A practical guide for streamers looking to grow their income
Twitch is doing a lot these days to help streamers make more money.
Bits, donations, subscriptions, bounties, affiliate integrations with Amazon, and more. But it can still be difficult to earn money when you're channel is smaller and more niche. What opportunities are out there?
Sponsorships.
And to a lesser extent, affiliate opportunities.
Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting other people’s products. You find a product you like, promote it to others, and earn a piece of the profit for each sale that you make.
This can be a difficult way to earn income if you have a small audience or if you're promoting an untrustworthy product, service, or brand.
Sponsorships can be like hitting a gold mine. It may not make you rich, but sponsorships can do more than just give you money. Sponsors often give you their products to use and promote, merchandise to wear, MORE, but most importantly, credibility. This can help your channel grow to become bigger and expand your audience reach.
How?
Credibility. Free promotion from your sponsor. Travel and networking opportunities.
All this gives you the support needed to take your channel to the next level. Not only will your channel grow, but your brand authority will rise along with it.
You should treat your channel like your home. Everytime a guest comes into your house, you want to have it clean and tidy. It makes you look more put together and your guests are more likely to have a good time.
That's the way you should treat your Twitch channel. Clean and tidy.
That means having a consistent brand presence in your info section (along with your other social channels). Your info section should be consistent with enough information about you that will educate newcomers about who you are and what you stream.
Click on the images below to preview.
Both channels have less than 5,000 followers. Notice how they have a distinct look with relevant information about themselves? This is important for small streamers because they'll have a higher chance of landing a sponsorship deal.
Click on the images below to preview.
Both channels have less than 5,000 followers. You can see they didn't put much effort in their info section. Although there is nothing wrong with them, they won't be taken as seriously if they apply to a sponsorship program.
Put yourself in the shoes of a sponsor. Which channel are you more likely to gravitate towards? The clean, nice designed channels or the sloppily put together channels? And keep in mind, these channels roughly have the same amount of followers.
If you're thinking "I can't come up with great branding like that! I bet it costs a lot of money!" You're wrong.
There are plenty of free resources out there that create graphics you can use for your own channel. All you need to do is figure out what design you like best and stick with it. The hardest part is writing the content. But you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Find a channel you like (and one with sponsors), and use their info section as a reference to help create the content.
We've already done the heavy lifting here. Click the link below to see our list of 50+ brands that offer sponsorships to streamers.
We're continuously updating this page to keep it as relevant as possible.
One thing to note: make sure the brand(s) you reach out to are a good fit for you. It's important that you deliberately choose who you partner with. Just because you see 60 opportunities doesn't mean you should apply to them all.
Think about your channel, your audience, and your personal branding.
If you're a vegetarian and cook meals on stream, don't reach out to a beef jerky company to sponsor you.
If you only drink energy drinks for a pick-me-up, don't reach out to a coffee company.
You should ask yourself the following questions to guide your decision on which partners to reach out to.
You also need to be realistic about the brands you reach out to.
If you're a small streamer, don't expect to get a premier sponsorship with Logitech or Razer.
Instead, find a brand that's established, but is still growing just like yourself. That's an advantage and a good point to bring up in your proposal. You may night be the biggest, but you have aspirations to grow and build a community, much like them.
If you don't see a company you like on our list of sponsors, here's a few tricks to find more on your own.
intitle:sponsorship + streamer
inurl:sponsorship + streamer
inurl:sponsor + streamer
"sponsorships" + streamers
"sponsorships" + twitch
Pro tip: Change the settings on Google search to display 100 results. Settings > Search settings > Results per page: 100
The best way to get sponsored is by applying to the program. But if you want a higher chance of success, you should form a relationship with the company beforehand.
Yes, this takes a little more work, but there's a higher chance of success.
Find the company you want to partner with.
The next step is to research the owner, brand manager, or marketing department of the company. There are a couple ways to find this information.
Below are examples of how to find the right people to contact from companies listed on our sponsors page.
INTO THE AM has an About Us page thats lists all their employees. I'd start with the Brand Manager or Digital Marketing Manager.
Turtle Beach is a bigger company with hundreds of employees. By visiting the LinkedIn page, you can search for people at the company by their title. 96 employees popped up just with "marketing" in their title.
Once you find their information, the best way to get noticed is by following them on Twitter.
Like their posts, leave a comment when you have something to contribute, maybe @ them if it's relevant to them. Anything that may grab their attention and put you on their radar.
The art of subtlety can work wonders as you prep yourself for sending your official proposal to the company.
And although you may not be the biggest streamer to apply to their program, you already have a leg up on everyone else: a recognizable face.
Once you've set your eyes on a brand and made an effort to interact with decision makers, it's time you send your official proposal. This could take form in many ways. An email, contact form, or a questionnaire.
In any case, you're going to have an open-ended section where you're able to explain why you're a fit for their sponsorship program. This is by far and away the most important part of the proposal.
Below is a list of things you should and should NOT include in your open-ended message.
Yes, we've stated that you shouldn't use a template to submit your proposal. However, a lot of people just don't know where to start.
This template should serve as a starting off point. Don't copy it completely, and customize it to fit your needs.
Hi [name],
I'm a livestreamer on Twitch, going by the name [name]. Below are just a few stats of my channel.
📺 Variety streamer (FPS, cooking, just chatting)
👥 12,000 followers on Twitch // 22 avg concurrent viewers // growing ~8% monthly
👪 32,000+ fans on all social media channels
⌛ Streaming for 15 months
Now that you know a little more about me, I'd like to explain why I believe I'm a good fit for your sponsorship program and how I can help grow your business.
I'm a huge fan of aesthetics, and I always make sure my stream looks clean and organized. Floating Grips' brand was built on this idea, which I closely relate to.
All my streams include a face cam, and in the background you can see my TV and console setup. If you were to sponsor me, I'd always have your Xbox One wall mount and floating LED lights on display. Heck, I'll even buy more controllers to mount as well to make it look more polished.
I also see that your social media channels rely heavily on user-generated content, Instagram being the most popular. My Instagram account is by far my most followed channel outside of Twitch with a lot of engagement, too.
Again, I'm about aesthetics and my IG account is nothing but highly curated photos. If you were to sponsor me, I'd consistently promote your products through photos and videos (directly and indirectly).
I’d love to talk more about how I can form my stream to better fit your brand and spread the word of your products. You can contact me at any time at [email], or at [phone].
I look forward to speaking with you!
-[Twitch Name], AKA [Real Name]
