How to Make Money on Twitch?
Amazon’s Twitch livestreaming service suffered a massive data leak recently, revealing the salaries of the top Twitch streamers. We are talking millions of dollars here! It makes you wonder “how can I reach such high levels?” or at least how to make money on Twitch. Influence4You has outlined here a few ideas to help you monetize your account.
Create an Account with Twitch
To start making money on Twitch, you need to understand the live-streaming platform (Influence4You tells you everything there is to know in the article Twitch: The Record-breaking Streaming Platform) and, of course, create your account! Even though the platform is mostly known for gaming livestreams, you should know that there are also many other types of content on Twitch. You can find everything from streamers filming themselves while sleeping to vloggers showing their daily life like if they were in a reality show. The New York Times devoted a very comprehensive article on Twitch.
Be careful though, these profiles don’t get the highest payouts on Twitch right now. But why not? If you don’t feel like a gamer, you can still come up with fun content. The important thing, as with all social media networks, is to be passionate about what you do, to share your passion and to engage your community! Cooking streamers like Geronimo found their place on twitch!
As with other social networks, increasing your follower count and earn a decent income will require unwavering efforts as well as posting content very regularly. Be sure to study what other streamers in the same niche are doing.
Become a Twitch affiliate
To take part in the Twitch Affiliate Program and start generating income, you’ll need to meet the following criteria:
- Have at least 50 followers
- Have at least 500 total minutes broadcast over 7 unique broadcast days in the last 30 days
- Have an average of 3 or more concurrent viewers
Once you have met these criteria, you will automatically receive an invitation to join the Twitch Affiliate Program, which will offer you several monetization options.
If you have been doing particularly well on Twitch, you can take part in the Partner Program. Becoming a partner has many financial benefits, but the criteria are difficult to meet and only 20,000 streamers – out of 2 million – have managed to join the program. The chances are pretty slim but you never know!
Earn revenue from subscriptions
Your followers can subscribe to your channel for money. The offers range from $4.99 to $24.99 per month and allow for exclusive benefits. Twitch Partners and Affiliates receive 50% and 30% respectively of the total subscription fee.
Set up donations
On Twitch, viewers, even if they didn’t subscribe to your channel, have the option to donate bits. You will need to enable this feature to use it. Donating bits to a streamer is known as cheering and is done with a chat message. Donations from your viewers allows you to earn income. 500 bits are equivalent to $7. Be careful though, users tend to send very small amounts, so you’ll need a very large audience to make money with this method.
Viewers also have the possibility to send donations directly through PayPal. However, this method has a drawback: if the donor request the money back (chargebacks) PayPal will charge you a fee.
Earn money from ads
As an Affiliate or Partner, you’ll have the opportunity to get ad revenue on the streaming platform. By running ad breaks during your streams you’ll generate revenue. The limit is 3 minutes per hour in multiple ad breaks.
Everything you need to know about running ads is very well explained on the Twitch blog. The more viewers see the ads, the higher the payout since the earnings are based on CPM (cost per thousand). To give you an idea, Partners are estimated to earn around $3.50 per 1,000 views.
Sell products as an Affiliate
If the game you stream on Twitch is available for purchase, then a ‘Buy now’ button will appear under your stream. If one of your viewers buys the game using your link, you will receive a commission of 5% of the amount purchased. You can also add external affiliate links to sites or brands that you like and that will pay you to promote their products.
Sell your own products
You may have already worked with brands, either through a collaboration or sponsoring. So why not create your own brand and products so you are in control and take all the profits?
For example, you can design simple printed t-shirts, mugs, or other goodies that you like and that fit your style. You will be able to promote them during your streams and sell them. To make a real difference, you could handcraft products yourself if you feel like a designer or choose to have them made by specialists.
Find a sponsor
There are many forms of sponsorship on Twitch:
Video game studios and developers pay streamers to play their game, provide feedback and give their opinion.
Many brands pay streamers on Twitch to use their product during their stream. The products can be anything from clothing items, energy drinks or even makeup.
E-sport organizations pay streamers to endorse their color and assert their presence on the social network.
Always be transparent and clearly state when a product was gifted to you or when you are being paid, so as not to break the consumer protection law and the Advertising Codes.
Promote your content on other platforms
To increase your visibility and consequently your income, you can upload videos on YouTube and on your other social networks. Instagram and Twitter are great tools to gain popularity. Which is exactly what you need to do to maximize your content reach, gain followers and therefore increase your revenue. Remember, the more subscribers, interactions, and engagement you have, the more you can charge to brands. The more money you earn from advertising revenue, the more you will make from affiliate marketing.
Finally, consider using a specialized platform like Influence4You (Influence4You’s platform for connecting influencers and brands). It will allow you to have direct access to brands and ongoing campaigns and not waste your time on promotion so you can focus creating content!
