Twitch is a live video streaming platform, now owned by Amazon, that was launched in 2011. It has become a place to build communities around a shared interest. Although primarily focused on gaming, it has branched out into lifestyle topics like cookery, music and Q & A sessions.
Live streaming has become increasingly popular in recent years, and Twitch a platform dedicated to it. One of the good things about streams is that they can last from two minutes to five hours, and at the same time you can establish conversations or comments about the topic, so it is very easy to get real feedback and share it with your audience.
Twitch stands out from the other platforms because you can stream the content in real-time, as well as be notified of related topics that are of personal interest. By the end of 2024, Twitch had approximately 6.7 million streams a month, as well as 140 million active users per month.
Who uses Twitch?
While the platform is moving towards lifestyle content, the majority of its user-base are gamers. 80% are teen males.
When SimilarWeb studied the web behaviour of Twitch users, they found main keywords the audience searched for were “games,” “computers,” and “technology”. From this, we can conclude that most Twitch users are interested in games and the technology needed to play them.
In the same report, it was also noted that 22% of traffic comes from the U.S., making it the country with the most representation on the platform, with Germany, Korea, and France not far behind.
Regarding Twitch’s benefits for your company, it’s clear that where there is an audience, there’s also an opportunity, especially if your target is there. Twitch is awesome to enhance user engagement because of the platform’s visual content, so maybe you must consider getting into this platform!
How can Twitch be used to promote brands?
The expansion of Twitch into lifestyle content means that whatever your niche, there is probably a community on there to connect with. There are several ways to use Twitch to promote your business:
1. Brand awareness
Creating your own branded channel on Twitch is a great way to increase brand exposure and awareness. Fast-food chain Wendy’s is a good example of an individual channel on Twitch. Branded channels allow you to create a sense of community amongst your customers and potential customers.
Host regular livestreams about your business and brand, interview key players in your business. Create exclusive events for followers or special offers.
2. Influencer marketing
Like other social media platforms, Twitch has thousands of influencers. Twitch’s focus on connection and community building make it the perfect place to use influencers to engage your audience. Partnering with a relevant influencer will introduce your brand to a whole new audience. You can reach out to high-performing streamers to ask about collaboration. Types of common collaborations include brand mentions, sweepstakes, giveaways, and product unboxings.
Influencer marketing will add a personal touch to your brand and is a great way to engage new audiences, particularly if you want to target younger demographics. Choose someone with a large following that aligns with your brand. They should be a regular streamer and make use of Twitch chat which allows users to comment and communicate. Being active in chat will create a community around the influencer which you can tap into.
3. Advertising
Like other social media platforms, Twitch runs ads before its streams. These will give you the opportunity to raise awareness and generate leads. It’s about generating click-throughs by grabbing users’ attention. Remember that Twitch is all about entertainment, it isn’t the place for serious, heavy-weight advertising.
How live streaming can help your business
These are a few ways in which live streaming can help grow your business:
- It showcases your brand in a new and exciting way to customers. If you’re in the gaming world, Twitch is particularly useful for sharing hacks, insights and unique features.
- It helps to increase your following– users will connect with the brands whose content they enjoy.
- It shows your business’s personalityand makes you more approachable.
- It offers something personal and unique to users,which in turn grows brand loyalty.
- It will increase sales– when used correctly to showcase your business, live streaming can help you sell your products or services.
Is Twitch the right platform for your business?
If you are part of the gaming industry then, clearly, Twitch is going to be the perfect platform for you. If your target audience is younger males, it is also the ideal platform. But any B2C company should probably investigate using Twitch due to its expansion into other areas and growing user base.
If you are a B2B company, like exhibition stand contractor Quadrant2Design, you may decide that it is not the platform for you as your audience isn’t on it. They prefer to focus on LinkedIn and Facebook where they can target professionals. MD Alan Jenkins said ‘We are monitoring it, but as it stands we won’t reach our target audience there. Influencers aren’t our thing as we are targeting businesses rather than consumers.’
So Twitch is a great platform if you sell products related to gaming, or want to target generation Z. It’s engaging video content makes it very popular with the younger generation. Advertising on it, using influencers or creating a branded channel will give you the opportunity to reach a whole new audience if that is your target.
