason to watch your streams instead of the millions of others available on the platform.
9. Create a Discord Server
If you want to foster your streaming community, having your Discord server is a great way to do so. The best thing about Discord is that you can interact with your viewers while streaming, and even when you are not. It is quite easy to set up and well worth your time. A Discord channel gives your community a place to reside even when you are not streaming.
Some viewers are only interested in watching streamers stream, but some are looking for a community to be a part of. By creating your Discord server, you can encourage such viewers to follow you, increasing your viewership and following.
10. Buy live viewers
Nothing beats great content and engagement. However, great content can do nothing if there is no one to watch it. If you are new to Twitch and want to increase your following, you should pay for viewers.
However, it is extremely important to use only high-quality companies like Streamular when growing your Twitch account. With Streamular, you gain live Twitch viewers who are real viewers and not bots. These viewers will truly engage with your content and keep your retention rate high. Also, viewers are delivered slowly so that it looks like your account is growing organically. High-quality viewers are extremely important if you want to grow your channel and earn well on Twitch.
Conclusion
Are you still in two minds about whether you should purchase live viewers? If you buy high-quality viewers from Streamular, it can be a worthy investment. When you buy live twitch viewers, you give your channel a much-needed boost to increase visibility. Once you gain that visibility, it will become easier for you to organically grow your following. Get in touch with the experts at Streamular if you are looking to buy live Twitch viewers.