Why Paying Attention To Twitch Will Pay Out For Your Brand

“What’s Facebook?” That’s a quotation from many brands in 2007, just as the world’s No. 1 social media platform was taking off. Plenty of companies missed out by refusing to capitalize on it early, and still many are struggling to catch up. Now the same scenario is being played out again on another innovative platform: Twitch. And the key to making money off of it is with professional video production!

What’s Twitch?

Think of a mix between YouTube and Facebook, but it’s largely geared towards live streaming videos of gamers playing games. Much like how people subscribe to YouTubers or like pages on Facebook, users of Twitch follow their favorite gaming celebrities. They can also stream themselves playing games to friends, making gaming more social. On top of this, a large audience on Twitch watches gaming events, such as esports tournaments, conventions, charity events and more.

But are there any opportunities for brands?

Yes! For many brands, it is in fact the perfect platform for promoting their services, especially with video productions. Let’s put it another way. Twitch currently has over 100 million active monthly users, with the largest demographic being millennials. And Twitch isn’t like Twitter or Facebook, where people are skimming through lots of content and being distracted by the TV. Due to Twitch’s video based nature, users are glued to Twitch!

This millennial audience likes to spend, and will buy your product if you engage with them in the right way. And the right way of getting these millennials on Twitch is with professional videos.

And big names are advertising on Twitch. Apple and Netflix, to name but two, are some of the leading companies advertising heavily on the system.

How brand videos integrate with Twitch

While there are a number of advertising opportunities on Twitch, the one that you want to use is video advertising. Video ads are the most engaging form of advertising on Twitch by a large margin. It makes sense for a video platform, after all! Every single video stream on Twitch begins with a pre-roll video production advertisement. There are other video ads that play in the middle of some videos, like in esports tournaments. The user has to sit through it before they can get to their video stream. This is like a TV commercial, only the video production is almost definitely going to be seen, as some content that the audience is desperate to see is about to play.

Why should I advertise my video production on Twitch now?

The great thing about taking advantage of Twitch right now is that it’s undersaturated, much like Facebook in 2007. So at the moment advertising rates are lower than they will be soon, and there’s a good chance your competitors aren’t on there yet! It can really pay to be the first to market on a new platform.

Another advantage to these streamed video ads is that they’re ad blocker proof. Nearly half of young millennials use an ad blocker. But Twitch’s streaming service can’t be touched by ad blockers. This is an innovation that really puts it ahead of the competition.

So reaching 100 million people a month has never been easier! (By the way, that’s the same number of users as Spotify!) And if you don’t think that Twitch will get more popular (and more expensive,) think differently. Since 2012, the number of users has almost doubled each year. And its momentum shows no signs of slowing down. This is in spite of the top social media channels trying to market their own game streaming services. YouTube launched YouTube Gaming in 2015, and in 2016 Facebook launched Facebook Gameroom. If the most popular websites in the world are looking to corner the market in competitive video games, this can only mean one thing: It’s worth investing in!

But how can my videos be engaging?

For a video production to sit comfortably on Twitch, it needs to do a number of things. Some of these fall back on classic advertising principles. This means making sure the product is clearly defined, entertaining people and giving the professional video an enticing call to action end screen. But the unique things with a Twitch video ad come with the platform. Your visuals, sound design and editing need to look at home on the site. That means avoiding corporate video type trappings. Twitch is fun and relaxed. Very often, users follow specific gamers because of their humor. In that case, your video production needs to feature humor heavily!

But what if the product you’re selling isn’t related to gaming?

This isn’t the issue with advertising on Twitch. That’s like a brand avoiding TV commercial advertising just because they aren’t selling something directly related to watching TV! It is true that a gaming related product would have a natural home on Twitch, but that is just a small part of it.

Also, Twitch is rapidly expanding away from just focusing on the gaming world. It may well be that in the future, Twitch turns into the live version of YouTube. A number of channels focus on cookery, and as recently as mid April filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9, used Twitch in an incredibly innovative way. He broadcast a range of his short films on the system, providing commentary along the way.

In short, there are few platforms that are as good an opportunity as Twitch is right now! Its audience is massive, highly engaged and will definitely see your commercials, yet many brands are passing on it. At Flagship, we’re seeing more and more clients wanting their video productions featured on Twitch.