Streaming Growth Secrets — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:00] Have you been struggling growing your audience on Twitch or YouTube? You are sitting down in front of the camera each day, you're playing video games that nobody really follows or is coming back. There's a secret that successful streamers already have internalized

[00:12] and that I want to share with you today so that you can grow your audience. My name is Oliver and I've been a full-time YouTube and Twitch content creator for over two and a half years now. And I want to share my experience with you so that you can turn your passion for gaming into a career

[00:25] and earn a sustainable income. So let's get started. The key to success in streaming depends on a lot of different factors, but I have identified

[00:39] three of them which I think are the most important ones. First one is, discoverability. That means the more eyeballs you get on your stream, the more likely it is that people will stick to your stream, become followers and then become subscribers afterwards.

[00:52] But since this is a very big topic that I don't want to discuss today, I will take that and put it into another video that you might see soon. The next one is the production quality, as in how aesthetically pleasing your screen is.

[01:05] That includes your camera, that includes the microphone quality, of course, the encoding quality. There is overlays, transitions, and all of that. But I think the most important thing that you should take care of first

[01:17] is your content, as in what is it that you are producing. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Who are you? I'm Timmy, and I want to play video games on stream so that people will subscribe to my channel and I'm gonna get rich and famous.

[01:30] Alright Timmy, it's good to have you. But you know what? Streaming is more than just sitting down and playing video games. It is all about an exchange of value. What do you mean with value? Alright Timmy, sit down and listen.

[01:43] I will show you what I mean. The idea of value. I've been working in software and product development for multiple years before becoming a full-time content creator. And the principles of the analog world also apply to the digital world.

[01:56] as in to streaming and to YouTube content creation. It is all about the product that you deliver and the customer's needs. And if you bring those two together, you have the key of success in your hands already.

[02:08] If you get into that mindset, it will be much easier to shape your content in a way that keeps people engaged. You want to serve your customer, you want to serve their needs, and if you do that, the people will stick to your channel and they will start supporting you.

[02:21] But I understand my content already. I play video games and the people watch it. And here lies the biggest misconception. Let me give you an example. What is this? This is a training weight? Yes, but more than that, this is a longer life, this is

[02:36] sex appeal, this is physical attraction, this is just a healthy life what I have in my hand here. This product here is just a vehicle to carry out the value proposition. People don't want that thing, people don't need it. What they want is

[02:50] with more muscles, they wanna lose weight, they wanna feel better. And again, the value proposition of the training weight is exactly that, and that is what the people are paying for. Okay but what does that mean for my stream People come to YouTube and Twitch for two main reasons The first one is education People want to know how to hammer a nail into the wall and they seek advice

[03:13] The second thing is entertainment. People just like to kill some time and have social interaction. And while YouTube is tilted a bit more into the educational part, I mean, there are a lot of how-to channels out there and this is literally one of them,

[03:26] Twitch and Mixer and all the live streams are more about education. but it is always a mix of both. So that means whenever somebody is coming to your channel, they have a specific reason for that. They are looking for something.

[03:38] Or in product development terms, they have a problem, a need, or a desire. And if you can cater towards that, if you can help them out, they will be very grateful to an extent where they start not only sticking around,

[03:50] but they also start supporting your channel because you just serve their need. And that is the exchange of value. But what is it that they need? Now that could be a multitude of things. This also depends very much on what you are able to give.

[04:05] But let me dive into that with a bunch of examples here. Number one. Coaching your viewers. Acquiring knowledge and increasing your skills is a huge driving factor, especially in competitive games. People really want to be better than other players. They want to be on top of the leaderboards and they want to feel superior.

[04:22] And there's nothing wrong with that. That's why people like Shroud or Ninja are very, very popular streamers. They show you interstellar gameplay. And people watch them because they want to observe what they are doing on the battlefield

[04:34] and they want to internalize that for their own gameplay. They want to learn from their excellence. So if you're really good at something, then stream that. And not only play the game, but also explain what you are doing.

[04:48] Be thorough with your explanations. Dive into every little detail because the people want to soak up your knowledge like a sponge. those people are really grateful if you serve them with educating them.

[05:01] They want to get coached by you. They want to learn from you. So if you are one of those players who are really, really good at something, then this is your audience that you should serve the most. Number two, showing different games.

[05:14] Another value that you could provide is video-like content. And a lot of variety streamers are doing something like that. They are actually expected to change the game every few days so that their audience get to see something new every time.

[05:26] Their value proposition is that the people can experience either the game through their eyes, and yet they don't have to buy it, or they give them a teaser to the game so that their audience can decide whether or not they want to pick it up.

[05:38] This could be very valuable for the people because they actually save money with that. The entertainment bracket is a little bit harder to differentiate. You might think that people will come to YouTube and Twitch and Mixer to just kill some time,

[05:51] but there is actually a very deep meaning for the people who come over there, and that is the social or the relational value that you can provide for the people. Number 3. Invoking big emotions.

[06:03] Let's start with the people that I call the sensation gorgeth. These people really want to get entertained they want to be surprised they want to see exciting gameplay they want to feel the energy and they want to get drawn into the stream Those people are here for you if you are an entertaining person If you are somebody that is very energetic that can make puns that again can pull off clutch gameplay

[06:28] and then be super happy about, but also be super angry about things when they don't go right and in your favor. You really want to be authentic on the screen, because otherwise it'll show when the people are like,

[06:40] yeah, they're just faking it, this is not really my content. They want to feel with you, they want to be invested into the gameplay with you. So again, if you're one of those energetic persons, then try to serve that audience and try to make those people happy.

[06:55] Number four, giving people attention. Next up are the socializers. There are some people out there who don't really care about gameplay at all. For them, it is more about human interaction.

[07:07] Believe it or not, but there are people out there who haven't spoken to another person within days or maybe even weeks. And they come to your stream to fill that gap. They seek your attention. They want to talk about things.

[07:20] They want you to care about them. And if you deliver that to them, then they will be very grateful. I mean, that's nothing bad in general. We are all social beings, I would say, or most of us are social beings.

[07:32] So we seek human attention. We want to be part of a community. And if we provide that, then, again, the people will be very, very happy. I would consider myself one of those people. So when I'm coming to a stream, I care more about the stream and getting noticed myself.

[07:46] I'm not too much invested into the people that have thousands of viewers and have no time to actually respond to me when I'm asking a question. So those people, the socializers, they will seek smaller streams and that is actually your chance.

[08:00] Because if there's some new face on your channel that you don't know yet, just ask him. What brings them to your channel to get a hook and then talk about their life, talk about pop culture, talk about recent events, to actually serve their need of human interaction.

[08:14] Number 5. Sharing private things. Let's talk about the voyeurs. and I don't mean that offensive or predatory I mean that in a way that there are some viewers out there

[08:27] who are really interested in who you are what you're like what your basic life principles are and what it looks like in your private space I already caught myself when watching Shroud and there was somebody coming into his room

[08:40] while he was streaming I really wondered, who is that person? Is he living with him? Is it just a friend? And what would his kitchen look like? Again, this is just something that people start thinking about and if you're feeling comfortable with that, you can share that, show them around,

[08:54] or even better, tell them stories. It doesn't have to be the big meaningful ones, as in how your childhood was, how you graduated at college. It is more about the day-to-day things,

[09:07] because if you talk about your big stories in life once, twice, maybe three times, it gets repetitive for you the streamer and it feeling awkward discussing the same topics over and over again Instead talk about what recently going on in your life For example I was watching

[09:23] a streamer that was talking about his girlfriend getting her wisdom teeth pulled, and I wanted to tune in so bad when he was online the next time, because I wanted to know

[09:35] what was going on, and if the surgery went well, and if she was okay. So that actually built a very deep connection, just you know, being invested in another person's life.

[09:47] So if you want to serve those people, go ahead and talk about basically everything that is going on in your life and that is on your mind that has an impact on your person. By the way, for all of these social interactions, I highly recommend setting up a camera and a microphone

[10:01] so that the people can see and hear you. But I think that goes without saying, right? You can only deliver a social or relational value if you can carry over your message to your audience. Of course, there are a lot more aspects out there to watch live streams on Twitter or Mixer or on YouTube.

[10:17] But in the end, we are all a mixture of that. We all carry a mix of needs within ourselves that need to be fulfilled. And we are seeking something very specific out there. That's you, that's me, that's the people out there.

[10:29] And here comes the next question. What is it that you are really good at, that you can do to serve those needs? Because you now understood what value is. But there's the other side of the coin too, because if you deliver that value to the people, you can actually capture it back in terms of watch time, in terms of follows, and of course in terms of subscriptions and donations.

[10:52] So try to figure out what you are best at. I think not everybody is really good at everything that I just mentioned, but if there is one strength, then just cater towards that and then shape your content into that direction and also shape your audience.

[11:05] because if you do one specific thing, then you will attract the people who really, really like that. For example, if you're being a toxic streamer, then you will attract toxic people to your stream. And that's usually not that cool.

[11:17] So think about what you can do in order to serve your audience and then just pray towards that. I hope you got a good understanding for the importance of knowing what your audience, what your customers need, what their desire is, what drives them on your channel

[11:31] and what they are seeking there and the products that you can give them. This is definitely way more than just playing video games on camera. This is something with a deeper meaning for your customers. And so it should for you.

[11:43] So let me know down below in the comments which type of customer you are, which type of viewer you are. I'm definitely the socialite. I like interaction. I like to be noticed. I like to have a connection to the people that are on stream.

[11:57] If you learned something new today, if you like the content, then don't forget to leave a rating or subscribe to the channel if you want more of that. and I hope to see you guys next time.