Streaming on Twitch can be very overwhelming when you are new to it. One of the first things you want to reach for is the affiliate status. This means you have leveled up on the Twitch ranks which brings you some amazing benefits. You will be able to submit your own emotes, sub badges (stickers regarding the number of months subbed) and people can start subscribing to your channel. With subscriptions and bits you can start earning money!
What you will have to complete to become an affiliate:
- 1. 50 followers
- 2. Average of 3 viewers
- 3. 500 total minutes broadcasted and 7 unique broadcast days, a month
In this blog we will list a few things to help you achieve affiliate status!
Gain presence on Social platforms
To be seen on Twitch you have to be live, but your Instagram or Twitter can be discovered 24/7. Make sure to post on different platforms and interact with other accounts. Don’t forget to use hashtags, there are a lot of websites which can help you generate popular hashtags in your niche. Simply add a story or create a post whenever you are going to be livestreaming. Reaching 50 followers on Twitch should be easier when you are already known on other platforms!
Ask friends and family to join your stream
Whenever you are going live don’t hesitate to tell your friends or family. Twitch displays the streams in categories and ranks them up by viewer count. If you have a low amount of viewers this means you will be put at the bottom, that means people are less likely to find you. Asking your friends and family to put a tab open for your streams helps you to reach the average of 3 viewers and to be found easier by others!
Interact with your audience
Interact! Whenever someone is watching, try to interact with them. Interaction is key to keep and grow an audience. Keep them entertained and engaged. Thank new followers and get them talking, unless they are lurking (observing).
There are many ways to interact with your audience. If you’re having trouble talking to your chat, invite someone over on Discord or in real life. Get the conversation started and if needed write some topics down.
Some games like Warzone move very fast. Keep in mind you have a chat, teach yourself to look regularly. It’s easy to miss something when you are playing a game that takes up all your attention.
Choose the right game
It’s very important to choose the right game for your stream. Avoid streaming the top 10 popular games. The pool of livestreamers playing the same popular game is huge, the chance of you being found in that enormous pool is very small. Check up on other categories or games with a high amount of followers but a small amount of streamers. Now the pool may be just as big but with a lot less livestreamers in it.
Patience and persistence
Give yourself time! I’ve seen a lot of people quit as they expected to grow quicker. Don’t force yourself to stream for numbers. You will get there, the most important thing is to stream for fun. People will see your enthusiasm and will want to check your streams more often. Talk about your hobbies and adventures. People are more often to stay for your personality than for a game.
It will also take time to learn what works for you. You can learn a lot from your past broadcasts and experience. Improving the quality of your streams is very important, make a list of things you need to take action on.
It’s easy to make a throwaway account to do test streams on. Play around with the settings of your microphone and webcam, you don’t need to put in a lot of money to get the best right away.
This should be enough information to keep you on the right track for your future streams, let’s get that affiliate status!
Madelief van Ginkel
Madestout