Can Twitch be a B2B marketing platform?
According to TwitchTracker, the Amazon-owned live-streaming website:
- Has an average of 2.33M concurrent viewers
- Hosts 7.35 million broadcasters per month, with an average of 92k channels streaming concurrently
Twitch started out as a platform for gamers, and they’re still its largest demographic. But many other communities have adopted live streaming as their video marketing format of choice, and Twitch as the platform to do it.
In this post, we’ll explore whether your B2B startup should jump onboard and start live streaming on Twitch.
We’ll cover:
- 10 reasons why your B2B brand should stream on Twitch
- 6 reasons why your B2B brand shouldn’t live stream on Twitch
- 10 Best practices that will help you succeed on Twitch (if it’s right for you)
- 10 B2B livestream ideas so you can hit the ground running
- YouTube vs. Twitch for B2B livestreaming
- How to invest in video marketing, beyond Twitch
Ready? Let’s dive in.
10 Reasons Why Your B2B Brand Should Stream on Twitch
There are many reasons why you may choose to start livestreaming - and do so on Twitch.
Livestreaming will:
- Humanize your brand
- Help you reach new, young audiences
- Provide you with an opportunity to showcase your brand culture & values
- Offer you a chance yo engage with customers in real-time and receive immediate feedback
- Allow you to show product features and answer questions in an interactive way
- Help you establish yourself as a thought leader
- Increase brand awareness & name recognition
- Give you tons of valuable content for repurposing
- Help you attract top talent
- Help you stand out from competitors
Let’s dive a little deeper.
Humanize your brand through livestreaming
Livestreaming involves showing your face (or at least, sharing your voice) and communicating with your audience directly. This can foster a sense of genuineness and closeness. Additionally, according to research compiled by MarketSplash, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from individuals more than recommendations from brands. And, with AI flooding online spaces, showing that there are real people behind your company can make a huge difference.
Twitch is great for reaching new, young audiences
Usually, people don't think of B2B audiences as young. But, depending on the product you’re developing and the need you’re fulfilling. Maybe your ideal customers are young entrepreneurs or new startup team members.
Engaging with this young B2B audience on Twitch yields a more favorable impression than alternative channels where these users don’t feel so comfortable.
Showcase your brand culture & values
Aside from product-centric content, you can use your livestream as a platform to show your company’s culture and values. You can achieve it by:
- Giving your perspective about relevant industry trends or events
- Sharing first-hand experiences related to the challenges your customers are facing
- Discussing life-time balance, productivity, and other aspects of your worklife that your customers may be struggling with
Engage with customers in real-time and get immediate feedback
Never neglect the chat. Your livestream can be a great opportunity to connect with customers in real-time. You can incentivize your audience to interact by:
- Asking them a precise question
- Asking them for their opinion throughout the stream
Offer “interactive” demos & tutorials
Livestreaming is a great opportunity to connect with your audience beyond your product. But you can also use it as an opportunity to show how to achieve a certain result through your product or service.
For instance, if you run a Product Management platform, you can go on a livestream to show how it can be used to conduct design sprints.
This type of content can be particularly useful when launching a new feature or integration.
Establish yourself as a thought leader
Last year, SEMRush conducted a survey around thought leadership. They found that:
- 60.9% of respondents consider that thought leadership involves inspirational content taht drives changes
- 46.5% of respondents relate it to educational content
- 39.4% relate it to content exploring industry trends
- 36.9% relate it to industry research
- 32.7% relate it to commentary
In our books, thought leadership content is insightful material that aims to reshape how a niche thinks about certain issues.
Thought leadership content leverages freshness, clarity, and first-hand experience to reframe pressing challenges.
Your livestreams can be a great space to show your expertise and establish yourself (and your brand) as a thought leader. Using live video for your thought leadership content can make your message particularly engaging.
Increase brand awareness through Twitch
Twitch is a popular platform with a large and growing audience. By streaming on Twitch, you can increase your brand awareness and reach new potential customers. You can also use Twitch to showcase your brand's personality and values, and engage with customers in real-time.
Get repurposable video content
Livestreams can provide you with valuable content that can be repurposed for other channels. For instance, you can:
- Turn highlights from your livestream into social media videos
- Transform key advice or common viewer questions into blog posts
- Record your livestream and upload it into YouTube
Attract top talent
As we mentioned earlier in this post, Twitch can be a great way to showcase your company culture and values, which can help attract top talent to your organization. By livestreaming, you can give potential employees a glimpse into what it's like to work at your company.
Stand out from competitors
Not many B2B brands are currently using Twitch, which means you have an opportunity to stand out from your competitors by livestreaming on the platform.
6 Reasons Why Your B2B Brand Shouldn’t Stream on Twitch
In the previous section, we provided some interesting reasons why Twitch may be an investment-worthy marketing channel for B2B brands. But that doesn’t mean that it will work for you.
Livestreaming on Twitch may not:
- Help you connect with your audiencce
- Increase your discoverability
- Align with your brand values or image
- Be an effective way to generate leads or sales
- Be a cost-effective marketing platform that provides a good ROI
- Fit your marketing goals or objectives
Let’s take a closer look.
Twitch may not be a channel your audience is used to
If your B2B brand caters to an older, more traditional demographic, Twitch may not be the best platform for you. Your audience may not be familiar with Twitch or may not be interested in live streaming. It's important to consider your target audience's preferences and habits before investing time and resources into a new marketing channel.
Streaming on Twitch may not increase your discoverability
On the other hand, it’s unlikely that a qualified audience will find you on Twitch spontaneously. Your Twitch viewership will probably consist of your existing social media audience.
Livestreaming may enrich your relationship with your community or improve your brand perception. But it’s not a great top-of-funnel channel.
There’s a way to maximize your chance of being discovered through Twitch: Co-streaming with other creators.
Twitch may not align with your brand values or image
Livestreaming on Twitch may not align with your brand values or the image you want to project. If you have a heavily technical brand that targets senior investors or executives, the type of spontaneity and relaxed atmosphere that’s common on Twitch will do you a disservice.
Livestreaming on Twitch may not be an effective way to generate leads or sales
If you can’t engage your ICP on Twitch, it won’t help you generate qualified leads. Only use Twitch if your ICP:
- Is comfortable engaging with the platform
- Will have a better perception of your brand after watching your livestreams
- Will find the format constructive and easy to consume
Twtich may not be a cost-effective marketing platform for you
Livestreaming on Twitch can be expensive, especially if you want to invest in high-quality equipment and production value. It's important to weigh the potential ROI against the cost of entry and ongoing expenses. Before jumping on board, make sure that livestreaming on Twitch aligns with your overall marketing budget and goals.
Livestreaming on Twitch may not give you a good return on investment if your target audience is not active on the platform. It's important to consider if your audience is familiar with Twitch and if they would be interested in watching livestreams.
Twitch may not fit your marketing goals or objectives
Livestreaming on Twitch may not fit your marketing goals or objectives if you have a very niche or specialized product/service that doesn't have a wide appeal. It's important to consider if your target audience is familiar with Twitch and if they would be interested in watching livestreams. Additionally, if you have limited resources or bandwidth, it may not be feasible to invest in livestreaming on Twitch.
10 Twitch Livestreaming Best Practices for B2B Brands
Just decided that Twitch may be a good marketing platform for you?
Here are 10 best practices you should apply to maximize your chances of livestreaming success:
- Develop a proper content strategy
- Develop a livestream promotion workflow
- Recruit your hosts carefully
- Invest in production value
- Interact with your audience
- Turn your livestream into a conversion opportunity
- Set KPIs and keep an eye on them
- Partner with brands and creators
- Don’t be afraid to experiment
Develop a content strategy
Develop a proper content strategy that aligns with your brand and speaks to your target audience. Don’t fully improvise your livestreams. Instead:
- Set up a schedule
- Develop specific content formats
- Align your livestreams with other areas of content production
For instance, if your marketing team is focusing on developing strong messaging for a certain buyer persona, support their efforts.
Develop a livestream promotion workflow
Plan and promote your streams in advance to increase viewership. We recommend:
- Announcing your next stream multiple times, starting a couple of days before going live
- Providing guests with custom assets so they can promote the event themselves
- Using multiple channels, including email and social
Recruit your hosts carefully
Choose the right streamers or hosts who can represent your brand and engage with your audience. Depending on your company’s niche and structure, we recommend selecting:
- Marketing leadership
- A customer success representative
- A developer advocate
Your host should:
- Have the time and energy to lead your livestreaming efforts
- Have public speaking experience and/or feel comfortable on camera
Aside from a host, consider assembling a small team that can manage the technical aspects of livestreaming. Especially if you’ll invest in livestreaming as one of your main marketing channels.
Invest in production value
Invest in high-quality equipment and production to ensure a professional stream. If you’re just testing the waters, consider:
- Minimizing the investment by choosing an affordable microphone and a webcam
- Renting equipment
Interact with your audience
Your livestream’s chat can be a wealth of information. Don’t forget to interact with your audience in real-time and respond to comments and questions.
Turn your livestream into a conversion opportunity
Use calls to action to drive engagement and encourage viewers to take action. Especially on product-centric streams. But don’t be pushy.
Set KPIs and keep an eye on them
Measure your success with analytics and adjust your strategy accordingly. Remember to tell actual content KPIs from vanity metrics. An increase in viewership may be an indicator of progress. But, are those viewers actually visiting your website and converting?
Partner with brands & creators
Consider partnering with other brands or influencers to increase your reach. Go for popular creators that are already connecting with your target audience.
Don’t be afraid to experiment
Livestreaming is more flexible than other formats, such as blog posts. And you may not be able to predict what’s the best format for you before your audience reacts to it. So don't be afraid to experiment with different types of content and formats.
Have fun
Don’t fear being spontaneous or a little unpolished. Twitch is a platform that values authenticity and personality, so let your brand's unique voice shine through.
10 B2B Livestream Ideas You Can Try Today
Once you find the best format for your livestreams, everything from preparing them to distributing them will be easier. But you don’t have to stick to just one idea.
Here’s a list of 10 B2B livestream concepts you can test to delight your audience:
Sales-oriented livestream ideas
- Show how your product can be used to solve a specific challenge
- Introduce a new feature or integration
- Meet with one of your long-term customers to discuss their business and how your solution helped them to achieve their goals
Thought leadership livestream ideas
- Meet with part of your team to discuss an industry trend
- Host a Q&A session with your company's executives or experts in your industry
- Host a panel discussion with experts in your industry to share insights about a new trend or a common challenge
Livestream ideas to attract top talent
- When hiring for a specific team, host a Q&A session with that team’s leader
- Share behind-the-scenes of your company culture, such as employee interviews or a day in the life of a team member
- Host a Q&A session with your founder
- Partner with a thought leader to discuss a common personal productivity challenge
Should You Livestream on Youtube Instead?
Many B2B startups choose to livestream on Youtube instead of Twitch.
That’s mostly because:
- It helps them build up their Youtube channel as their single venue for long-form video content
- Youtube isn’t as demographic-specific as Twitch
- Youtube has a larger user base than Twitch (although stream viewers are far fewer)
If you want to give livestreaming a try, but you’re not sure that Twitch is the right platform, try with YouTube.
Other Ways to Leverage Video Marketing
Want to leverage video marketing, but livestreaming is just not right for you?
Consider:
- Starting a company Youtube channel
- Hosting private webinars (and using them as lead magnets)
Want to tap into livestreams’ potential as a format without creating livestreams yourself?
Consider:
- Connecting with podcasters who stream their episodes and pitching a guest appearance
- Sponsoring a popular (and relevant) livestreamer
The Strategic Partner Your Startup Has Been Looking for
In this post, we covered everything you need to know to assess whether Twitch is an investment-worthy marketing channel for you.
Aside from Twitch, your B2B startup should be investing in other channels, such as SEO. If you’re looking for the right team to turn your website into a conversion engine, you’re in the right place.
Book a free strategy call today.
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