Let’s face it – Twitch has horrible discoverability. Despite some changes aimed to improve this aspect, in its current state smaller streamers have a very hard time when it comes to exposure and gaining new followers organically. Many streamers have turned into extensive use of social media to promote their Twitch streams. Not everyone has the time to do that or for various reasons prefers not to be active on social media platforms. Could you still promote and grow your Twitch stream channel without social media? Absolutely! Let’s take a look at what tools and possibilities you can use if social media just isn’t your thing.

How is multistreaming helping in growing your channel?

First of all, do not restrict yourself to a single platform. So, where should you promote your Twitch stream? In this articles, we will focus on Twitch as it’s the most popular platform out there, but streaming on multiple platforms and uploading your clips to YouTube is the single most important thing you could do for your growth. Closing yourself inside a single platform ‘bubble’ simply does not make sense for smaller channels. Spreading your content across platforms means higher visibility. Moreover, as long as your clips stay on YouTube, they have constant potential to fall in the YouTube algorithm of user recommendation. Right now, many of the fastest-growing streamers on Twitch have their audience following them from other platforms. The fallback for some might be an impossibility to apply for Affiliate status, but since the smaller streamers typically do not fill the requirements, this should not bother you all that much.

Can cooperative games help you promote and grow your Twitch stream?

While a bit of a long-shot, playing cooperative games, especially the ones that have smaller servers and are frequently streamed by bigger channels (ie.: GTA RP) give you a higher chance of you popping up on other streamers’ broadcasts and potentially attract some viewers to your channel. Do not push for it too much during the game though and play fair with your fellow streamers. No one likes to play or collaborate with someone constantly spamming ‘streaming now, come to my channel!’ on the in-game chat.

Cross-promotion and co-streaming to promote your Twitch stream channel

When answering the question “how to grow your Twitch stream”, remember that as a streamer you are part of a community, and you should use it to your benefit. Collaborations and co-streams are a great way for smaller streamers to present their content to a wider viewer base. Unfortunately, a collab with a big streamer that you do not know personally is a bit hard to pull off since they constantly get offers and requests for doing co-streams. Your best bet would be to connect with similar or slightly bigger channels. Again, do not push for it too much. Try to collaborate with streamers you actually appreciate and would like to build a natural long-term connection with. Mutual support goes a long way if backed with mutual respect.

Find your niche

You probably have seen this advice all over the place. The mythical ‘niche’, a place where a small, dedicated audience is starved for your content. And yet – it’s all true! The Internet is a marvellous place where people with any interests search and gather around their ‘thing’. Take a moment to think about your strengths. What is it that distinguishes you from other streamers? What are your passions, what topics are the ones you could talk about for hours? Being an expert on a topic you feel most passionate about gives you the opportunity to build a close and engaged community around your channel. Moreover, people looking for a specific topic on the Web will most likely come across your content, which may, in turn, bring them to your live streams.

Stand out and be memorable

This is very close to the previous point, but may be applied even to ‘yet another Warzone stream’. If you do things in a really authentic, distinguishable way then viewers will remember that – and you’ll create a personal brand as a streamer. Take a look at codemiko – she was discovered precisely because of her highly memorable hi-tech virtual persona. Even the most crowded Twitch category can be a source of viewership for your channel if you do things so differently, that whoever visits your stream will always remember ‘that streamer who…’. Discovering which quirk would work for you is not the easiest thing to do, so let your imagination flow – maybe you will figure out a virtual persona to stream as, or make a funny sound whenever someone follows you, eat 20 biscuits at once for each win. Anything that will catch the attention of the viewers and make them tell their friends about you.

As you can see, even though social media promotion plays quite a high role in the growth of your channel, someone not using it extensively still has quite a pallet of opportunities to bring new viewers to their streams. Combining these methods with even minimal social media activity will help you to stand out and reach new viewers, outside of your family and friends circle.