Twitch Affiliate Program to Monetize Your Stream
Live streaming has been completely altered ever since Twitch became a thing. It’s completely changed the way people connect with each other through gaming, creative content, and real-time interactions. For many, Twitch isn’t just about having fun. It’s the chance to turn what they enjoy the most into a way to earn themselves some money.
The Twitch Affiliate Program lets you bring that childhood dream to reality. It’s a program designed to help streamers make money off their streams, all the while engaging with their audience.
Twitch started off as a place where people live-streamed games. But in recent years, it’s grown well past that. With streamers now profiting off of things like cooking live streams or music performances, the platform’s diversity has well and truly allowed different creators to connect with niche communities.
For anyone that’s looking to earn something off of their streams while also growing their presence on Twitch, looking into the Affiliate Program is step one. As you read on, the article will explore all there’s about the Affiliate Program. Keeping a careful eye on it will give you an idea of how to make the most from this program.
What is the Twitch Affiliate Program?
It’s easier to think of the affiliate program as a milestone for up-and-coming streamers. The program is designed to help creators earn some money while also growing their audiences. By joining the affiliate program, streamers gain access to Twitch features like subscriptions, bits, and ad revenue. This allows them to use their streams as a sustainable source of income.
Starting off with the affiliate program means you’re well on your way to earn yourself the Partner status on Twitch. That’s what every streamer’s end goal usually is. You’ll get an idea of the Partner program in later sections.
The affiliate program isn’t just for monetization, it’s a recognition of your efforts, and a gateway to advanced tools that’ll help you grow your Twitch community. Affiliates also gain access to analytics. With analytics, they’ll have insights into viewer behavior which will enable them to create content in a way that maximizes their engagement.
Not everyone can become an affiliate, but that shouldn’t put you off because the criteria isn’t that difficult to fit into. To sign up to become an affiliate, you’ll have a 30-day period to meet the following requirements:
- Stream for at least eight hours
- Stream for at least 7 days out of the 30
- Get at least 50 followers
- Have an average of three viewers on your streams
This criteria is in place to make sure that Twitch Affiliates are active and dedicated to engaging with their community. For many new streamers, the criteria can get a little overwhelming. Reaching this benchmark means they’ll have to be consistent with their efforts and promotion strategies. For this, they’ll have to be smart when it comes to using other social media apps. Additionally, collaborating with other new streamers is a pretty good way to expand their community.
Applying to Become a Twitch Affiliate
The application process is pretty simple. First, fit the criteria. Next, wait for your recognition. Once you’ve met the requirements to become a Twitch Affiliate, you’ll be sent an email from Twitch. It’ll be an invitation sent straight to your email or your Creator Dashboard. The remaining process involves filling out some paperwork and getting through with the legal requirements. This will involve accepting the Affiliate Agreement, giving your tax info, and setting up some payment options. Once you’re done with all that, you can start monetizing your streams. Then, you’re officially an Affiliate!
The application is straightforward but it requires your attention. Make sure your tax and payment info is accurate which will prevent any delays in your payments. Once everything is approved, you can start customizing your channel. This involves setting up those special perks and custom emotes/badges that Twitch streamers have.
Monetizing Once You’re A Twitch Affiliate
Subscriptions
On Twitch, subscribers are the main source of your income. Subscribing to your favorite streamers means choosing a premium plan for yourself. On Twitch, there are three possible subscriptions: $4.99/month, $9.99/month, and $24.99/month. Through the affiliate program, affiliates always get a percentage of the subscription fee that is paid, which means you’ll need a lot of subscribers.
Twitch streamers usually provide incentives through custom badges and perks so that more of their community subscribes. Incentives can also include additional time that you spend only with the subscribers. This can be in the form of Q&As or providing BTS content to your subscribers. Essentially, more incentives = more followers.
Bits and Cheers
If you’ve been on Twitch, you’ve heard about Bits. Bits are the social media app’s virtual money, which allows stream viewers to support content creators directly through the stream chat. Your viewers purchase bits that are used to send “cheers” while you’re streaming. Each bit means more revenue for the streamer.
You can encourage more of your community to purchase bits by adding fun sound alerts or interactive stream overlays. Some streamers choose to offer prizes for top “cheerers” and others create milestone goals which can provide a game-like experience for the viewers. This helps get more viewers to take part in sending cheers, and that means more money for you!
Ad Revenue
Your other main source of income are ads. Twitch Affiliates can run ads during streams and get a share of the revenue. You can either run your ads before your stream starts or in the middle. To get the most from your ad revenue, try planning the ads in such a way that doesn’t mess with viewer engagement.
Having too many ads or having them too close to each other can annoy your viewers, and you don’t want them clicking off. You can use tools like Twitch’s ad scheduler to make sure ads don’t disrupt your stream. This can help run the ads when you’ve taken a break or when your stream isn’t as hectic.
Affiliate Marketing and Sponsorships
Affiliate’s revenue goes beyond just earning through their streams. You can also start earning by collaborations with brands. This will involve promoting products or services but your sponsorships can’t be completely random. Pick sponsorships/collaborations that align with the type of content you create, and don’t make your promotions seem robotic. Be sincere and be truthful. Try treating it as an actual product review. This will give you a good way to continue your stream while also earning from it.
Donations
Many streamers make use of direct donations. This involves adding their accounts from external platforms like PayPal. The streamers add links to their PayPal accounts or widgets which viewers can click on to donate to streamers. Many streamers have incentives like call outs, so when a viewer donates, the stream calls their name out, thanking them for it. This gets more people to donate.
Additionally, most streamers also take requests through donations. It’s a great way to get more viewers to donate as it also gives you an idea of what your viewers want from you.
Maintaining Your Affiliate Earnings
Keep Your Audience Engaged
Having a successful Twitch account means you have a pretty loyal and active community. A common practice that you’ll see among many successful streamers is their constant interaction with the audience. This is done by either replying to messages on stream chat, responding to donations, or reacting to the bits that are being sent.
Be Consistent With Your Streams
For any platform, your consistency is key. Streamers need to have a regular streaming schedule and the audience needs to know about it. Twitch has many features where affiliates can announce their streams beforehand. This lets the community know when they can tune in to watch their favorite streamers. You can do the same by letting your followers know on other social media apps.
Promoting Your Stream
This is where your efforts of using other social media platforms matters. Try going to any famous Twitch streamer’s Twitter or Instagram account. One thing you’ll note is that there are always continuous announcements telling people, “Hey! We’re streaming!” This reminds people and brings more people to come watch your streams. You can also stream with other streamers. When you’re doing that, you’re essentially mixing your audiences, and that’s an instant boost to your reach.
Experiment With High Quality Streams
For any new streamer, you can’t really know what your audience is going to enjoy. So experiment! This means testing out new streaming ideas and keeping track of the views that you’re getting. You can use all that data to keep track of what your viewers like and what they prefer. Then, you can just focus on providing more of the content that’s enjoyed.
Some Challenges That You’ll Run Into
Balancing Time and Creating Content
Streaming is time consuming. There’s no way around that. It will take up a lot of your day. When you pair that with your other responsibilities, you have got problems. So when you create your schedules, always be realistic. Never create schedules that you can’t keep up with. It's not a good look and will confuse your audience about when to tune in.
Starting From Scratch
Starting off as a new streamer isn’t going to be easy. Chances are, you won’t see the growth that you were expecting. But don’t give up! Growth as a new Twitch streamer is especially slow, so when you’re starting off, you should always take that into account. It’ll give you an idea of how you’re supposed to go about with your streams. Also, because growth is pretty slow, it means that you’ll be putting in a lot of effort early on which can lead to a burn out.
Burning Out
For new streamers, your biggest problem is probably going to be burnout because of the extra efforts that you’ll need to put in. So, always remember to not overwork yourself as a streamer. This will prevent you from taking a super long break that can affect your growth levels. If you’re taking a break, it’s always good to let your audience know beforehand!
Starting Off as an Affiliate, Ending as a Partner
As we said earlier, a streamer’s final goal is usually to become a partner. This marks the true success of a streamer. Twitch Partners gain access to a lot more ways to earn money and customize their channels. But how do you qualify as a Twitch Partner?
The process is somewhat similar to becoming an affiliate. There’s a criteria that you must meet. It involves:
- Streaming for at least 25 hours
- Streaming for more than 12 days
- Having an average of 75 viewers in the 30-day period
The Bottom Line
The Twitch Affiliate program is a means of recognition for new streamers. It offers streamers a way to make money from what they enjoy and it gives them a platform to connect with more enjoyers. By getting an idea of what the Affiliate program is, you’ll have an idea of how you can make your own rewarding streaming career. But remember, it isn’t going to be easy. If it was, you’d see everyone do it. Your success entirely depends on your motivation. It’s difficult but the rewards from this journey can be well worth the effort!