When starting on Twitch, there are a lot of mistakes you can make. The live-streaming platform has very different features from regular social media platforms. So, figuring out how to grow it can be a little difficult.
Of course, you can always opt for an organic Twitch growth service to go from 0 to 1000 followers in just a few days. Or if you’re a determined self-learner, you can choose the traditional trial-and-error method to find what works best for your channel.
But if you want to do none of these, the best (and wisest) approach is to learn from the experience of others. In today’s post, we will discuss six common mistakes that you should avoid at all costs to grow on Twitch fast. Let’s get started!
1. Low-Quality Streams
Twitch is a visual-based platform where the main content format is real-time videos. If people don’t find your streams visually pleasing, they will not like, comment, follow, or engage in any way. So, it’s important to ensure your streams are high-quality.
This doesn’t mean you need an ultra-wide curved monitor and an $800 gaming chair with RGB lighting setup in the background. You’ll probably go broke before earning a single penny from the platform!
Instead, be wise with your investments and purchase basic stuff. Get a decent headset with a noise-canceling microphone and a ring light. Use your iPhone or a good-quality webcam to record yourself during streams.
For background, you can sit anywhere that feels comfortable and presentable. If you don’t want to show your room, cover a wall with a black bedsheet and set up your table and chair in front of it.
2. Streaming Popular Games Only
As a beginner, it might make sense to stream trending games to gain exposure in your early days. But here’s the thing – Twitch algorithms work just like Google.
When someone searches for a game on the Twitch search bar, the platform shows relevant and popular results. This means it will push famous streamers playing that game to the top instead of the newbies.
So, the best approach is to focus on low-competition games. Once you start gaining followers from these games, Twitch will begin to recognize you as a rising streamer and push your content higher in search results. You can then stream popular games.
3. Not Being Consistent
Twitch is one of the few platforms for which people make time in their busy routines. People can’t just open it randomly, like Instagram and Facebook, because each live stream runs for at least 2 to 3 hours.
So, they need cooperation from the streamer in the form of schedules. Just tell them when you’ll go live during the week, and they will adjust things to tune in (that’s how powerful Twitch is!).
But if you don’t make schedules and go live whenever you feel like it, your followers aren’t going to run after you. They will be annoyed and move on to a streamer willing to offer them cooperation and consistency.
4. Avoiding Chat Boxes
The purpose of live streams is to be interactive and engaging. If you’re streaming gameplay, interview, or anything that doesn’t involve you directly speaking to the audience, keep the chatbox open!
Your viewers can only talk to you through the chat box. And if you don’t check their messages and respond to them, you are actually ignoring their input and opinions. This will do nothing except push them away.
5. Too Much Self-Promotion
When you are under 50 followers on Twitch, you feel very small in the huge community. There’s a little voice – constantly nagging you to just focus on promoting yourself and growing big – in your head. Don’t listen to it, please!
It can make you do some really cringy stuff, like beg for views and F4F campaigns (follow for follow). You might even start asking for donations frequently during the streams. This can make you appear as sales and sketchy.
Remember, the best way to promote yourself is to let your personality shine through. Your viewers are real people who will appreciate you more if you stay authentic and genuine in the streams. As a result, they will offer support without you having to ask for it.
6. Forgetting Your Roots
Lastly, never forget how you started on Twitch. Most streamers gain a sense of superiority as soon as they hit a major milestone, like 500 or 1000 followers. They start to call themselves Twitch “gurus”.
This leads to them roasting other newbies, being hateful towards other streamers, and replying rudely to their followers. All of this can reverse your progress just as fast as it happened. You can lose your entire community because nobody likes a person with a superiority complex.
So, no matter how high you go on Twitch, always stay humble and kind!