With a massive rise in interest in eSports, platforms like Twitch have gained huge popularity. Millions of gamers stream their gameplay live that users can watch from anywhere in the world. Most of these streamers are professionals and experienced gamers, so viewers can watch them play and learn a thing or two themselves.
Streamers often gossip about other YouTube celebrities or entertain their viewers by giving their reactions to silly videos. Some also give gaming advice or simply talk about their lives in general. Twitch is a video live-streaming service that can be used for sharing video on games, music broadcasts, travel and outdoors, food and drink, sports, and real life. You can watch videos on Twitch either as live sessions or via video on demand.
The primary focus of this platform, however, is video games. Users can live-stream their own gameplay, interact with their viewers, and watch other people playing games as well. Some of the most popular games on Twitch include Teamfight, Fortnite, League of Legends, Grand Theft Auto V, and Tactics. In this post, we will tell you what makes this platform so popular, how to upload videos to it, and why you should use it for marketing
Why is Twitch So popular?
With over 15 million users every day, Twitch has garnered massive popularity over the last few years.
Gaming is quite popular these days, specifically among children and teens and Twitch allows users to upload videos, live stream videos, interact with other gamers, get tips on how to play games, and follow streamers.
A recent report from StreamElements, a stream management site, revealed that in December 2019, Twitch viewers watched nearly 81 million hours of “Just chatting.” It is a category of Twitch streams where users do exactly that, in addition to a number of other grab-bag activities.
Streamers can also earn money from subscriptions and Twitch collaborations. The biggest star on the platform is “Ninja” with over 11 million followers and earnings reportedly over $500,000 per month.
Users can watch live streams of international tournaments of massively popular games like Dota 2 for free. As for streamers, they can stream in their own languages. And a single match can be broadcasted in multiple languages. Users can ask steamer questions or interact with them when they are playing, post reactions with other viewers, and talk about their interests.
While the majority of the content on Twitch is gaming, the platform also offers a wide variety of other content including cookery demonstrations, arts and crafts tutorials, and music performances, in which people live-stream their videos.
Twitch isn’t just a platform, rather it is a community of passionate streamers who unite to interact with each other.
Twitch Video Upload Guidelines
You can use video upload endpoints to directly upload your videos on Twitch. These endpoints help users to create tools for creating and managing videos on Twitch.
Here is what you should know about uploading videos on Twitch:
Video Formats
There are several video formats in which you can upload your videos:
- MP4, MOV, AVI and FLV file formats
- h264 codec
- AAC audio
- Up to 1080p/60FPS
- Up to 10Mbps bitrate
Rate Limits
There is a bandwidth limit of five simultaneous uploads per account, with up to 100 uploads in 24 hours at most.
Step-by-Step Guide to Upload a Video to Twitch
Here is a step-by-step guide to uploading a video to Twitch:
Step 1: Open Twitch in your internet browser. Type https://www.twitch.tv into the address bar, and hit “Enter” on your keyboard.
Step 2: Tap on the top-right corner of your profile. Your photo will be in the upper-right corner of the screen, on a purple navigation bar. Click on it and a drop-down menu will open.
Step 3: From the drop-down menu, click on “Video Producer” After you have clicked the “Video Producer” option, a new page will open up from where you can upload your videos.
Step 4: Now, click on the upload icon. You can also drag and drop your video in this section.
Step 5: Select the video you want to upload. Find the video you want to upload and click on “Open.”
Step 6: Once you have clicked the “Open” button you will see the video getting uploaded to Twitch.
Step 7: Edit the metadata information for your video. You can add information such as video title, description, category, language, and tags in the pop-up while your video is uploading.
Step 8: Click the “Save Changes” button on the upper-right corner of the information pop-up for your video’s metadata. By clicking on it, all your information including title, description, tags, etc. will be saved. After your upload is done, your latest video will appear at the top of the video list on the Video Maker website.
Step 9: Click the purple drop-down icon on the “Schedule Premiere” button. A drop-down menu will open.
Step 10: Click on the “Publish without Premiere” option. The metadata information of your video will pop-up on the right-hand side. You can also edit your video’s title and description here before publishing.
Step 11. Click on the purple “Publish” button. This will instantly publish your video in the channel’s Video tab.
Why Should You Market on Twitch?
There are nearly 2,000,000+ streamers on Twitch, which makes it one of the largest platforms for live streaming and video uploads. The gaming community is as varied as any other community. Many people are interested in watching live gameplay just as much as they are attracted to certain sitcoms.
It’s not just a gaming or a video streaming platform, rather it’s a platform that offers its users a community filled with people that share a similar passion.
The platform serves a wide range of audiences around the world. From gamers who live-stream their gameplay and earn revenue, to influencers who share their expertise about travel, one can easily discover a wide range of users on Twitch.
Millennials form a big part of the user demographic of Twitch. With over 191 billion minutes watched this year, Twitch offers great levels of engagement, especially on live streams. What’s more interesting is that nearly three-quarters of the viewers on Twitch are male, which still leaves more than 830,000 female users on a daily basis.
This means that many brands whose target audiences are millennials can leverage Twitch to reach them.
In addition, Twitch also uses pre-roll ads for brands. So brands don’t have to worry about collaborating with only one Twitch streamer to market their products. All streams begin with a pre-roll and streamers can also enable their broadcast to include more pre-rolls in their live sessions.
Many brands have launched marketing campaigns on Twitch to engage with their target audience via streamers and other content creators. For instance, Kellogs partnered with an enterprise to create a multi-regional pre-roll ad for Italy, Spain, and France. The ad featured a 3D animated character of “Krave Chocovore” flaunting a Twitch hoodie to completely integrate the two brands.
Furthermore, the content on Twitch is closely monitored, so it ensures a safe way to market for brands. It’s less likely that your ad or content will appear next to offensive video content.
With its stringent and fair regulations, Twitch keeps an eye on its creators to ensure that it is highly efficient and safe. Twitch also offers a great social element by enabling users to directly interact with the streamer in real-time. Users can ask questions, engage with fellow viewers, and even decide what games to play.
Final Thoughts
With so many users watching Twitch streams, it makes for a great platform for marketers to experiment with and reach out to their audience. Twitch offers something for different types of audiences including millennials and Gen Z.
Twitch's audience is highly engaged and includes many creators which enables marketers to push their product/services to their target audience via rolling ads on streamers’ videos. Live video streaming is emerging as an effective marketing channel for brands around the world. Brands should leverage this form of influencer marketing which is more focused and efficient than traditional marketing.
If you haven’t been using Twitch to market your brand or services, you should definitely reconsider your marketing channels and include Twitch in your next campaign.
