How Twitch Streamers Should Properly Promote Themselves on Twitter

As the manager of TwitchMeta.com I watch tweets go by all day from thousands of streamers. I follow a ton of people and I also have TweetDeck setup to show me every single tweet that uses the word “Twitch” and also “Gaming”. I may add more in the future to keep an eye on but I find these are the two most relevant search streams for me to keep my eye on.

What this means is that I see how people tweet and I see ones that catch my eye and I have learned what works for standing out from a crowd. I also see a ton of terrible tweets that are simply a waste of time. So I've compiled a few thoughts on what I think every single tweet should have in order to be effective in promoting yourself on Twitch. Now of course you can bend the rules and use what works for you but this is what I've learned.

Crafting the Perfect Tweet for Twitch

The components of a killer tweet are simple:

1. A few interesting and curiousity invoking words as a “headline”
2. A photo
3. A link back to your livestream
4. a Call to Action

Let's break it down…

I read almost every tweet that comes by, but surprisingly a lot of them have little to nothing to say. If I was tweeting about my stream I would try to say something relevant about the day's content combined with something cute, clever, funny, surprising or weird.

Curiosity is one of the most important elements to a great headline, people always want to know more and if they think they might be able to see something they didn't know before they will go check it out.

A photo is so helpful. It doesn't even have to be a photo of yourself. It can literally be anything because the tactic is not about showing a relevant photo as much as it is standing out from the hundreds of other tweets going by. The photo helps attract the readers eye towards your powerful headline and helps it get read. That is its sole goal, to improve the likelihood that your tweet gets even read and not passed by.

 

Please for the love of all that is kappa…ADD YOUR LINK!

I can't believe how many people are tweeting “come see my stream”, “I'm live on Twitch”…and they don't include a freaking hyperlink!?!

I mean this is the worst habit of all time to have. People are so lazy that they aren't going to click to your stream if you don't provide a link. And if you are too lazy to include it yourself what makes you think other's will make the choice to do so when 50 other people are providing the link right next to your tweet. This is a must!

ALSO! A call-to-action is also very important. It doesn't have to be long or complicated. A simple – “Come check out the fun!”, “Join me for some ladder hijinx”, “stop by before it's too late!”. These are simple triggers that prompt people to click. It is a very subtle persuasion and it does work when used correctly.

 

Let's look at some really ineffective tweets:

 

Look, you get points for trying, but if you are serious about growing your stream traffic using twitter then you need to step it up. If this is all you can manage don't even bother, I guarantee it's not working well. The only way something like this would be useful is if you already had 50000 followers and they knew your stream link by heart and they had it bookmarked. But let's get serious.

 

Now, let's see some well crafted ones using the points from above:

 

 

 

 

Other semi-important considerations…

#Hashtags are good if they are actually bringing in added traffic otherwise they are just stealing space from more important characters like the call-to-action etc.

I really like it when people use emojis! I think they stand out a lot. They are like mini pictures that draw your attention!

Especially when they are combined with killer spacing on the tweet. These tweets just look so much more pro and they stand out!

 

If you want to get really pro about it, here is an info-graphic on building the perfect tweet which reiterates a lot of what is in this post but is even more details:

 

Now that I know how to tweet, how often should I be doing it?

This is a really good question. They say tweets last an average of 8 seconds on someone's feed. That isn't a lot.

I think you should tweet a lot more than you think. It really doesn't annoy people if you are being fun, witty, giving value, talking about relevant stuff and just promoting your best material. I would stay away from tweet bombing someone's feed with like 10 tweets in very short amount of time. You don't want to be disruptive to twitter experience of someone such that they need to mute or unfollow you.

I think it is most important that you tweet several times while you are live on stream. Always tweet as soon as you go live and then a few tweets to highlight what is going on with the stream at that moment. In case people missed your first tweet you still want to capture their attention. Tweet a photo of yourself live with your monitors in the background. Grab a screenshot from in game and post that as well.

I would also consider tweeting at the end to say thanks to your viewers and to let them know when you will be on next.

 

How do I get more followers on twitter?

A very important consideration is how you intend to grow your twitter following.

Of course you will generate a lot of followers simply by instructing your live stream audience to go and “follow me on twitter.” You should of course include a direct link to your twitter in your Twitch panels and in a bot message. They don't do any harm but will only help you get added followers.

If you really want to grow though you need to be active on twitter in an engaging way. You have to like tweets, give Re-tweets and follow others. The more engaged you are in twitter the faster you will grow. If you start re-tweeting people they will hit you back. You always have to give before you get.

Conclusion

Always remember that Twitter itself is simply a tool to communicate. You can use it however you want. But there is millions of new tweets every second so if you want to stand out I highly recommend you try some of the tips in this post. Twitter drives traffic and if you can make full use of it then you will reap a lot of rewards from it.  Good luck and have fun with it!