There are plenty of articles and opinions out there on the internet on how to promote and grow a Twitch stream successfully. Everyone has a slightly different approach and will tell you this is the way to grow the fastest, with the least hassle and least amount of work you need to put into it. And I have to admit I have written articles on “How To Network” and “How To Find Your Twitch Niche”. But what about “How Not To Promote Your Twitch Stream”? This article discusses the three most common mistakes that new Twitch streamers make when promoting their streams. Often these mistakes do more harm than good.
Using Social Media Only To Promote Your Stream
Promoting your content is important, and without promotion the content will not be seen by a great amount of people, but using your social media accounts only to promote your content is not the right way. Each social media platform has a purpose. Twitch is for live streaming, Twitter is for thoughts on the go, Instagram for more personal pictures and stories, and lastly YouTube for informational video content. Utilizing all platforms to their full potential is crucial and we all have accounts that we follow because we enjoy the pictures they post on Instagram, their thoughts on Twitter and their video on YouTube. Imagine someone posting every single day that they are now going live on Twitch and you should come hang out with them. There are no funny pictures, there are thoughts, no videos, all they post is their Twitch link. We can all agree on that we would not follow or subscribe to an account that does not bring us any added value in life. We spent time on social media because it adds value of some sort to our daily lives. A Twitch link, and Twitch link only does not add value. If you post your link, everytime you go live, you need to give the readers a reason WHY they should go to your live stream, otherwise you will find your social media accounts empty, with zero engagement. People want value in return for the time they give you reading your content. Give them something other than a link.
Spamming Your Twitch Link
More times than not, new streamers believe it is a good way to promote their streams by spamming their Twitch links underneath established creators’ content. On Instagram posts you find a few comments saying something along the lines of “Check out my Twitch”. If the spammer is lucky, the creator will not care and either leave the comment, or delete it. In the worst case the creator will ban the account or report it for spamming. Reported several times for spamming and you will find your Instagram account banned for a certain time period. In the case that your comment remains active underneath the post, you will still not receive a single like or subscription from it. A creator’s audience is often a very loyal community. The creator invests time and effort to provide value to the audience in return for loyalty, time and attention. The audience will not simply swap creators and follow a random spammed Twitch link, they might actually do the opposite in order to keep the feed clean and report the comment as spam. In order to promote your Twitch you need to provide value.
Spamming your Twitch Link In Other Twitch Streams
This form of promotion is the most annoying and harmful way of promoting your Twitch stream. Going into other creators’ streams and chatting away how you are live right now and people should come watch you, can bury your Twitch career. You will be banned from the stream within seconds, and your credibility goes out the window. If you have to resort to stealing a fellow creator’s audience, you should not be a streamer. Even in the case of some viewers going to your live stream to show their support, what are they going to see? They will see an empty stream with a random person sitting in front of the computer spamming their Twitch link in other creators’ streams. This is not what anyone on Twitch is looking for.
These were the top three mistakes I see new creators make when promoting their Twitch streams. Using these techniques will do so much harm in the long run and can truly bury your career before it even started. Invest time into your business and provide value to the people you choose to give you five minutes of their limited time. Growing an audience is all about giving them added value in life so that they can justify spending a few minutes of their day with your content.
