According to Twitch streamers themselves, the best ways for aspiring streamers to gain Twitch followers is to:
- Have a consistent schedule – if your viewers don’t know when you’re online, then they won’t know when to watch you. (Amaz).
- Don’t just drop everything to become a streamer – it’s important to have an established subscriber base and back-up plan in case streaming doesn’t work out (Ninja). There are plenty of streamers who quit their jobs or drop out of school before they’ve made it, and then they don’t make it as a streamer. Your job or place at college won’t necessarily be there when you want to return to it (CohhCarnage).
- It’s all in a name – choose a catchy name that people can remember (Anne Munition).
- Just enjoy it – without worrying about views. It can take months before you gain even a couple of regular viewers (KayPeaLoL).
- Get to know the community – developing relationships with other small streamers is important. Hosting each other when the other is offline is a great way to keep viewers on your channel, while also helping out somebody else. If they return the favor, that could help get you noticed by new viewers (chocoTaco).
- Don’t watch the numbers – On the other hand, remember that if you ‘only’ have one or two viewers in the chat, they’re only there because they enjoy watching you. Also, numbers can rise and drop significantly from day to day, even for major streamers. Don’t let it get you down (aDrive).
- Do your research – watch other streamers and get a sense of how to stream. Quality and professionalism go a long way towards gaining long-term viewers (BurkeBlack)
- Try to find a niche and create focused content – you need to create content that stands out from the crowd. Creating content on other platforms before starting to livestream can help you to gain followers who may join you on Twitch when you begin to produce content there (Disguised Toast).
- Wait before investing in the best equipment – It’s a bad idea to launch your channel at a loss. Rather, it’s best to wait until you have the subscriber base to justify upgrading your equipment (Miss_Rage).
- Don’t treat it like a business – viewers pick up on the tone set by the streamer. Therefore, it’s important to just relax and be yourself (nl_kripp).
- Timing is everything – selecting the right game is key, but so is finding the right time. For instance, starting your stream just before big streamers go offline or starting to play a new game when the big streamers are finished with it can gain you some of their viewers (CohhCarnage).
- Luck plays a major role in success – sometimes you can stream for years with little traction and then something unforeseen will suddenly boost you to the top. Or not. (Reckful)
- Keep your social media channels updated – This can include interesting highlight clips, memes and schedule updates (dakotaz).