Twitch is one of the most rapidly expanding live streaming platform worlwide, yet it's surprising how little attention it receives within the music industry. With its 35 million users, Twitch presents an intriguing opportunity for artists and music brands, particularly because it remains relatively unsaturated.
So how can music industry brands and musicians include Twitch in their marketing strategies?
First of all, what the hell is Twitch?
If you're a boomer, a Gen Xer, or even a millennial like myself, chances are you haven't used Twitch into your marketing strategy yet or may not have even heard of it.
Twitch is a live streaming platform that was born initially for streaming video games and esports events. During the last few years, some artists and music brands have realised that Twitch could be a great place to market their music, their products and themselves because it is a very direct and fun way to engage with fans while creating a community feeling. In fact, the platform allows users to broadcast anything they want while interacting with viewers through chat and build communities around shared interests.
Artists that are already leveraging the power of Twitch are Post Malone, Deadmau5 and many other.
Twitch marketing strategies for musicians
With Twitch, there are many ways to create fun and engaging content for your audience while fostering a sense of community.
The most obvious one is broadcasting live performances from your events and gigs. Giving the possibility to people who could not join the physical event to still be part of it, could be something highly appreciated between fans.
Sharing a jamming / studio session and showing the creative process that is behind your sound could be extremely interesting for your fans.
Are you just released a new song? Organise a release party inviting for example your mixing and mastering engineer and get people talk about your new track
A live Q&A session is another great way to interact with your fans in a fun way while making them feel important
Define a few topics that you feel confident about and use Twitch as a conversation starter. It can be anything music and non-music related, simply get creative!
Twitch marketing strategies for music brands
If you are a music industry company and your target are young gen-zers, Twitch could be the place to be, depending on your industry.
If your brand is a music event or a festival, you could start sharing part of your events live on Twitch
On the other hand, if you are a record label you could think about organising a release event together with the artists and all the professionals working behind the scenes
Do you create music instruments? Think about sharing some behind the scenes, including how your products are created and designed.
Are you about to launch a new product? You could invite a special guest or an influencer to help you promote your new product or service
How can you actually make money on Twitch?
Yes you heard right, you can make money with Twitch. To monetize videos on Twitch, streamers can utilise various features and strategies offered by the platform.
Subscriptions: Streamers can offer different subscription levels to their fans, allowing subscribers to access exclusive perks such as ad-free viewing, subscriber-only chat, and special badges. Each time somebody subscribes to the channel, streamers earn a percentage of the subscription fees.
Donations: Viewers can donate money directly to the content creators through platforms like Twitch's built-in donation feature or PayPal and Patreon. Streamers often set up donation alerts to acknowledge and thank donors during their broadcasts.
Ads: Twitch allows streamers to run ads during their broadcasts to generate revenue exactly like on Youtube. Streamers can control when and how often ads are shown.
Sponsorships and Brand Partnerships: Broadcasters can collaborate with brands and companies for sponsorships and brand collaborations. This may involve promoting products or services during streams, hosting sponsored events, or featuring sponsored content.
Twitch Prime Subscriptions: Viewers who have an Amazon Prime subscription can link their account to Twitch and receive a free Twitch Prime subscription each month to use on their favorite streamers. Streamers still receive revenue from these Prime subscriptions.
Affiliate Marketing: Streamers can earn commission by promoting products or services through affiliate marketing programs. This involves sharing affiliate links during streams or in channel descriptions, and earning a percentage of sales generated through those links.
Are you already using Twitch and if not, will you integrate it in your marketing strategy?