There’s no denying that having a close connection with your customers is important for business. Digital technology is just one way that brands are brought closer together with customers. Knowing how to leverage these technologies is an invaluable skill in 2020. 

As a small business owner, it is imperative to find ways of staying in touch with customers – especially throughout this period of social distancing.

Live streaming has grown in popularity in recent years, bringing a crucial human touch to digital business interactions. Twitch is a live streaming platform that should be on your radar as a small business owner. Here’s everything you need to know about the tool.

What is Twitch and should you use it for your business?

Twitch has been around for nearly a decade now, with an impressive 35 million unique visitors a month. Impressively, it is the world’s leading live streaming platform. The main focus of Twitch is gamers and all things gaming – it provides a platform for them to meet and engage.

Before you sign up and join the Twitch party, it’s important to know a little about its consumer base. First of all, the platform is male-heavy (at least 80 percent of its users), with a mostly young audience. 

If you’re a software or gaming brand, it may bring you great value. That’s not all – if your business is relevant to young males who like gaming, this is the platform for you.

Twitch also has its fair share of influencers – 25,000 to be exact – who work to promote games, brands, and more with their signature endorsements.

Why live streaming?

Live streaming has grown in popularity in recent years. With more people working from home than ever before, it’s likely that live streaming will become an even more popular tool to bring people together.

Live streaming is already a built-in tool on social sites like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Live streaming on Twitch functions pretty similarly.

In just a few clicks you can share live stories with your audiences, giving them a glimpse into your world. This can be achieved on your phone, game console or desktop. 

How live streaming can help your business

Here are a few ways live streaming can help grow your business. Live streaming…

• Showcases your brand in a new and exciting way to customers. If you’re in the gaming world, Twitch is particularly useful for sharing hacks, insights and unique features.

• Helps to grow your following – fans will connect with brands whose content they enjoy watching. 

• Gives a face to your business and makes you more approachable.

• Offers something personal and unique to fans, which in turn grows brand loyalty.

• Increase sales – When used correctly to showcase your business, live streaming can help you sell your product / service.

Going Live

Once you know what you want to say, the next thing to consider is timing. Keep an eye on engagement and use analytical tools to understand when your audience is most likely to be online. This will help you cast your net as far as possible.

Twitch tracker is a handy tool that will provide you with insights as to when your audience is online.

You can access live stream at any time, on any device that has live streaming abilities. From your Twitch account, go on the top right of the screen and choose ‘Channels and videos’ and you will find an option that you can stream from.

This includes; PS4, Xbox One, and PCs that have a built-in web camera.

Content ideas

So you’re set up on Twitch and ready to go live…now what? Well, like any other social strategy, you need to think about how you’re going to add value to your users with unique content. Here are a few ideas:

• Share something you are passionate about. This might be inside information, a gaming hack or something that connects you with your audience.

• Behind the scenes content. There’s nothing more that fans love than feeling like they are invited into your world. Business owners can bring customers closer by giving them exclusive insider content.

• Storytelling. Do you have a new product release, a new feature to share or a new launch to announce? Whenever you’ve got a story to share, use Twitch live streaming to tell it. Looking for inspiration? Just take a look at tech announcements from Apple, they are the perfect example of sharing their news with the world in a personal way.

• Plug in to creator camp. This is a tool from Twitch to help businesses make the most of their Twitch accounts and create great content for their viewers. It covers everything from viewer retention to personal branding.

• Build your brand. Use the platform to share your brand’s personality and stories. This is a way to make lifelong connections with customers.

Growing your audience

You’ll want to put effort into growing and retaining your audience. Networking plays an important part in this, so use all your social networks to drive viewers to your Twitch profile.

This is a two-way experience – you will need to set aside time regularly to engage with your audience, inviting them into your world by live streaming.

Initially, it takes a lot of hard work, but once you’ve broken through, you’ll find that your fans will continually grow.

Final thoughts

While live streaming is popular across many social platforms, Twitch brings a unique gaming angle to the scene. If you’re a small business connected with gaming, or you have a largely male audience, now’s the time to build up your account!

Ultimately, live streaming will work best when you engage fully with your audience, share unique content with them, and connect with them on a personal level.