Twitch
Getting
Started
Guide
Table of Contents
00 Introduction
01 Twitch Fundamentals
Impoant Terms
Community Guidelines
02 Get Staed
Go Live Requirements
Set Up Your Channel
Set Up Your Stream
Set Up Chat Moderation
03 Create Engaging Streams
Choose Your Creative Format
Interact With Your Audience
Uplevel Interactivity With Extensions
04 Reach Your Audience
Where Viewers Find You on Twitch
Collaborate with Other Streamers
05 Build Your Community
Set Community Norms
Reward Your Community
Create Shared Goals
06 Get Rewarded
Streamer Levels
Monetization Options
07 Tips for Non-Gamers
Non-Gaming Categories
Tips for Companies and Organizations
08 Additional Resources
Geing Staed Checklist
Resource Link Library
What is Twitch?
Twitch is an interactive live-streaming service where creators like you can share
the things you love with a community of millions, and carve out a tight-knit corner
of the internet to call your own.
It’s easy to stream or upload to Twitch. Whether you prefer to stream from a PC,
Mac, Xbox, Playstation, or your mobile phone, you’re just a few steps away from
broadcasting yourself to the world, and nurturing your own community in Chat - a
rewarding experience where friends are made and bonds are forged between
creator and community.
At Twitch, our mission is to empower people to come together to create live,
shared entertainment. This guide will walk you through everything you need to
know to get started on your streaming journey.
You’re already one of us.
00 Introduction
01
Twitch
Fundamentals
Channel
You channel is the hub for your stream and
your community. It houses all your content.
It’s where you can communicate
information about yourself like your name,
bio, and social links. And it’s where viewers
will come to watch your streams.
Stream
Streams – or live broadcasts – are the main
type of content on Twitch. Streams are
broadcast directly to your Twitch Channel.
Chat
A chat room comes standard on every
Twitch channel (you can deactivate yours if
you’d like). Chat gives viewers an easy way
to communicate with you in real-time,
meme it up, and use emotes.
Followers
Viewers who discover your channel can
‘Follow’ your account. Followers can be
alerted to when you go online,
depending on their notification settings.
Subscribers
Viewers can ‘subscribe’ to your channel
for a set price per month for additional
perks defined by you once you reach
'Affiliate' status. We’ll cover what those
are a little later.
01 Twitch Essentials
Impoant Terms
↗
Twitch.tv/pokimane
Categories
Lots of people stream games on Twitch but you can stream just about anything
and discover a passionate and engaged community. Be it enteainment or
infotainment of any genre, if you can stream it, there’s probably a category for it.
Don’t believe us? Browse Twitch Categories ↗ for yourself.
Categories are added to channels and streams to help viewers identify what type
of content you stream.
01 Twitch Essentials
Tags
Ta g s ar e u s ed t o d e sc r i b e a l i v e st r e am b ey o nd t h e g a me o r c at e go r y b e i n g
broadcast. Viewers can use tags to nd streams they’re interested in watching by
ltering streams within a directory, searching for specic tags, or when they’re
browsing front page recommendations.
Twitch manages the list of available tags, but new tags are regularly added based
on community feedback. Check out the full list of all currently available Tags.
↗
Important Terms
↗
↗
Emotes
When words won’t suce, there’s Emotes - Twitch-specic emoticons that
viewers and streamers use to express in Chat. Emotes are the of Twitch
culture. They’re a language of their own. There are Global Emotes everyone has
access to, and channel-specic emotes call 'custom emotes'. Emotes are
represented by a code like :bleedpurple:. Click the smiley face in the chat box to
look at all the emotes you can use, or by typing the emote code. Here’s a handy
glossary of some of our most popular emotes! Now you can jump into Twitch Chat
and join the conversation.
01 Twitch Essentials
Impoant Terms
At Twitch, our mission is to provide the best social video experience where
everyone can feel welcome and safe. That’s why your safety, and the safety of your
community, is extremely impoant to us. To ensure everyone paicipates in a way
that promotes a friendly, positive experience for our global community, we have
established guidelines that are enforced when not followed.
Our Community Guidelines ↗ and Ter ms of Service ↗ are updated regularly. We
encourage you to read them both to ensure your content helps to grow the
thriving Twitch Community and doesn’t put you at risk for being repoed and/or
suspended. We’ve also provided more detail around our Hateful Conduct &
Harassment policies ↗, as well as our Sexual Content policies ↗ so that you can feel
condent about the content you produce on Twitch.
01 Twitch Essentials
Community Guidelines
02
Get
St aed
Get Staed
Livestreaming is unique and requires a bit of
technical know-how. Don’t worry, in this
section we will walk you through everything
you need in order to get staed. Anyone can
can sta streaming on Twitch with with just a
lile bit of gear and a willingness to try new
things! As you read through this guide keep
these things in mind
It’s Not That Complicated, It’s Just New
Most people just geing staed on Twitch
have never livestreamed or broadcast content
in real time before. There will be terms and
technology you’re not familiar with, but don’t
let that discourage you. You’ve got this.
Practice Makes Peectly Impeect
There is no one right way to do Twitch – there
are innite right ways. In this guide you’ll read a
lot of tips, tricks and best practices. You don’t
have to do everything in your very rst stream.
The great new is Twitch viewers want to
connect with you and to share your passion.
They do not require awless streams and well-
manicured channels! Even the pro’s focus more
on being enteaining and connecting with
their viewers than they do on their production
quality and design.
Streaming is really, really fun
Once you get set up and sta your rst stream,
you’ll discover what millions of others already
have – being a Twitch streamer is a blast.
Let’s get staed!
Before you start streaming, you need some essential hardware and software. But
don’t worry, you won’t have to break the bank! Here’s what you’ll need:
Internet Connection
Having a good, stable internet connection is
vital to successful streaming. Step one is
checking that you have a good connection
to your Internet Service Provider. Generally
this means connecting your computer
directly to your router with an ethernet
cable. Streaming on Wi is discouraged!
Computer
Most mid-tier computers, including PCs and
Macs, will be sucient to run a simple
stream. Playing video games on the same
PC will require a more poweul machine.
Broadcasting Software
There are many options when it comes to
streaming software. Twitch Studio ↗ is our
free streaming app for PC designed from
the ground up to meet new streamer needs.
It provides a guided and intuitive experience
when seing up your stream. For both Mac
and PC, OBS Studio ↗ is a exible, poweul
and popular tool.
Camera
It is possible to use professional cameras in
your broadcast, but if you’re just geing
staed, a simple USB webcam is all you need.
Camera positioning and lighting can enhance
even the most basic camera with minimal
expense. The Logitech C920 ↗ is a popular
choice!
Microphone
Providing good audio can make or break the
viewer experience. Your audio needs will vary
depending on the type of content you do, the
number of people speaking, and the ambient
noise in your space. A quality desktop
microphone is the Audio-Tec hn ic a AT202 0 ↗ .
Capture Card
You won’t need one of t hese unl ess you’re
'capturing' the video feed from another
device, like a gaming console, another
computer, or a traditional camera. Not all
capture cards work on Mac, but both the
Elgato HD60S+ ↗ or Magewell USB Capture
Plus ↗ cards will work on both Mac and PC.
Go Live Requirements
02 Get Started
Your channel page is the home for your streams and your community. I t ’s also a
reflection of who you are as a streamer, so make it stand out! This is where you
can set the tone for your community and showcase your personality. Create an
account of your own then start customizing your channel.
Set Up Your Channel
02 Get Staed
↗
Channel Name
This is your brand on Twitch. It’s
how people nd you and should
match your other social media
handles. This also becomes your
Twitch URL. For example, the
channel name Twitch Rivals
becomes Twitch.TV/TwitchRivals.
Prole Picture
This is the image people will
associate with your brand on
Twitch. Make sure it’s clear and
memorable. [Dimensions
256x256]
Video Player Banner
This image is shown in your video
player when you’re oine. Use
this space to feature your brand
and communicate your schedule
to visitors. Update this in Channel
Seings ↗ [Dimensions:
1920x1080]
Channel Panels
These are images (or text elds)
you add from your channel page
that appear below the video
player. Use these images to
promote your social links,
describe your channel,
communicate your schedule or
highlight your community norms.
Channel Panel must be 320px
wide but can vary in height.
Twitch.tv/amaz
Your streami ng sof tware is what ti es your cameras, mics, and sources togeth er to
create a single output: your stream. Whether you use Twitch Studio, OBS or
something else, you’ll need to get your output set up and scenes built for your
show.
Set Your Output
For most of the popular streaming software options, including Twitch Studio ↗
and OBS ↗ , all you need to do to connect your channel is log in to Twitch. In
Twitch Studio this is required during setup, and in OBS you can do this by clicking
Seings, then Stream.
Create your Scenes
In your broadcasting software you can create a handful of 'scenes' that you can
use throughout your stream. Scenes are arrangements of your video sources and
premade graphics that you can easily switch between.
Some broadcast encoding
equipment may require
you to use a Stream Key.
You can nd your Stream
Key on the Channel
Seings ↗ page. Be extra
careful not to show this on
your stream or share it
with anyone who doesn’t
need it because whoever
has this can stream to
your channel - no other
passwords required!
In Twitch Studio, this
user’s 'Main Game' scene
has his webcam, the
game, and ales. He also
has a 'Downtime’ scene for
when he’s not playing
games and just wants to
chat, and a 'Be Right Back'
scene for breaks.
Set Up Your Stream
02 Get Staed
Scenes
Whether you're counting down to the beginning of your stream, just chaing
with your viewers, reacting to content, playing games, or collaborating with
another streamer, unique scenes for each use case help uplevel your stream.
Slates
These scenes are generally full screen graphics or
video loops. Create Slate scenes such as 'Staing
Soon' to run before your show, and have a 'Be Right
Back' ready for taking breaks. Make sure your
microphone is muted whenever you don’t want to
be heard!
Set Up Your Stream
02 Get Staed
Full Screen Camera
It's always nice to take some time to focus on your
audience. A 'Full Screen Camera' scene is great
when you want to communicate without
distractions. Some subtle graphics such as your
social info can help add a bit of polish to this simple
scene.
Picture in Picture
Depending on what you choose to stream, you may
spend 99% of your time in this scene. Shrink your
camera down and layer it over your game or other
video source.
Side by Side
You can create overlays to match your for mat.
For example, if you have a guest calling into
your show, create a 'Side by Side' scene.
Before you can go live, you need to update your Stream Info in the Stream
Manager ↗ . Being descriptive and accurate will help viewers nd you.
Title
A good title can help viewers nd you
when they are searching for a stream
to watch, and help provide info about
what your stream is about.
Go Live Notication
This is sent to your existing Followers
the moment you sta your show.
Category
Viewers won’t be able to nd you if
you’re not in the right Category. Make
sure to choose the category that is the
most descriptive of your content. Don’t
worry - you can change your category
throughout your stream if you want to
switch things up!
Tags
Ta g s ar e me a nt t o h e l p v i ew e rs nd
streams they’re interested in watching.
Select the tags that describe your
stream best.
Stream Language
Set this to the language your intended
audience speaks.
Set Up Your Stream
02 Get Staed
To make sure your c ommun it y is s afe, Twi tc h oers a few ways to moderate and
safeguard chat messages ↗ , including tools like AutoMod, and the ability to
promote viewers to Moderators ↗ to help. Moderators can be a poweul force in
your community, so choose wisely.
From your Channel Dashboard ↗ , be sure to adjust your moderation seings
before you go live, and understand your options to combat harassment while
broadcasting, such as timeouts, bans, and chat modes. How and if you use these
tools is entirely up to you. Try one, try them all, and see what works best for you:
Email verication
↗
You can choose to require viewers to have a verified email address before they
can participate in your chat.
AutoMod
↗
AutoMod can automatically apply rules for moderating your chat. You can set
the level from 0-4.
Word lters
↗
You can limit (or allow) the use of certain words or phrases in chat.
Moderators
↗
Moderators are the sword to AutoMod’s shield. This role (which you can assign
to other users) allows them to ban and timeout viewers in your chat, keeping
your channel safe and friendly as you grow. Moderators are often viewers who
have been long-time community members.
Timeouts & Bans
↗
You can temporarily or permanently mute a user in your chat at any time
through typing commands right in chat or from the user card that opens when
clicking a username in chat.
Chat Modes
↗
Sometimes chat can get a little hectic, especially when a lot of people are
actively chatting. If chat is moving faster than your moderators can effectively
manage, you can activate chat modes. Slow mode limits the amount users can
chat, and Followers and Subscriber Only modes can be used to limit chat users
to community members.
Chat Commands
↗
Many options can either be adjusted in various settings pages, but using chat
commands can allow for quick and convenient adjustments. Bookmark the Chat
Commands page in case you need to react quickly.
Blocks & Repoing
↗
If someone is harassing you and breaking the Terms of Service or community
guidelines, you may block and report them. Blocking someone will stop them
from messaging you and prevent you from seeing their messages. Reporting
someone will create a report that will be reviewed by Twitch. If someone is a
nuisance but not breaking the Terms of Service, feel free to block them.
Set Up Chat Moderation
02 Get Staed
03
Create
Engaging
Streams
Create Engaging Streams
There’s no place on the internet quite like
Twitch. Twitch content is live, shared, and
enteaining. We call this 'multiplayer
enteainment' - you’re not creating and
playing on your own, you’re co-creating your
stream with your community. Anyone can be
successful on Twitch if they keep in mind these
best practices and avoid common mistakes:
Enteain in Real Time
While it’s impoant to have a rough plan for your
stream, the beauty of live content is that anything
can happen. Like an live conce or spoing event,
the best livestreams create those unexpected 'you
just had to be there' moments for viewers.
Co-Create with Your Community
Think of your stream like a pay and you're the
host. It’s your responsibility to make sure your
guests - or viewers - are interacting and having a
good time. Read and respond to chat and 'co-
create' your stream with viewers by asking for their
opinions and input on your stream.
Put Personality First
Ta ke a mi n ut e to t hi n k a b ou t w ha t ma ke s yo u or
your stream unique and run with that. Whether you
are streaming as your authentic self or a persona
you’ve created, your unique point of view is what
Twitch viewers care about most. You don’t need
the best equipment or elaborate set to stream
from - just do you!
Choose Your Format
You can broadcast al l sos of things on Twitch. Let your creativity ow. But if
you’re struggling to choose where to sta, try one of these popular stream
formats:
Game!
Grab your favorite game - or try out something
new - turn your camera on and go live. Keep
things lively by talking as you game – even if
you haven’t found an audience yet. Once you
have a few viewers, banter with Chat, ask their
advice, and give shout-outs the most engaged
members of your community.
Share Your Craft or Passion
From dancing to woodworking, and cooking to
cosplay, no maer what your interest is you
should share, peorm, or demonstrate it on
Twitch!
React to Other Content
Scroll the internet with your community, read
news stories or watch videos and give your hot-
takes on everything from memes, to pop
culture and politics. Ask chat to help you
decide what to watch or look at together!
Chat with Chat
Feel like Just Chatting with your audience? No
extra effort necessary. Decide upon a topic,
add it to your headline, turn your camera on,
then engage your community in discussion. Ask
their advice. Answer their questions. Let them
help guide the direction of the show.
03 Create Engaging Streams
No maer what type of stream you are creating, it’s impoant to engage with
your viewers. Unlike other forms of enteainment, viewers come to Twitch to
connect and interact with each other and with you. Here are some ways you can
help your viewers feels like they are pa of the stream:
Welcome New Viewers
New viewers are more likely to stick around if
you welcome them. As you see new viewers join
the stream say hello and let them know what
you’re up to in stream,
Encourage and Thank New Chaers
Users who chat in their rst visit are 50% more
likely to come back to that channel. To
encourage new viewers to chat, ask your
audience questions they can respond to in chat.
Respond to Questions
Your stream is a 2-way conversation. If chat
asks you questions – answer! This encourages
everyone to paicipate.
Encourage Community Interaction
Encourage community members to talk to and
mention each other, helping to foster a sense of
community among your viewers.
Thank Followers and Subscribers
Verbally thanking and celebrating events will
encourage others to join your community.
Ask Chat to Help you Make Choices
If your community has a stake in the stream, it’s
incentive to stay longer, subscribe and share
your stream.
Use Calls to Action (CTAs)
Viewers are most engaged in the rst 15 and
last 15 minutes of your stream, using strong
CTAs periodically can be very eective. Ask
them to follow, sub or share.
Interact with Your Audience
03 Create Engaging Streams
Ready to take your interactivity to the next level? There are lots of great tools you
can use including our ever expanding library of extensions ↗ – interactive
overlays and panels that integrate directly with your stream and can do prey
much anything. Not sure where to sta? Try one of these great extensions and
other tools:
CTRL+
Ctrl+
↗
is designed to provide exible
interactive options to content creators. Use
polling* and trivia to give your audience a voice
and an oppounity to create the show with you.
Ctrl+ allows you to feature other streams such
as co-streamers, friends, or talk show guests.
*Channels that run polls have 10% more viewers engaging when chat is
visible
Featured Chat
Featured.Chat
↗
puts the best comments from
Chat on the screen for all to see. It can make
Chat healthier by demonstrating what type of
comments get featured if they want to be
featured themselves. It also enables search to
lter chat, which can be helpful to nd
questions or specic topics.
Channel Points
Channel Points
↗
is a customizable and
channel-specic points system that allows you
to reward members of your community for
engaging.
Channel Ales
Ales are congurable graphics that welcome
and celebrate followers, subscribers, or gift-
givers. They can appear both on your stream
and in Chat, dependent upon your seings. You
can set up ales directly in Twitch Studio
↗
, or
you can use Streamlabs Ale Box
↗
.
Need help installing extensions? Read This
↗
Will Techwood_Ted win the tourney?
Uplevel Your Interactivity
03 Create Engaging Streams
04
Reach
Yo u r
Audience
Viewers come to Twitch to nd LIVE channels. This
means you are most discoverable when you are
broadcasting. You can help viewers nd you and
encourage them to tune-in to your stream by
keeping these best practices in mind:
Accurately Set Your Stream Info
As covered in the 'Geing Staed' section, your
Stream Info includes a title, go-live notication,
category, tags, and stream language. It’s incredibly
impoant to ll out each of these elds accurately.
This info not only helps viewers decide what to
watch, but it ensures Twitch discovery systems
know where to show your stream. Never
deliberately mis-categorize or describe your
stream -- this can create a negative viewer
experience and result in lower viewership for your
stream.
Set And Communicate A Schedule
Because you’ll only be live for a few hours each
stream it's incredibly impoant that your viewers
know when to tune-in. Determine what your
broadcast schedule will be in advance,
communicate this to your community on and o
Twitch, and stick to it!
Stay Live Longer
You can in crease t he odd s of con ne cti ng wi th an
audience by staying live longer. Most streamers
stay live between 90 minutes and 3 hours. If you
stream for less time, you have less of a window
when audiences can nd you!
Promote Your Stream To Drive Tune-In
While some video services are designed for
individual video-on-demand - viewers watching
content whenever they decide - Twitch favors
collective appointment viewing - all viewers tuning
in together during the same time window. You can
encourage appointment viewing by promoting your
schedule and upcoming streams on social media
and with verbal shout-outs in your streams.
Reach Your Audience
Discover
Head over to the Twitch.tv
↗
homepage -
also known as the 'Discover' page to see
Recommended Live Channels and
Recommended Categories in action. These
sections showcase live channels and
categories personalized to each viewers’
interests.
Browse
The Browse tab is where users can peruse live
streams by category or by live channels. Here
viewers can lter the results by 'tags' (IRL,
Indie Game). Ta ke a l o o k
↗
. To optimize your
channel for discovery on the Browse tab,
make sure you are always selecting accurate
categories and tags in your stream info.
Where Viewers Find You
04 Reach Your Audience
Left Nav + Following
The persistent panel at the left hand side of
Twitch and the Following tab highlight your
channels to your followers when you are live.
Search
Viewers can nd your channel, past videos,
and livestreams via the search bar at the top
of Twitch regardless of if your channel is live
or not. Be sure to use familiar and searchable
keywords for your stream title and VODs in
order to help viewers nd you. Same goes for
your channel name – the easier it is to spell
and remember, the easier it is to search!
Networking with other Creators on Twitch is a great way to grow your
community, form genuine connections with your fellow streamers, and introduce
your viewers to some of your favorite content on Twitch. Your streamer
colleagues are looking to grow their communities too, so even a lile an go a long
way. We’ve even built a few tools to help you branch out.
Collaboration
You don’t have to stream al one! I nvol ving
others in your content, especially other
streamers, is a great way to make interesting
content, and for viewers to be introduced to
new creators. Join them or have them join
you in a video chat to create a talk show, play
games together, suppo a shared charity
campaign, or make music together
Hosting and Autohosting
Hosting is just what it sounds like. Host
another channel on your page when you’re
not live. Your chat remains your own and lets
your viewers check out content you like while
you’re oine. While it’s always good to have
channels in your autohost list, it is more
eective and fun to end your stream with a
Raid!
Raids
Raids
↗
allow streamers to send their viewers
to another live channel at the end of their
stream to introduce their audience to a new
channel and have a lile fun along the way.
Raiding a channel at the end of your stream
can be a great way to help another streamer
grow his or her community.
The /raid command makes it easier for you to
sta a raid and for your viewers to join. You’ll
also have tools to manage raids and can see
information on who recently raided their
channel. After you raid, remember you still
have to end your stream in your broadcast
software.
Connect with Other Streamers
04 Reach Your Audience
Update your autohost list and
raid seings ↗
05
Build Your
Community
Twitch isn’t just a video service, it’s a living,
breathing universe of communities, each one
with a unique set of values. You establish the
ground rules for your individual community, but
everyone who visits your channel plays a part in
making it feel like home. So as a creator, it’s
important to help facilitate that sense of
familiarity.
Set The Example
You’re not just the entertainer, you’re the
leader of your community. You get to set the
tone, values, and rules. Spend some time
thinking through what type of community you
want to be a part of and then model those
things for your viewers.
Recognize and Reward Loyal Viewers
We know viewers are going to love you. In no
time at all you’ll have a group of loyal viewers
who regularly tune-in, chat, and support you.
Reward your loyal audiences with things like
custom emotes and channel points, and
empower your most responsible fans to help
manage your channel as moderators.
Work Together Towards a Shared Goal
Nothing brings people together like a shared
goal. Bring your community in to help you
achieve things – get their help bringing new
viewers, solve puzzles or problems together, or
even raise money for a charity you all care
about.
Grow Your Community
Twitch is a place where communities come together. You’ve built the clubhouse
(your channel), you’ve put out the yers (correct tags and social promotion), and
staed the meetings (streaming). Now it’s time to nuure your community. After
all, you’re the captain.
Set The Tone
Channel rules helps you shape the
community you want to lead. But don’t let the
'r' word dull your enthusiasm. This is where
you signal the code you want your
community to live by - as lax, obeat or rigid
as you like. Add your 'Chat Rules' in the
Moderation section of your Dashboard
↗
which
display when users comment and upload
them as a channel panel.
Establish Community Rituals
Do you have a catch phrase or a consistent
greeting for your audience? Are there call-
and-response moments you repeat in every
stream? Does chat have 'copy pastas' specic
to your channel? These types of rituals are a
fun way to bring your fans together.
Delegate Responsibility
Empower your most loyal viewers to help lead
your community as Moderators
↗
. It’s a
genuine sign of trust. Mods manage chat
messages for spam and oensive comments,
and welcome newcomers. They’re easily
identied in Chat by the green sword badge
next to their name.
Keep The Conversation Going Oine
You can’t always be li ve, but t hat doesn’t
mean your community ceases to exist
between streams. Set-up a Discord Channel
↗
where your community can stay in contact
with one another when you’re not live.
Set Your Community Norms
05 Grow Your Community
Name Your Community
Like 'Deadheads' or 'Beliebers', streamers on
Twitch often name and theme their
communities to create a sense of belonging.
Dr. Disrespect’s Champion’s Club
↗
Pokimane’s Poki Squad Club
↗
Custom Emotes
Aliates and Paners (keep reading for
more info on these terms) can create
custom emotes
↗
that can be unlocked by
their subscribers. If you notice something
happening every time you stream, think
about creating an emote so your audience
can form a ritual around it. Custom emotes
must meet the size and quality requirements
↗
and abide by our Emote Guidelines
↗
.
Channel Points
Channel Points
↗
is a program that allows
you to reward loyal members of your
community with perks even if they aren’t yet
subscribers. As viewers paicipate in your
community and watch, they gain points
which they can redeem for preset and
customizable rewards, such as unlocking
emotes or geing their chat message
highlighted.
Reward Your Community
05 Grow Your Community
Like any club woh being in, community members enjoy being rewarded. And
there is no shoage of special perks on Twitch to celebrate, encourage and
retain long-time viewers and subscribers.
Loyalty Badges
Subscribers get a badge next to their name
in Chat that they can wear with pride. You
can create dierent badges
↗
to reward
subscribers who have been loyal.
Dr. Lupo’s Custom Emotes
↗
Annemunition’s Loyalty Badges
↗
Once you’ve built a community on Twitch, you can think about using your
combined powers to help others. Millions of dollars have been raised for charities
on Twitch, and suppoing one can be a great way to bring your community
together around a common goal, and make a positive dierence.
Websites such as Tiltify
↗
allow you to create campaigns to suppo charity
organizations, and they handle all of the donation and campaign management,
so you can focus on energizing your community!
Create a Campaign
Using a tool like Tiltify, create a campaign
page so that your community and viewers
can donate directly to the charity. In your
campaign you’ll decide which charity you are
raising money for, how long you will be raising
money, and what your donation target is!
Hype it up + Communicate Your Goals
Make sure your community knows when,
where and how to paicipate. Be sure to
promote your event across social media
platforms in advance and share any
incentives you have for donations. Use
channel panels, in stream graphics, and call
to action to tell your community how to pitch
in.
Set up Moderation Tools
Prepare your mods with information about
the charity and how viewers can donate. For
the best chat experience, set up Auto Mod
and Chat Rules.
Don’t Collect Donations Directly
In order to run a charity stream on Twitch you
need to use a tool like Tiltify to run your
campaign. Before your sta your charity
stream be sure to review Twitch’s Te rms Of
Service
↗
and Rules of Conduct
↗
.
Work Together to Give Back
05 Grow Your Community
06
Get
Rewarded
On Twitch, creators can turn passions into
careers or get a lile bit back for doing
something they love. No two channels are the
same, so that’s why we are serving up all kinds
of tools that can help you sta making money.
Read up on your options and then decide
what’s best for your community.
Show Gratitude and Don’t Be Shy
Many of the ways you can make money on
Twitch involve your community directly
suppoing you as an individual. When your
community invests in you and your content
don’t forget to acknowledge your viewers
suppo, whether that’s via ales, a verbal
'thank you', or extra subscriber benets. Users
are more likely to suppo you in the future if
they feel appreciated and acknowledged..
Don’t be afraid to talk about money. Your
viewers want to suppo you and sometimes
aren’t sure how to.
Keep Your Mission in Mind
Don’t overly monetize multiple aspects of your
stream. Users can feel disengaged if the
primary focus of your content is generating
revenue. Make sure you keep focused on
sharing your passion, creating engaging
streams and building your community rst and
foremost.
Get Rewarded
What are the streaming levels?
Streamer
From the second you sta streaming you’ll have
access to lots of great features on Twitch like
Chat, the ability for viewers to follow your
channel, and analytics on your Dashboard. You
can also sta working towards Aliate status.
Achievements let you track your progress and
once you reach the requirements, you’ll see a
link on your dashboard inviting you to Aliate
onboarding.
Aliate
Once you reach the Aliate level you’ll have
even more great tools at your disposal,
including a subscription buon for fans to
suppo you and a custom emote. For many
streamers, becoming an Aliate is what they
strive for. For others, it’s a step on the way to
Paner status. If that’s what you’re shooting
for, Achievements will once again help you keep
track of your progress and let you apply to the
Paner Program when you’ve reached ceain
benchmarks.
Paner
At the end of the Aliate streaming journey lies
an invitation to apply to become a Twitch
Paner. Becoming a paner takes work and
commitment, but there are many additional
benets that come with Panership including
even more revenue oppounities, marketing
and prioritized suppo from Twitch.
Requirements Affiliate Partner*
Time streamed (last 30
days)
8
Hours
25
Hours
Unique days streamed
(last 30 days)
7
Days
12
Days
Average viewers per
stream
3
Viewers
75+
Viewers
Followers reached
50+
Followers
-
Features Streamer Affiliate Partner
Follows * * *
Chat * * *
Subscriptions * *
Emote Slots
One
(Per sub
tier)
Many
Ad Revenue * *
Custom
Cheermotes
*
Subscriber
Badges
Few Many
Verified Badge
*
As you grow as a streamer by increasing your number of streams, viewers and
followers, Twitch unlocks a range of new features and ways to monetize your
channel. There are two categories of suppo, Aliate and Paner. Here’s an
overview of what each oers and how to unlock them.
Streamer Levels
06 Get Rewarded
Subscriptions
↗
A Subscription allows a viewer to pay per
month to suppo your channel if you are a
Paner or Aliate, either on a recurring or
one-time basis. Subscribers (subs) get
access to your emotes and other benets
you can dene. For more on subs check out
this aicle
↗
.
Twitch Prime
↗
.
Twitch Prime is included with Amazon Prime
and includes a ton of great perks for viewers,
including one free channel subscription per
month. Twitch Prime members who use that
free sub to suppo you are set up on a non-
recurring basis, so it’s always a good idea to
remind your Twitch Prime subscribers to
renew every month.
Ads
↗
Ads generate revenue for Paners and can
be seen by viewers upon page load and when
a Paner opts to run additional
adveisements midstream on their
dashboard.
Bits
↗
Bits are used to Cheer, which is a way viewers
can show you suppo in chat. If you are a
Paner or an Aliate¹, you receive $0.01 for
every Bit used to Cheer directly on your
channel. Many streamers have found fun
ways to integrate Bits into their streams like
using them for voting, or celebrating big
moments. When a viewer uses Bits to Cheer,
animated emotes called Cheermotes pop up
in chat. If you want to get the full run-down
on Bits do’s and don’ts check out the Bits
Acceptable Use Policy
↗
.
Hype Train
↗
Hype Train is a celebration when community
members unite to suppo a streamer. It
challenges the community to reach epic
levels of hype and rewards paicipants for
keeping the train on track. A Hype Train kicks
o when there’s a spike in Bits usage or
subscriptions.
Merch by Amazon
↗
We’ve teamed up with Amazon to give
Twitch Paners an easy way to sell custom
merch and earn every time an item is sold.
You can si gn up for Merch by Amazon on
your seings page. And remember, you must
be a Twitch Paner and have an amazon.com
account.
Amazon Associates
↗
Amazon Associates allows you to earn
referral revenue by linking specic products
on your page. One of the best ways to use
this is by sharing the gear you use to stream
with your viewers through Gear on Amazon.
Any streamer can take advantage of this
earning oppounity.
Extensions with Bits
↗
Bits aren’t only for Cheering. In extensions,
they can be used to power novel interactive
experiences on your channel. Whenever
viewers use Bits within extensions activated
on your channel (and you’re a Paner or
Aliate), you get 80% of $0.01 for each Bit
used within extension on your channel. The
other 20% goes to the extension developer.
For more information about Monetization,
check out Twitch Creator Camp
↗
There are lots of ways streamers make a living on Twitch as they grow from new
Creators, to Aliates, to Paners. Here’s an overview of some of your main
sources of revenue:
Monetization Options
06 Get Rewarded
07
Tips for
Non-Gamers
Twitch is home to passionate communities of
all kinds, not just Gamers. You’ll nd aists,
musicians, teachers, live events, conferences,
cooking competitions, podcasts and more all
streaming on Twitch. No maer what your
passion is you can nd viewers to share in it on
here. Keep these things in mind as you decide
if you’re ready to sta streaming:
Twitch Streams are Public and Free
When you stream on Twitch, anyone can
discover and watch you stream for free! Twitch
doesn’t suppo private, invite-only streams or
have systems for puing streams behind a
paywall.
You Must be 13+ to Watch and Stream
You have to be over 1 3 years ol d to create an
account on Twitch. That means you and you’re
the target audience for your stream should be
over this age.
Stream Often to Grow an Audience
Only have one event or moment you want to
stream? You’re more than wel come to do so,
but channels that have stream often and
consistently do a beer job of reaching an
audience. If you can’t stream frequently, you’ll
need to do more promotion of your events on
other social media or websites where you have
an established audience.
Tips for Non-Gamers
Non-Gaming Categories
07 Tips for Non-Gamers
Spend some time browsing Twitch and you’ll nd creators and communities of all
kinds. While lots of creators stream themselves gaming, you’ll nd loads of
broadcasters streaming to one of our non-gaming categories. Need some
creative inspiration? Here are some popular formats non-gaming viewers love:
Music and Peorming As
↗
In this category you’ll nd aists streaming live
peormances, album release paies, DJ sets,
and even theater peormances. A great way to
Twitch-ify your stream is to take audience
requests or answer questions from chat.
For more advice of how to stream as a music
aist on Twitch check out this blog post
↗
.
Just Chaing
↗
Here you’ll nd streamers browsing the internet
with their audience, doing interactive AMAs, or
chaing about news and current events. Just
Chaing streams are an oppounity for you
and your community to get together and hang
out.
If you want to make a formal talk show or want
to livestream a podcast recording, there is a
category
↗
specically for that!
Spos and Fitness
↗
Pro Athletes streaming in the o-season,
Fitness instructors teaching classes, spos
fans talking the news of the day: the Spos and
Fitness category has it all.
Here’s
↗
some more best practices for
streaming spos on Twitch.
And Many Many More…
Live cooking
↗
and craft tutorials
↗
, interactive
science experiments
↗
, and real-time a
demonstrations
↗
, travel shows
↗
and even
conferences and live events
↗
– you can nd all
these and more on Twitch. If you can dream it,
you can stream it.
Tips for Companies and Organizations
07 Tips for Non-Gamers
Lots of companies and professional organizations recognize Twitch is a uniquely
valuable way to connect with their community. Whether you are streaming a pre-
existing event, like a conference, panel discussion, or press event, or you’re
creating new content specically for Twitch, here’s a few things to keep in mind:
Level Up Your Broadcast Specs
For large-scale events and professional
broadcasts its impoant to optimize your
production set up and sta accordingly. If
you’re investing a lot of time and resources,
or expect a large audience for your stream
please review these Professional Broadcast
Specifications
↗
Optimize Your Moderation
As a professional organization, you’ll want to
pay extra aention to chat moderation to
ensure a safe and positive chat environment.
We recommend stang two moderators for
your large events, with additional moderators
for every additional 10K expected concurrent
viewers of your stream. We also recommend
seing your Auto Mod to level 2 or higher,
blocking hyperlinks, and requiring email
verication to chat. Double check your
seings here
↗
.
Keep It Personable
Don’t forget, viewers come to Twitch to be
enteained and to connect with other
people. Avoid talking at your audience –
maintain a 2-way conversation. You can add
more personality to your stream by
choosing a charismatic host to drive the
event. And don’t forget to respond to chat
and nd ways for your audience to interact
with your content!
Involve the Twitch Community
Before your broadcast, reach out to Twitch
streamers and communities and invite them
to paicipate in your event. Invite Twitch
streamers to collaborate and be guests in
your stream, or you can encourage and
allow them to co-stream
↗
your event on
their own channel, providing commentary
for their viewers.
08
Extra
Resources
Seings Page
↗
▢ Uploaded Prole Picture
▢ Edited Bio
Channel Seings
↗
▢ Enable Store past broadcasts
▢ Enable Mature Content (if relevant to your channel)
▢ Pick Prole Accent Color
▢ Upload Video Player Banner
Moderation Seings
↗
▢ Set AutoMod Rulesets
▢ Adjust Blocked and Permied terms, if necessary
▢ Block Hyperlinks (recommended)
▢ Create Chat Rules ↗
▢ Adjust other moderation seings as desired
Stream Software
↗
▢ Check stream encoder seings
▢ Test all scenes
▢ Test audio and cameras
Stream Manager
↗
▢ Edit Stream Info (Title, Category, etc.)
▢ Regularly monitor Activity Feed
▢ Regularly monitor My Chat
Geing Staed Checklist
08 Extra Resources
Twitch Creator Camp
↗
Learn the basics of streaming, hone your skills,
and get tips and tricks from streamers who have
walked the same path you're on now. All without
bug spray.
Twitch Help Center
↗
Ta c t i ca l h ow-to’s, frequently asked questions
and product deep dives.
Twitch Broadcast Specications
↗
Detailed technical specication for premium
broadcasts.
Twitch Terms of Service
↗
Twitch Community Guidelines
↗
Twitch Blog
↗
New product releases. Upcoming streams.
Announcements from Twitch sta.
Twitch Paner Application
↗
Apply to be a paner.
Broadcasting Tools Library
↗
Library of broadcasting tools and software
Channel Dashboard
↗
Manage your stream, edit your preferences,
moderate your community, view stream insights,
and more all within the Creator Dashboard.
Resource Link Library
08 Extra Resources
March 2020
You’re already one of us.
