The Irrefutable Keys to Twitch Success

The truth about what viewers look for in a content creator.

by S4B0T4G3FIRE | April 23, 2021, 8:00 AM EDT

**This article is not just a casual read. Its purpose is to inform Twitch streamers about the success of their peers so they can learn and improve their own channels. If you are a Twitch streamer (or Moderator, for that matter), read closely and pay attention to what your peers have done to gain success.**

Quick Recap

A little over a year ago, I published an article titled “Why do Twitch channels fail?” If you have not read that one yet, you probably should; it is essentially the inspiration for this “sequel” that you are reading now. Either way, here is a quick recap of that article:

Although there is no recipe for success as a Twitch streamer, there are many criteria that aspiring broadcasters are not adhering to, which may be limiting their success. Some broadcasters are “failing” as a result of one or more of the following reasons:

• Brandless
• Unoriginal
• Negative
• Inconsistent
• Predictable
• Unenergetic
• Unappreciative
• Impatient
• Exclusive

All of the characteristics listed above will probably turn viewers away from an aspiring broadcaster, but how can we know this for sure? After all, successful broadcasters are nowhere near identical to one another. For instance, Broadcaster 1 may be an eSports professional who grinds the same game all the time, provides monotone commentaries, and shows supporters minimal appreciation, while Broadcaster 2 may be terrible at most games but can provide some of the best commentaries, a high-energy experience, and appreciation for every individual viewer. The only way to know what attracts viewers most is to test on a micro-level the argument explained above.

Testing the Theory

You can probably conclude that Broadcaster 1 became successful by attracting viewers who want to learn how to play a game well, and Broadcaster 2 became successful by attracting viewers who do not care about playing a game and instead want to feel welcomed and have an overall fun time. What about a new broadcaster who is not the best at playing video games, spreading love and positivity, or being outgoing in general? To answer this question, I posted a survey for broadcasters to fill out. The survey itself had nine main questions, one for each of the nine potential reasons why Twitch channels see success or failure: Brand, Originality, Positivity, Consistency, Unpredictability, Energy, Appreciation, Commitment, and Inclusivity. Also asked were two additional questions about responders’ average viewership and current following.

Questions and Responses

For the reader’s benefit, here are the exact questions that the anonymous respondents were asked to answer on scales from 1 to 10 as well as the frequency distribution of responses:

• How complete is your channel page? (consider the essentials, including a profile picture, cover photo, any essential social media links, and an *up-to-date* biography)

Figure 1: Distribution of Channel Page Completion

It is fair to say that the majority of respondents have filled out their channel biographies to a decent extent, but some still need to get around to doing it.

• How original is your content? (consider your titles and the games you play, in comparison to those of other broadcasters in the same category and viewer range)

Figure 2: Distribution of Content Originality

It appears that respondents tend to struggle a little bit with creating original content, but they do not find it impossible.

• How positive is your content? (consider your attitude toward unfavorable outcomes in games or current real-life events/issues)

Figure 3: Distribution of Positive Atmospheres

Positivity appears to be a strong suit of the majority of respondents.

• Regardless of how often you broadcast each week, do you at least consistently follow a set schedule?

Figure 4: Distribution of Consistency

According to the respondents, being consistent is either easy or difficult, and there is not much middle ground in the matter.

• How unpredictable is your content? (consider whether or not every one of your broadcasts features the same game/category and order of operations)

Figure 5: Distribution of Unpredictability

The responses about “unpredictability” were quite unpredictable, to say the least. Although, it appears that many respondents stream much of the same content they always do, with little variety.

• Are your broadcasts full of energy? (consider the volume and animation of your broadcasts, such as music volume, whether you speak loudly or mumble quietly/inaudibly, and if you move around a lot or are mostly still)

Figure 6: Distribution of Energy

A large majority of respondents are very lively and energetic on stream, but not to the point of exhaustion.

• Do you show enough appreciation for your viewers/subscribers/regulars? (consider whether or not you say “thank you” or even acknowledge your audience at all)

Figure 7: Distribution of Appreciation

Respondents are very good at ensuring that their viewers’ contributions (of time, money, etc.) do not go without appreciation.

• How willing are you to put in the effort and patience required to allow your broadcast to grow? (consider whether or not you get frustrated right away when your channel isn’t growing as you hoped it would)

Figure 8: Distribution of Commitment

It can be said that the majority of respondents are quite willing to put in the time and effort required to grow their channels.

• How inclusive are your broadcasts? (consider whether or not you are inadvertently turning people away with the games you play, the words you say, the jokes/insults you make, and/or the way you dress)

Figure 9: Distribution of Inclusivity

Some respondents could be a little bit better at including a larger variety of viewers, but they do an overall great job and are aware that their content limits their audience and (perhaps) rate of channel growth.

Analysis

After looking at the graphs above, you may be wondering what their significance is. While knowing how streamers approach content creation is already somewhat helpful, it does not tell us anything about who exactly gave these responses. 19.3% of respondents stream very consistently, but are these respondents mostly veteran streamers with “large” followings, or are they running “small” unknown channels? Likewise, is high consistency more common among “large” channels, or does consistency even contribute to success?

These questions and many more can be answered because of Question 10 and Question 11 on the survey, which asked “How many viewers do you average each broadcast?” and “How many followers do you have?” By combining this data with the responses to the first nine questions, we can identify any correlations between the nine (9) characteristics and channel growth.

Graph 1: Streamer Self-Assigned Rating and Average Viewer Count

Graph 2: Trendlines of the “Self-Assigned Rating” Graph

Table 1: Slope

Slope

As you can see from the two graphs and data table above, every correlation ended up being positive (some more than others), which hints at the idea that bigger streamers do things better (hence their success). To simplify things, let us first take a look at the five steepest trends. These were Consistency, Energy, Brand, Originality, and Positivity (in order of steepest slope to gentlest slope). Consistency yielded the steepest trend. This means, with every increase in consistency came the largest increase in viewership. In other words, channels with an average of “500 to 1,000” viewers are apparently much more consistent than the channels with an average of “0 to 5” viewers. By this same logic, channels with an average of “500 to 1,000” viewers are also more energetic, have more complete biographies, are more original, and are more positive than smaller channels (on average).

The margins do begin to shrink, however, when we consider Unpredictability, Commitment, Inclusivity, and Appreciation. This means that channels of all sizes are doing approximately the same (whether equally well or equally poorly), on average, when it comes to streaming a variety of content, committing sufficient time and energy, being inclusive of all types of viewers, and showing appreciation to all supporters.

Correlation Coefficient and Coefficient of Determination

Lastly, let us discuss the “R” and “R-squared” values to see how strong the relationships between “Viewer Count” and “Rating” actually are. This will allow us to determine whether or not it is correct to be correlating them with each other.

Table 2: Correlation Coefficient and Coefficient of Determination

According to the “R” (correlation coefficient) values, correlations for Consistency, Energy, and Brand are strong, so the variables are very much related. The correlations for Originality and Positivity are somewhat strong, so the variables are somewhat related. The correlations for Unpredictability, Commitment, Inclusivity, and Appreciation are relatively weaker than the others, so the variables are not closely related.

While it is important to understand the strengths of these correlations, it is even more important to know how much of the variation in “Viewer Count” is determined by the change in “Rating.” When looking at “R-squared” for each of the nine characteristics, three characteristics in particular easily have the strongest values. These are Consistency, Energy, and Brand. 80.3% (for Energy), 76.6% (for Consistency), and 71.8% (for Brand) of the variation in “Viewer Count” can be explained by the change in “Rating.” In other words, viewership is related to and dependent on consistency, energy, and brand to quite a decent extent.

In addition, Originality and Positivity appear to be quite important as well. They may not trend as steeply as other characteristics, but their average statistics do suggest that they have the power to impact the growth rate of a channel.

Summary/Conclusions

Based on the data collected from the respondents of the survey, it can be said that Consistency, Energy, and Brand are the three most important channel/streamer characteristics leading to a successful Twitch career! Well, sort of. The correlations shared in this article are no guarantee of reality. After all, “correlation does not equal causation.” However, streaming consistently, being energetic in front of the camera, and filling out your “Twitch Bio” in full with up-to-date information are skills that you should definitely implement and improve over time because the streamers with higher viewer counts are doing it.

People love high-energy, reliable, and original live entertainment from channels whose mission statements, backgrounds, passions, and other social media accounts are spelled out in words and manifested in the streamer. This much is absolutely true. So, if you do not yet have a stream schedule, go make one. If your biography is blank, go fill it out completely. If you are tired or quiet during your broadcasts, go get some sleep, eat a meal, and drink some water. Maybe even try to display a more positive attitude as well. Your viewers and channel statistics will thank you!

Thank you for reading this article! I have wanted to write this for a while, but I had to wait for the data to come in. The purpose is to help aspiring streamers grow, so I hope that any aspiring streamers reading this consider the results and apply the findings to their own content. If anyone has any comments, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to comment below or on my social media at Twitch, Twitter, and Reddit.

Like this article? If so, I encourage you to check out some of my other articles here!