The world of streaming content is very tough for the new streamer trying to get their feet wet.
Getting new followers is very hard, and it’s an important step to becoming a Twitch Affiliate at 50 followers. Working on getting followers is therefore very important to your growth as a streamer.
If you feel that you need help learning how to get followers on Twitch, then this is the perfect article for you. Please keep on reading! You’ll be surprised by a few of these tips.
1. Ask!
Yes, simply ask! You never know how many people gain followers just by asking them to follow.
Following is free, and asking your viewers to follow won’t cost them a thing.
Other than saying it out loud yourself at various points during your stream, you can even get a chatbot command to repeat a message every few minutes asking them to follow.
A small graphic which won’t distract asking them to follow the channel will also work.
Also, when you gain a new follower, don’t forget to say thanks. This lets the follower feel welcomed, possibly attracting more viewers to follow!
Gaining a follower is not only important for you, but also for the follower. A new follower allows you to grow your own Twitch community, which we will discuss later.
2. Stream Frequently and Consistently
Even if you’re very entertaining and well-liked, having an inconsistent schedule makes it hard to maintain a ‘comfortable’ status quo.
Your viewers prefer to have regular streams, so they can carve out time to enjoy watching you play games and interact with you.
In light of this, you should always try to be on time and available when you clearly said you would stream Tuesday at 8 p.m., for example.
Popular streamers like Ninja and Shroud have set schedules, planning ahead whether they will play Fortnite, Warzone, or any other game.
Another great example of a consistent streamer is PoppinSwiss, who streams daily and has his schedule available for all to see.
Regularity creates comfort, and comfort allows people to enjoy themselves. Asking them to follow your consistent streams will be great for increasing your follower count.
While regular streams are great, sometimes surprise streams will keep your audience intrigued, and might net you a new follower or two. Who knows, someone might catch you streaming outside of your schedule.
3. Offer Value
Say you are a very good Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player, the second-best in your country. You play Snake and fight the first in the country, a Sonic main, almost every week.
This is the case of 0mart, ranked 2nd in the Dominican Republic. Recently he streamed himself reviewing tournament sets and teaching other Snake players how to fight Sonic.
If you know something about the game you play, then you’ll encounter viewers who ask for advice. This is an opportunity to gain a new Twitch follower.
Simply be helpful to them, answering any questions as best as you can. If you don’t know the answer, just say you don’t have the answer.
If you do know some good resources and people, you can point the viewer to said resources and people. For example, it may be a good Rainbow Six Siege player you know that can answer your viewer’s questions.
Not only will you show yourself as a nice person willing to help viewers out, but you can also help others.
This means that building up an image as a helpful person will attract more followers compared to not helping at all.
4. Have a Webcam
Well, this is not absolutely necessary, but it can help you immensely.
When people hear voices, sometimes they like to picture the face the voice belongs to. It makes you much more relatable than just watching you stream games without a webcam or even no mic.
Showing your face on-stream allows the audience to see your reactions and share your emotions. You might pop-off after landing a sick headshot in Apex Legends or get a Pentakill in League of Legends.
Let the audience see your joy and your frustration because they want to immerse themselves in the situation.
Being relatable is great for your image as well. You show yourself as genuine, allowing the audience to relate to you better.
A small streamer, ExodiusGG, managed to reach 168 (as of writing time) followers relatively quickly through commentating Smash tournaments and streaming Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPG) games. He had a webcam on and thus allowed him to achieve this level of growth.
He’s a great example of webcams helping with growth, though TheDooo– has not revealed his face yet, and does not seem to be doing that anytime soon. However, he is wildly popular despite this.
5. Visually Appealing Channel
A funny channel is as good as how the stream layout looks. If your layout is very basic, it’s still fine, but a really good layout will boost your follower count.
For example, some streamers like Epic_Gabriel have graphics showing subscriber/follower counts, goals, and other details.
Most layouts have the newest donations, highlighted chat messages, and other layouts pertinent to the game. For example, Smashers have tournament details in their streams, while some other streamers have very well-made transition screens commissioned from graphics design experts.
You can either get simpler layouts that do the job, a flashy Twitch starting soon screen, or a combination of both. A fancier layout does convey a feeling of professionalism so viewers might follow you if your stream is visually attractive.
However, investing in the most expensive stream layouts and ordering custom-animated sprites doesn’t guarantee follower-count increases, so get what you’re more comfortable with.
6. Play the Right Games
Play what you’re good at, but also consider if that game is popular.
Say you’re great at an obscure game, but relatively few people are interested in that game. You won’t be gaining new followers unless a miracle happens.
Many content creators on Twitch pay close attention to what the gaming community at large is enjoying right now. Summer 2020 was the era of Fall Guys and Among Us, these are currently some of the best games to stream on Twitch.
Now, in Fall 2020, Fall Guys is slowly declining in popularity, while Among Us is getting more and more popular due to the developers listening to their player base.
Fortnite remains very popular, so streamers like Fresh stream it on the regular. He is very popular among many other Fortnite streamers due to his expert gameplay and association with LazarBeam, who sometimes join him on-stream for content.
Some niches have a large following. Speedrunning games like Super Mario 64 are still very popular, as well as Tetris streams due to their retro and sophisticated nature.
As long as you try to make yourself unique and not get drowned among many other streamers, you’ll find getting new followers easier.
7. Interact with the Audience
Nobody wants to see you set up a webcam and mic only to be silent. That makes for boring streams!
Instead, try to interact with the audience when you play. It might be challenging at first, but you can work on it slowly.
Try to answer questions, give advice, and laugh alongside them. After all, streaming games live on Twitch goes both ways.
Some multiplayer games are very competitive, meaning that you can invite others to play with you live.
Consider follower games! When a new person follows, give them a big shout-out and maybe even play a game or two with them. Many Smash streamers have viewer games, and this might allow you to gain some new followers if the session was fun.
German Smash Ultimate Toon Link main tsuna sometimes streams viewer battles, though he does not have follower benefits. However, you can probably implement this if you play Smash, or in the case of other games like FPS titles, invite the new follower for a quick game.
This can be impractical for large channels, but if you’re trying to grow larger, it might be a good strategy.
Perhaps the most important answer to how to get followers on Twitch, interaction is extremely important, and we find that it can make or break your channel.
8. Be Active Outside of Streaming
When you’re not live, your audience might miss you. However, you can turn this into an advantage with some methods.
You can create a Discord server specifically for your channel, allowing your followers to chat with each other or even get some feedback from them directly.
Having social media like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook can also help. Post things often, like your next stream time, announcements, and other special posts.
BonesMeat, a Smash Ultimate streamer, streams the game almost daily. He also has a Discord server of his own, like PoppinSwiss, who we mentioned above. Both are entertaining streamers and very engaged with their audiences.
Talk to your followers and viewers on your Discord server. You can even lock certain channels for followers and subscribers only, such as Among Us and Minecraft channels when you decide to play these games with them.
For Twitter, even the smallest tweets will help you gain followers, as long as you are active. Tweeting to ask your followers to follow you on Twitch is very useful.
9. Catchy Stream Titles
From the absurd to the humorous, a great stream idea and title can help you attract potential followers.
You can either stay simple such as “tournament run, top 8 maybe?” or “watch me get upset by a random King K. Rool in bracket!” in the case of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
For FPS games, you can place a goal such as “Quad feed with new gun” or “360 no-scoping noobs right now!”
In any case, try not to be vague. You want to play Game X, so try to make the title catchy to separate yourself from the rest.
A catchy stream title will make people want to click on your stream instead of other similar ones. Do keep in consideration the fact that this isn’t fool-proof, and always try to mix things up.
10. Stream Quality
With the majority of viewers today having HD devices, you should try to stream at 1080p. However, if you can’t do that, 720p is also acceptable, as it might allow you to stream at 720p60 without causing lag spikes and other issues.
Otherwise, try to shoot for 1080p60, which is the standard nowadays. Even if your resolution is right, your graphics quality should also be clear.
This might require a stronger PC or even a dual PC streaming setup, so make sure your PC can handle the load without losing quality.
Best Captain Falcon main in the world Fatality streamed at 720p60, though he is now moving to a different location with better internet speed. He will potentially stream in 1080p60 in the future.
Having a high-quality stream is great for your viewers, as it is a great sign of professionalism and might increase your follower rate.
These tips aren’t cut-and-paste, as everyone has a different situation. However, we find that being active and genuine tend to be the most effective strategies. These tips might help you understand how to get followers on Twitch much better.
We hope you enjoyed them and that they will help your channel grow!
