A 5-Step Twitch Marketing Strategy (with Example Campaigns)

In today’s dynamic digital landscape, the potential for business promotion extends well beyond traditional platforms. Enter Twitch, a live-streaming powerhouse that has won the hearts of millions, especially those immersed in the world of gaming and beyond. While Twitch might not be the first platform that comes to mind for business promotion, it has proven to be a formidable avenue for reaching new, engaged audiences that are otherwise difficult to tap into.

At TwitchMetrics, we’ve had the privilege of partnering with numerous clients who have harnessed the potential of Twitch to stimulate their business growth. Their successful ventures serve as compelling testimonials to the untapped potential lying within Twitch, especially when utilized effectively.

In this post, we’ll delve deep into the nuances of Twitch marketing, offering you a practical, 5-step framework that’s been tried and tested. Whether you’re a well-established business or a solo entrepreneur taking their first steps, these insights will help you navigate the Twitch platform, enabling you to unlock a whole new sphere of potential customers that you never knew existed.

With this comprehensive guide, we hope to equip you with the necessary knowledge and tools to leverage Twitch streamers and their vibrant communities to effectively reach your business goals.

A 5-Step Twitch Marketing Framework for Successful Campaigns on Twitch

We’ve created a 5 step framework that you can use to hip yourself to the process. This 5 step framework will work whether you’re an established business with a marketing team or a one-man/woman startup.

1. Define Your Target Audience

1. The Importance of Knowing Your Audience: The very foundation of any successful marketing strategy lies in understanding your target audience. This truth holds up on Twitch just as it does on any other platform. Twitch hosts a wide variety of communities, so knowing who you aim to reach will guide your approach.
2. Identifying Your Target Demographics: Start by asking essential questions: Which age group does your product or service cater to? What interests do they have? What language do they speak? What time zone do they live in? The answers will guide you in tailoring a highly effective Twitch marketing strategy.
3. Leveraging TwitchMetrics for Audience Identification: Once you’ve outlined your target audience’s profile, your next task is to identify Twitch streamers whose audience overlaps with your target market. Here, TwitchMetrics can be an invaluable tool, helping you find streamers within your preferred viewership range, who play specific games, or align with the follower threshold you’re targeting. This tool can significantly increase your chances of running a successful marketing campaign on Twitch.

2. Evaluate partnerships based on engagement, not just viewership

1. Prioritize Engagement Over Pure Viewership Numbers: While viewership numbers can provide an initial indication of a streamer’s popularity, they should not be the sole determining factor for a partnership. Engagement levels play a vital role in successful Twitch marketing. High engagement means that viewers are not just watching but also interacting, which significantly increases the chances of viewers responding positively to your promotion.
2. Understand Key Metrics: Metrics like chat activity, average concurrent viewers, and the quality of a streamer’s content provide a more nuanced understanding of their influence. For instance, chat activity can indicate how much viewers engage with the streamer and their content, leading to a more active and responsive audience for your campaign.
3. Beware of Bot Viewers: It’s essential to be cautious about streamers who use bot viewers, which artificially inflate viewer numbers. These bots can skew viewership data and give a false representation of a streamer’s real influence. TwitchMetrics’ chat analyzer tool can help you discern genuine engagement from bot activity. Streamers with inconsistent viewership levels can often be a red flag for bot usage. Authentic engagement is crucial for successful promotion, so always prioritize quality over quantity.

3. Plan your marketing campaign & key points not to forget

1. Experiment with Different Campaign Formats: When planning your Twitch marketing campaign, think outside the box. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here. Product giveaways, discount codes linked to the streamer, and brand mentions have all proven successful in the past. Collaborating with your Twitch partner to brainstorm unique promotional ideas that resonate with their audience can often yield the best results.
2. Essential Elements for Your Twitch Promotion: Regardless of the type of campaign you choose, here are some key points to keep in mind:
   
   • Chatbots: Set up a chatbot that runs at set time intervals, ideally once every few minutes. This helps maintain viewer engagement and consistently promote your brand during the stream.
   • Commands: Create a chat command for your brand that populates a link in the chat when used. Twitch commands usually start with an exclamation point, like “!command.” Your streamer can help set this up.
   • Stream Overlay Banner: Design an eye-catching stream overlay banner to increase brand visibility during the stream.
   • Website Preparedness: Ensure your website can handle a surge in traffic. Server speeds should be checked ahead of time to prevent crashes, especially when working with larger streamers.

4. Set up post-campaign analytics

1. The Crucial Role of Analytics: Tracking the performance of your campaign once it is live is a critical part of Twitch marketing. Through the use of analytics, you can measure the number of clicks your links receive, the sales made, and other valuable data. This will provide an understanding of the effectiveness of your campaign and help quantify the return on your marketing investment.
2. Harnessing TwitchMetrics for Campaign Reporting: With TwitchMetrics (as seen in screenshot above), you have an excellent tool at your disposal for post-campaign reporting. It can accurately track crucial campaign parameters and provide insightful data on the campaign’s success.
3. Effective Tracking Methods: Additional tracking can be set up through the use of short link tracking or the establishment of UTM parameters. These methods enable you to accurately attribute the incoming traffic to your Twitch campaign, identify successful strategies, and refine your approach for future campaigns. Remember, data-driven decision-making is the backbone of effective marketing.

5. Have realistic expectations & measure success based on those

1. Setting Realistic Expectations: It’s vital to keep your expectations in check when launching a Twitch campaign. Don’t expect immediate returns or a skyrocketing ROI overnight. Twitch marketing is a marathon, not a sprint, and successful campaigns often require time to build momentum and achieve their full potential.
2. ROI Isn’t Just Revenue: While direct return on investment is an important metric, it shouldn’t be your only focus. Consider working on an affiliate-based deal, which provides a simple dollars-in-dollars-out approach based on coupon code usage, if immediate ROI is a priority.
3. The Bigger Picture: Brand Awareness, Traffic, and Engagement: The true success of a Twitch campaign isn’t solely tied to immediate revenue generated. It’s equally important to assess the boost in brand awareness, the surge in website traffic, and the level of engagement on social media platforms. These factors play a significant role in long-term growth and are vital indicators of a successful Twitch marketing strategy.

4 Twitch Marketing Campaign Examples

Here are a few examples of businesses that we at TwitchMetrics have worked with who have seen success in leveraging Twitch streamers to reach a new audience.

1. Fortnite’s Virtual Concert with Travis Scott

One groundbreaking example of a successful Twitch marketing campaign is the collaboration between Fortnite and rapper Travis Scott. This venture culminated in a stunning in-game virtual concert, which was livestreamed on Twitch and other platforms.

1. Redefining In-Game Experiences: Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, hosted a series of virtual concerts called “Astronomical” featuring Travis Scott. This in-game event featured a colossal, animated Travis Scott avatar performing his songs as players interacted in various ways within the game. This unique experience pushed the boundaries of in-game events, leading to massive engagement.
2. Massive Reach and Engagement: The concert was watched by over 12 million concurrent players in Fortnite and millions more on streaming platforms, including Twitch. This event not only provided entertainment for existing players but also drew in new audiences, creating substantial visibility and boosting the game’s popularity further.
3. Brand Reinforcement: This innovative marketing strategy allowed Fortnite to reinforce its brand as a leading innovator in the gaming space, proving that games can offer unique experiences beyond the conventional gameplay. Additionally, the event generated a significant amount of buzz on social media, leading to increased brand awareness and engagement.

Overall, Fortnite’s virtual concert with Travis Scott showcases the limitless potential of Twitch marketing when creativity and a solid understanding of the platform’s capabilities are employed effectively.

2. Apex Legends’ Launch Strategy on Twitch

A shining example of how to masterfully execute a launch strategy on Twitch comes from the team behind Apex Legends, the popular Battle Royale game developed by Respawn Entertainment.

1. Strategic Use of Influencers: Apex Legends’ approach to its launch in 2019 was a case study in effective influencer marketing. Rather than conducting a traditional marketing campaign, they chose to initially reveal the game through prominent Twitch streamers, including Shroud and Dr Disrespect. These influencers were given early access to the game and livestreamed their gameplay on Twitch during the launch.
2. Immense Viewership and Traction: This strategy instantly garnered massive viewership. The game broke records for peak viewership on Twitch, reaching over 600,000 concurrent viewers, which helped it to quickly gain traction. This exposure contributed significantly to Apex Legends reaching 50 million players within its first month – a milestone that took Fortnite several months to achieve.
3. Leveraging Twitch’s Strengths: By choosing to partner with Twitch streamers for their launch, Apex Legends leveraged the platform’s strength – a highly engaged community of gaming enthusiasts. The viewers were able to see their favorite streamers genuinely enjoying the game, which in turn sparked their interest and encouraged them to try the game for themselves.

Apex Legends’ launch strategy on Twitch demonstrates how utilizing the platform and influencers effectively can drive enormous success. By understanding the platform’s strengths and their target audience, they managed to create a marketing campaign that resonated powerfully with viewers, leading to record-breaking success.

3. Among Us and Its Use of Community Engagement

Among Us, developed by InnerSloth, is another prime example of a game that utilized Twitch effectively, this time through leveraging community engagement.

1. Organic Growth Through Streamers: Among Us was not an immediate hit when it was first released in 2018. However, its fortunes changed in 2020 when streamers on Twitch started playing the game. It quickly gained traction due to its fun, multiplayer mechanics, which resonated strongly with viewers on Twitch. The game’s inherent reliance on social interactions and teamwork naturally fostered community engagement, both within the game and on Twitch chat.
2. Engaging Viewers and Building Community: Twitch streamers played Among Us with their fellow streamers and friends, which allowed viewers to participate in the fun by watching their favorite streamers interact with each other. The interaction wasn’t just limited to the game, though. Viewers would try to guess who the “impostor” was in the Twitch chat, fostering a greater sense of community and engagement around the game.
3. Incredible Reach and Exposure: The game experienced exponential growth, becoming one of the most popular games on Twitch and reaching over 4 million concurrent players across all platforms in September 2020.

Among Us capitalized on Twitch’s capacity for community building, turning viewers into participants and creating a shared experience that spanned across the game and Twitch chat. This case illustrates the power of community engagement on Twitch and how it can be harnessed to promote a game and build a loyal fanbase.

4. PUBG’s Collaboration with Mountain Dew

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) utilized a brand collaboration strategy with Mountain Dew, a popular beverage brand, to promote their game and reach new audiences on Twitch.

1. Brand Collaboration Strategy: The partnership involved a series of in-game items designed to look like Mountain Dew products, which players could find and use during gameplay. This innovative product placement made the brand an integral part of the game, ensuring that players were continually exposed to it.
2. Promotion on Twitch: To amplify the promotion, PUBG and Mountain Dew also engaged Twitch streamers to play the game, find the in-game Mountain Dew items, and thereby showcase the brand to their viewers. This clever approach not only provided Mountain Dew with exposure to PUBG’s extensive player base but also the vast audiences on Twitch.
3. Win-Win Outcome: The partnership led to a boost in visibility and interest for both Mountain Dew and PUBG. The collaboration proved successful in reaching audiences in a natural, non-intrusive way, and added a fun and refreshing element to PUBG’s gameplay.

This case demonstrates how creative brand collaborations on Twitch can enhance a game’s appeal, provide exposure for partnering brands, and engage audiences in new and entertaining ways. It underscores the effectiveness of integrating promotional content within a game’s environment and the potential of leveraging Twitch’s platform for showcasing such collaborations.

How Much Does Twitch Marketing Cost?

Entering the realm of Twitch marketing requires an understanding of the potential costs to effectively strategize your campaigns. Costs can fluctuate based on several factors, including the streamer’s audience size, your campaign specifics, and the duration of your promotional activities.

1. Cost Per 1000 Impressions (CPM) and Cost Per Viewer: Costs in the Twitch marketing space are often detailed as Cost per 1000 Impressions (CPM). As per TwitchMetrics data (screenshot above), these costs can range between $4-18 CPMs, with smaller streamers falling on the lower end of the scale and larger, more established streamers on the higher end. In addition to this, another pricing model is the cost per concurrent viewer per hour, which is typically around 80 cents to $1.20. For instance, a streamer averaging 1000 viewers per stream would cost you between $800-1200.
2. Affiliate Deals and Cost Per Action (CPA): There’s also the option of negotiating affiliate deals, especially when your campaign involves game installs or product promotions. These deals often operate on a Cost Per Action (CPA) basis, where you pay a fixed percentage or CPA cost for each install or item sold. This can be an excellent method to link your costs directly with results, providing a clear view of your return on investment.
3. Comparative Affordability: Despite the range in costs, one of Twitch marketing’s key selling points is its relative affordability when juxtaposed with traditional marketing channels. Twitch’s platform provides access to a highly engaged and targeted audience, ensuring each marketing dollar is efficiently spent.

Understanding the costs associated with Twitch marketing can guide you in maximizing your budget and extracting the highest value from your campaigns. The opportunity to reach new, enthusiastic audiences is an investment that can deliver substantial returns for your brand.

In Conclusion

Twitch represents a lucrative marketing frontier, teeming with untapped potential. It offers direct access to a vibrant, engaged audience and opportunities for innovative, memorable marketing campaigns. The 5-step Twitch marketing framework outlined in this post – from defining your target audience to maintaining realistic expectations – serves as a comprehensive roadmap to successful Twitch campaigns.

Fortnite’s virtual concert with Travis Scott, Apex Legends’ launch strategy, Among Us’ community engagement, and PUBG’s collaboration with Mountain Dew provide potent illustrations of the power of Twitch marketing. These campaigns not only resulted in immediate buzz but also established long-term engagement, expanding their reach and resonating deeply with their target audiences.

The affordability of Twitch marketing compared to traditional marketing channels makes it a compelling addition to any marketing mix. While costs can vary based on several factors, Twitch offers a good return on investment, especially with strategic planning and implementation.

Finally, success in the dynamic realm of Twitch marketing necessitates ongoing monitoring and adaptation. Our software at TwitchMetrics is equipped with the capabilities to not only help plan and run Twitch marketing campaigns effectively but also provide detailed post-campaign analytics. This enables marketers to understand the impact of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions to maximize their marketing efforts. See ya next time yall.