Authenticity Sells: Twitch & Gamers, YouTube Communities & more: Long-term fan-centric growth strategies
In the world of social media, genuine content reigns supreme.
Authentic content creators on social media build a connection with their audience that’s hard match elsewhere. For recording artists, the options are many. It’s best to release your records instead of sitting on them, storing them in a folder. Thinking the best time to drop a record will come is not necessarily right. Your safety net is actually the thing that holds you back. Similarly, for a songwriter, it’s best to drop lyric on Instagram and social media for free, instead of keeping a pile of notes offline where no one will see it. Eventually, someone big will be interested.
Fan centric content always work. In this article, we dissect YouTube, Twitch: 2 platform where audio meets video. It’s what makes both platforms incredibly noisy, but a potential goldmine for creators who can strike the perfect balance between audio/video, authenticity and marketing.
The halt of live events and the emergence of the streaming era, became music’s key way of monetizing fandom.
Gaming is the prime example of the entertainment sector that managed to shift from monetization of engagement to monetization of fandom. Today, gamers are accustomed to fan-centric spend and given the strength of the overlap between music and games consumers, the latter provides an ideal destination for music artists to commence their journey towards fostering and monetizing digital fanbases. It’s time for music corporations not just to establish partnerships in the gaming industry’s fan economy, but also to master how to bring some of its execution into the music space.
Twitch is one of many famous gaming platforms among gamers and esports enthusiasts.
The Twitch platform has DIY hacks, cooking, and lifestyle videos. Their live video streaming social network is owned by Amazon, and it has over 15 million daily active users.
Twitch’s 73% of users are between the age of 16 and 34, and 65% of the total users are male… The perfect place for an artist, producer, or brand to target Millennials or Gen Z.
Music Marketing on Twitch
Twitch is booming and becoming the go-to place for many aspiring artists. The platform gives a chance for content creators to stream online and directly engage with fans through Q&A sessions. By doing so, you easily break the gap between you and your fans, getting to know them better. Loyalty.
As a creator, you also get a chance of holding masterclasses and showcasing your talents to your community. From the comfort of your home, you can hold digital classes with fans from all around the globe and wait… you can drive revenues on the platform while streaming. Want to learn how to make money on Clubhouse? Check out episode 3 of our newly launched “MPT Secret Sauce” on Instagram.
Artists can show a sneak peek of their work before dropping music or behind-the-scenes footage that can potentially excite, build hype and interest viewers. You can also give a view of your day-to-day life, i.e. what you eat, your coffee routine (Shoutout to DJ Khaled), where you work out, and what your office looks like. This process could help you build a strong relationship with your fanbase as you become relatable as they get to you better.
Within these users is a wealth of advertising potential.
Traditional advertising methods just don’t resonate with younger audiences, but Twitch viewers are more than willing to pay attention to what their favorite Twitch streams are touting.
1- Set Marketing Goals.
Streaming is business. With every business, you need to start by setting your goals and a strategy for how you will meet those goals.
2- Understand the Average Twitch User.
Surf. Browse. A couple of hours on Twitch will help you.
3- Entertain First, Advertise Second
Twitch includes traditional advertising methods like banners, takeovers, and mid-rolls, but if you really want to make an impact, you need to partner with an influencer or brand. It’s all about entertaining first, creating content. Monetizing follows only after.
4- Find the Right Influencer
Don’t go for a big reach at first. Start by targeting….and then focus on the influencer’s target reach.
Language, activity, numbers, audience base, the type of person and channel, all this matters when finding a target influencer to work with to expand your reach.
5- Interaction is a Must
By engaging and responding immediately to comments, questions and feedback, Twitch streamers are able to quickly build a loyal fanbase. This goes beyond just talking to them when they’re watching your channel. We encourage you to watch the live streams your followers create, too, and follow their movements on social media. After all, your making virtual friends in a way, when trying to build your fanbase. Communication is a two-way thing.
Leverage the Power of Twitch for Music Marketing Twitch is ripe for music marketing.
The platform is enormous. Make big impact with less investment.
What The Music Marketing Industry Can Learn from The Gaming Marketing Industry
In a post-pandemic world, many recording artists are still monetizing virtual online performances through e-ticket sales, fan donations, virtual and real merch and in some cases, sponsors and ad revenue. What is more, to accomplish this, there are multiple alternatives now; artists do not necessarily need to sign with an agent, travel the world on tour, sign a record deal or give away copyrights. They don’t need thousands or millions of streams, 100K followers or their track on the biggest playlists. They do not have to run the treadmill of endless radio and press promotion.
Due to the Twitch interactive nature and the opportunity to build worlds where entertainment tribes increasingly reside and socialize (not just ‘play games’), games (and gamers) have become the ideal destination for the music industry to reinvent the way it monetizes fanbases in the digital era.
The music sector and everyone involve have considered other entertainment formats like videos and games mainly as promo tool to drive growth and engagement.
With new apps and solutions now enabling more direct convo + monetization tools than ever before, there is a major opp. for recording singers, songwriters, producers and the music industry to transform visual and personalized content from a marketing tool into a fanboy’s/ tribe-building and monetization vehicle.
Artists and music companies will have to step outside of their traditional comfort zone of catalogue licensing and start leveraging new technologies and the emerging direct-to-fan infrastructures.
YouTube Communities
With nine in 10 artists releases music video with their music and planning to use YouTube in their 2021 marketing strategy… it’s another platform to foster an active digital community.
You need 1K subscribers to get the community tab on YouTube. The power of being able to post updates and notify subscribers on YouTube is huge. The community tab does this.
The YouTube Community Tab — a feature that lets you interact with your viewers beyond getting video views and subscribers. Start interacting today and if you need a quick guide, here’s a 20 min training on YouTube.
Follow us on Instagram and stay tuned for a big announcement sometime this week!
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