6 Things Every Successful Twitch Live Streamer Must Do

Twitch is a platform unique in stature, one that brings together millions upon millions of gamers to enjoy the video game industry in a multitude of creative ways. When you take a few minutes to browse over the various channels available on the site you’ll find gaming talk shows, Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, the latest video games, professional gamers, and more. Basically, there’s a little something for everyone, and Twitch isn’t stopping its expansion.

Due to the website’s popularity, hundreds of new broadcasters are joining the ranks daily, working to become the next big streamer on Twitch. These new broadcasters tend to copy established broadcasters when it comes to their channel layouts and the way they run their broadcasts. By doing so, though, new broadcasters are depriving themselves of the reason Twitch came to being in the first place: developing individual communities.

Twitch is a website that focuses on communities and personal entertainment through video games. It’s a site that revolves around building up your own personal network while developing a name for yourself as a broadcaster. Here’s the thing though: there isn’t a secret list of things you need to do to be successful on Twitch – it all depends on how you develop your individual cast and community. That being said, there are a few things you should be aware of if you’re working towards partner status.

Interact with Your Audience

One thing that you’ll see far too often on Twitch is a broadcaster who isn’t actively interacting with the people watching their livestream. Whether you have 1 viewer or 1,000 viewers, these people are here to watch and interact with you alongside your chatroom – so make sure to give them that opportunity. By ignoring viewers and keeping them isolated to your chatroom, you’re essentially creating a one-sided experience that viewers can find on websites like YouTube.

Live interaction is one of the key aspects that really makes Twitch and other live streaming websites stand out. Unlike YouTube, Vimeo and similar websites, live streaming allows you to share your gaming experiences with other people; no matter the focus you have on your cast. I personally have hundreds of memories with my audience and hundreds more from other broadcasters that I’ve become friends with over the years. So make sure to create the same opportunity for you and your viewers as well.

Build a Community

Twitch is a massive community with millions of loyal broadcasters and viewers. The site’s users support each other during difficult times both personal and in gameplay, and they work together to accomplish the impossible through fundraising and more. As an individual broadcaster, you should not only aim to become part of that larger community – but to develop one yourself.

Individual broadcasters have the capability to turn their Twitch channel into almost anything they desire, whether it be focused on video games, commentary or even creativity within the gaming sphere. By developing a community that people can become a part of, you’re providing your viewers with a home they are proud to represent and welcome others into.

Stick to a Schedule

Think of Twitch like entertainment television. It’s a website where people go to watch broadcasters play video games and host shows similar to television programming. If your broadcasts are random and you go live whenever you feel like it, you’ll be alienating viewers who are unable to show up or plan to be present during your live stream. Can you imagine if Game of Thrones changed its airtime every week?

Even if you don’t have much time to stream, develop a loose schedule that your viewers can stick to. This gives them time to plan ahead if they want to watch your cast or give them an opportunity to view it later once they’ve returned home from work, school or whatever was keeping them busy. By creating a schedule youre also developing a dedicated timeslot for yourself that helps to keep on track with your live streams. It’s a difficult thing to start, but a necessary one that becomes habit early on.

Connect with Other Broadcasters

Twitch is a community and every individual broadcaster is a part of that community, whether they be at the top of the charts or not. Much like the gaming community, Twitch operates as a collective group where everybody supports everyone – meaning that by getting out there and meeting other broadcasters you’re building up your own personal network.

As you continue building your own community you’ll encounter other individuals who share similar interests and communities on their own channels who will shout out your live streams to their followers as well. If you’re lucky they might even raid your channel and bring all of their viewers with them too, just make sure to acknowledge them of course.

Play What You Genuinely Want to Play

One of the biggest mistakes many Twitch broadcasters fall prey to is playing video games that are popular in the market at the time. Broadcasters will purchase the latest popular video game releases and play through them as fast as possible before moving on to the next big title. Sure, it may seem okay for the first couple months – but eventually it starts to wear on your as a broadcaster.

Twitch is meant to be a place where you can establish your identity and your community, which includes you playing video games that you are interested in playing. While streaming on Twitch don’t ever let other broadcasters or your viewers influence what you are playing on your stream, especially if it’s a video game you loathe playing. The goal with Twitch is to enjoy yourself and deliver an entertaining live stream, but how can you do than when you’re playing something you don’t enjoy yourself?