Welcome to your introductory guide on how to best use Twitch and its influencers!
Twitch experienced significant growth during the COVID pandemic, becoming a daily destination for many users, a trend that continues today.
Unlike other global social media platforms, Twitch presents unique challenges, making strategic planning more complex. Therefore, this guide aims to provide you with additional tools to effectively consider Twitch and its influencers for your upcoming campaigns.
What Is Twitch
From Scripts to Livestreams
Twitch is the leading platform for live streaming, with millions of daily users and a diverse range of content.
Twitch Key Features
Live Streaming: Twitch lets users broadcast live video content globally, including gaming, music, art, or chatting.
Interactive Chat: Viewers interact with streamers and each other via live chat, building a community.
Creative Tools: Streamers can enhance broadcasts with overlays, alerts, and extensions for personalized and fun streams.
One of the platform’s most appealing features is the sense of community viewers experience with their favorite streamers. The combination of personalization options and live chat makes Twitch an ideal platform for engagement.
Why viewers love it
Shared Experiences: Viewers join live events, tournaments, and challenges with their favorite streamers, making memorable moments together.
Interactive Chat: Viewers connect with streamers and each other in chat, forming a supportive community.
Emotes & Subscriptions: Users express themselves with emotes and can subscribe to their favorite streamers for exclusive reactions and support.
Twitch In Numbers
Twitch offers a dynamic and diverse platform for streamers and viewers, with a wide range of content and an engaged community that make it one of the leading destinations for live streaming.
- More than 70% of users are between the ages of 16 and 34.
- More than 30 million unique visitors per day.
- More than 7 million active streamers every month.
- 95 minutes average viewing time per viewer per day.
- Over 3 billion hours of content watched every month.
- More than $6 billion generated in advertising and subscription revenue in 2021.
Although most streamers and viewers are located in North America and Europe, Twitch boasts a global community.
Twitch Influencers Can Go Beyond Gaming
“Just Chatting” – 13%
Streams where streamers interact directly with their audience or discuss various topics.
Music – 3%
Live performances, DJ sets and discussions about music.
“IRL” (In Real Life) – 3%
Streams that capture the daily lives of streamers, their travels, their adventures, etc.
Artistic creation – 2%
Streams where artists create drawings, paintings, graphic design, etc.
The Benefits of using Twitch
High Engagement: Twitch influencers often reach up to 20% engagement rates, offering impactful product recommendations through genuine audience relationships.
Unique Content: Influencers’ individual personalities and styles help produce content that truly connects with viewers.
Trustworthy Ads: Ads that are naturally integrated into streams foster positive word-of-mouth and enhance audience trust.
Detailed Analytics: Twitch provides robust analytics tools that allow brands to track campaign performance, including view counts, watch time, and audience engagement.
Choosing the right Twitch Influencer
Factors to consider
When looking to collaborate with Twitch influencers, the key consideration is selecting the appropriate streamer for your partnership.
Channel Size: Streamers are classified as micro, mid-tier, macro, or mega, depending on their followers and average viewership.
Content Focus: Some streamers concentrate on a specific niche to gain recognition, while others create a variety of content to attract a wider audience.
Twitch Status: Affiliates are up-and-coming channels beginning to monetize, whereas Partners are established influencers recognized for their significant impact.
What Are The Average Twitch Influencer Stast
Just like any other social media and content creation platform, there are many creators and niches. Understanding the average and peak viewership moments and the types of creators is extremely important when choosing the right creator for your campaign.
Average Viewers Amount & Types of Streamers
- 25 to 500 viewers: Micro creator
- 500-5K viewers: Macro/Mid-Tier creator
- 5k-25k viewers: Macro creator
- 25K+ viewer: Mega creator
Average Viewers & Peak viewers (Global)
Durations of Streams
Streams should last at least one hour to give viewers time to join and engage. “Just Chatting” streams are best at 2-3 hours, gaming streams at 3-4 hours, and special events like charity streams can go up to eight hours.
However, during “subathons”, streamers continue their broadcast for as long as they gain new subscribers. For example, Ludwig’s subathon famously extended over 31 consecutive days.
When do Twitch Influencers play Ads
Advertisers can successfully insert their advertising at the start utilizing overlays, during creator breaks with “ad breaks” that feature brand assets or pre-recorded ads, or after the first hour for live demonstrations.
Which KPIs to Ask from Twitch Influencers
After completing your initial list and beginning outreach, it’s essential to gather various statistics from creators to evaluate their typical results and determine the best fit for your campaign.
Additionally, don’t hesitate to inquire about the creative and editorial direction of previous collaborations. This will help you understand how the creator typically manages such projects!
Stream’s audiences
- Avg amount of unique viewers/stream
- Amount of users on chat/stream
- Audience’s demographics data
Ads-Related Metrics
- Avg ad visits from viewers
- Avg clicks on video ads
Increase your brand’s visibility on Twitch through the perfect streamers.
How Do Collaborations with Influencers on Twitch Even Work?
Twitch collaborations are a lot different than other social media platforms. However, it also offers a lot more flexibility.
There are three major types of collaborations: live advertisements, brand assets, and events.
Live advertisements
Live advertisement
Influencers show the product or service live by talking about it, demonstrating it live, or integrating the product into their regular content.
PROS:
- Ads are authentic and less rehearsed
- Engaging
- Audience is drawn to watch
CONS:
- No corrections possible
- Potential technical issues/ Product malfunction
- The influencer needs to really understand your brand
Examples of Live Advertisement
Mynthos x Hello Fresh
On Twitch, streamers can set up various commands for the chat, allowing viewers to activate functions by typing commands prefixed with a special character. These commands often appear as “!brandname” or “!Command” and can trigger a range of actions chosen by the streamers, such as entering a giveaway, activating a custom overlay, and more.
Brand Assets
Brand assets
Sharing pictures & video overlays to be shown on the steam at different times throughout the live. It can even be a whole advertisement shown as an ad break.
PROS:
Immersive brand integration
Recurrent brand visibility as the overlay can be activated at several important points during the stream
CONS:
Potential overload of branded content
Inauthentic if not accompanied by an actual product test in the streamer’s words
Brand Assets examples
Logitech x Squeezie (Annual Sponsor)
Twitch Events
Events
More and more events take place on Twitch, which means more opportunities for brands to gain visibility by becoming sponsors.
PROS:
Most interactive content with hosts, live polls, Q&A, interviews
Natural brand exposure throughout the day of the event
CONS:
Brand image to be associated to the event’s image, in positive or negative
Highly expensive compared to more traditional ways
Twitch Event Example
GP Explorer (Squeezie)
Event statistics:
- 40 000 visitors on-site
- 1 million+ live viewers (French record on Twitch, 5th worldwide)
- 12.4 million views of the replay in 24 hours
Sponsors placements:
- Each team had one main sponsor and one additional sponsor.
- Sponsors were present with banners on-site.
- Brands were able to set up stands all around the race for food, relaxing time far from the sun, activities to stay busy during the whole day, etc.
There have been two editions so far, and it’s rumored that a third one will take place in 2025.
Other sectors examples
Transavia x Domingo “Guess your flight”
Creation of a “GeoGuessr” map with Transavia’s 15 top European destinations. During a 1h30 live, they were able to help 6 viewers win tickets to said destinations.
Old Spice x Multi Creators
Old Spice, a men’s grooming brand, promoted their new product line of deodorants and body washes by partnering with several popular Twitch streamers who created product reviews and live streams. The campaign generated 30M+ impressions.
The Objective of Twitch Influencers
Even if Twitch is on the rise and offers a large variety of content, its specificities are to be taken into account when deciding which type of brand should be doing influencer marketing on Twitch.
Awareness & Brand Image
Best for Expensive products and services:
- High-End Fashion
- Tech Brands
- Entertainment
For Twitch influencers, the awareness stage focuses on creating a memorable first impression and establishing a brand presence. Consequently, whether it involves a luxury brand, tech company, or entertainment studio, showcasing innovative products can significantly help leave a strong impact on the dynamic Twitch community.
Consideration
Best for Occasional purchases and needs:
- Gaming Accessories
- Food & Beverages
- Fashion & Apparel
In the consideration stage on Twitch, brands should prioritize building trust and relationships with viewers. For instance, food and beverage companies can host cooking streams, while fashion brands might collaborate with streamers for styling tips. Therefore, this approach helps deepen engagement and foster affinity, setting the stage for future purchases rather than immediate ones.
Conversion
Best for Immediate purchases:
- Gaming Publishers
- Affordable FOMO products
- Low-Cost Subscription Services
At the conversion stage on Twitch, brands aim to transform viewer interest into sales, sign-ups, or subscriptions. Specifically, by promoting limited-time offers, exclusive deals, and special discounts, they actively encourage immediate action. Moreover,
“Link in Bio”
Twitch’s most useful feature when it comes to conversion is its very customizable creator bio. Therefore, creators can easily share clickable brand banners with a range of useful information (promo codes, types of offers, etc.).
What are Twitch's Main Competitors
Youtube Live
Due to YouTube’s long-standing popularity and reputation as a trusted site, there is significant growth potential in the live streaming industry, and it is therefore positioned as a leading competitor to Twitch.
Kick
Kick relies on an aggressive commercial strategy to attract new streamers. Thus, they disrupt the established order and seriously compete with Twitch.
Other Minor Competitors
DLive
- Launched in 2018, DLive has around 5 million monthly active users worldwide, with a strong presence in Asia and Europe.
- Creators earn Lino cryptocurrency through donations, subscriptions, and viewer interactions, and receive bonuses and rewards based on community participation.
Trovo
- Launched in 2020, Trovo targets international markets with a strong presence in North America, Europe, and Asia.
- Trovo’s partnership program provides qualified streamers with ad revenue, viewer donations, subscriptions, and financial incentives.
- Partners can also receive grants and performance bonuses as direct support from Trovo.
FAQ
The easy answer is YES. While it may seem a bit less obvious, F&B, travel, fashion, makeup brands are all starting to get a space on the platform.
For brands who don’t want to risk it all on one platform, it might be a good option to choose an ambassador who has good audiences on several social media. Doing this will allow to strengthen the link made in the viewer’s minds between the creator and the brand.
This is still a grey area – Fees can depend on your influencer’s audience size and how well your product or game aligns with the streamer. It also depends on the type of collaboration you’re about to ask for. Live demonstration and actual testing out the product will be more expensive than having simple overlays show up on streams for example.
