If you’re thinking of starting a gaming channel, know that it takes an excruciating effort to get popular. But with the right strategies, you can become the go-to place for thousands of gamers.
Running a gaming channel is hard work. There are no shortcuts to increasing engagement and organic traction. It all boils down to how good your content is among your audience. And for that to happen, you need to build a voice for your channel and focus on a niche. Only after that can you start promoting your channel on various social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, and TikTok. Use the following strategies to build traction for your channels.
Facebook live streams are extremely popular
Facebook consists of thousands of gaming enthusiasts who do live streams of them playing different games. These could be FPS games like “Borderlands” to viral games like “Getting Over It.” Since Facebook is the most widely-used social media platform, these livestreams are watched by hundreds of thousands of people, irrespective of whether they’re gaming enthusiasts or not.
To start, make sure your Facebook gaming channel has a relevant and catchy picture. You can use these social media graphics or craft a picture by yourself. The next step is to do a live stream. While doing a livestream, you can see how many people are watching your stream but don’t be disappointed if you initially get a handful of viewers. It takes time to gather a large audience. Ensure you interact with your audience, as you can see their comments on the live stream.
Instagram snippets can take you a long way
Instagram is the second largest social media platform, but it’s more visually driven than Facebook. Maintaining your gaming channel on Instagram can be a bit tricky. You need to be more visual in your marketing approach. For instance, post banners and flyers about your Facebook live stream or post the cover picture of the game you’ll start playing next week. I recommend using PosterMyWall’s flyer maker to craft catchy posters in a few clicks!
Livestreaming on Twitch is a must!
Twitch is made for live streaming, so while you’re doing livestreams on Facebook or Instagram, you should dedicate a few days of your week to doing live streams on your Twitch channel too. In fact, your goal should be to divert the traffic you get from Facebook and Instagram to Twitch. The secret to succeeding on Twitch is consistency. You need to post consistently, providing entertaining content to your users.
Doing a live stream for hours is hard work, so you’ll need to work on your brand and voice. For example, if you’re playing Resident Evil, don’t be afraid to exhibit jump scares and genuine reactions while playing the game. The more natural you look and sound, the better!
YouTube shorts can provide an extra boost
Being the largest video-streaming platform on the internet, YouTube is the perfect place for you to post snippets of your gaming experience. You can make it more interesting by adding a voiceover to the video. Apart from shorts, we advise you not to post long live streams on your YouTube channel because no one will watch them. Instead, break your live stream into bits and post those bits as individual videos.
Make sure you come up with a relevant and catchy video title for each video. Steer clear of click baits because they hurt your reputation. Keep your titles between 60 to 70 characters long and insert keywords in there if possible. That will help your videos appear on the top of Google’s SERPs.
Collaborate with other gamers
Lastly, you need to do collab videos with other gamers, especially if you’re playing arcade games like “Super Smash Bros” on Nintendo Switch. Alternatively, you could make a guest appearance on a renowned gaming channel, which will help you attract a sizable portion of that audience to your channel and vice versa. Doing collab videos is a must-have. They can accelerate the growth of your channels.
Some final words
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach that would work for all gaming channels. Your success depends on your voice, personality, and how entertaining you can be for your viewers. No one really wants to see a playthrough of a game without your reactions — it would be too dull. So, draw inspiration from people like PewDiePie and learn how you can improve your channel every step of the way!
