As a streamer, your success is directly related to your audience. Can you connect with a large group of people who want to tune in to your show each day?
If you can, you’ll be able to attract not just viewers but also paid subscribers and sponsors looking to connect with streaming influencers.
Unfortunately, many streamers don’t fully understand their potential audience – so they miss out on a ton of potential revenue. Let’s take an in-depth look at how to identify and reach your target audience.
What is a Target Audience?
Over 100 million people use Twitch each month, making it one of the busiest live video sites in the entire world. That’s a huge pool of potential viewers. But you want to be careful not to draw the wrong conclusions here.
Many beginning streamers mistakenly believe they should target as large of an audience as possible. But the vast majority of those 100 million daily users aren’t going to be interested in your channel.
Instead, you should focus on your “target audience.” A target audience is the group of users most likely to be interested in your stream. They’ll be drawn to the specific type of content you’re producing.
Why is a Target Audience Important?
When you understand who is interested in your stream, you can customize your marketing efforts to target them directly. In short, you’ll be able to speak their language. Creating a personal connection helps your potential viewers and subscribers relate to you.
Identifying your target audience also help you reach them online. Marketing efforts for your stream will mainly involve your social media channels. When you understand your audience, you’ll also understand what social media platforms they’re active on.
Different stream audiences are interested in different types of content. Their interests determine what content you’ll post on your social media pages. If your target audience likes to watch fast and furious action, you should post brief clips of your greatest multiplayer victories. If your target audience wants to know tips and secrets, you’ll post how-to guides and walkthroughs.
How to Identify Your Target Audience
So, who are these people you need to target? Different media formats require different approaches. Fortunately, streaming is actually one of the easier formats for identifying a target audience. Valuable demographic data is delivered right to you.
Every follower will have a Twitch or Mixer account (which might be an Xbox Live account). You can learn a lot from the publicly available info on each follower’s account. For instance, what other streamers do they follow? How are those streams similar to yours? The overlap can help you identify what people like about your stream.
Maybe people are drawn to your stream because you’re consistently funny and good-natured. Maybe the types of games you play are the main draw – are you playing a game which not many other streamers play? Maybe the time of day you stream makes you the best choice – are you active during non-peak hours?
Of course, followers are just the start. You’re really more interested in donations and subscribers. What are you doing in your stream when people donate and subscribe? Did you just win a game? Tell a great joke? Reveal something personal about yourself? Try to identify what your audience feels is worth rewarding monetarily.
Final Thoughts
No stream will appeal to everybody. Identifying your target audience lets you refine both your stream and your marketing efforts so you’re able to reach the people most likely to follow, donate and subscribe.
The world of streaming is pretty crowded. Finding a foothold when you’re new can feel overwhelming. But the more time you spend identifying and marketing towards your target audience, the faster your stream is likely to grow.
