Influencers (or streamers/content creators/etc.) are usually perceived as people playing video games on Twitch, uploading videos on Youtube, Instagramming it all & so on.
Sounds a bit broad, no?
You dig a bit deeper and you realize each influencer & each game enjoy a unique audience. The audience also perceives the streamers differently depending on the game being played.
That’s why when choosing the right streamer to work with, you have to also think about the games they play & how that audience could perceive a specific game / video.
Still, there are some categories in which we can group streamers to make your life a bit easier.
The Diverse streamers
Some streamers play a single game only (and are actual PROs at it btw), but the Diverse streamers like to switch it up and play a variety of games while streaming.
These streamers are usually expected to have a greater bond with their viewers. Meaning, the audience is mainly watching because they like the person, not the game.
Why?
Because the reason fans watch them is their personality. Meaning, the audience is mainly watching because they like the person, not the game.. No matter what games they play, the diverse streamers will always have a hardcore fanbase that will always watch them simply for the fun and the relationship.
When does it make sense to work with Diverse streamers?
Your product is not targeting hardcore CS:GO players (for example), because it helps them get better at the game. You are targeting a broader audience & your objective is to get brand awareness. You want to market to people ready to try new things and you have the perfect person to “sell” your product to them.
The less “niche” your product is, the better Diverse streamers will work for you.
One-game Pros
The name says it all. It’s pretty straightforward, they “main” a game & they do it at an almost godlike level.
Viewers line up specifically for the gameplay – they want to learn from the streamer. It’s much closer to Esports (targeting-wise) as the audience’s reason to watch is similar to when they are watching pro athletes (in Esports or traditional sports).
It’s all about the skill here. Their community is expected to be less active (chat messages, etc.), but much more focused. Viewers are watching the streamer to learn from their gameplay, thus the attention is much, much higher!
These content creators can still have a very tight connection with their community! It’s just a slightly different relationship in this case. It’s more of a teacher-student dynamic.
When does it make sense to work with One-game streamers?
Your product is strongly connected to the specific game the streamer is playing. For example, promoting sports goods to the audience of a one-game streamer that plays FIFA would make perfect sense.
Alternatively if you’ve been running surveys and you know your target group is interested in a specific game, finding a one-game streamer that plays this game at godlike levels would be ideal!
Up-and-coming streamers
At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss the up-and-coming streamers. Usually defined as streamers with an average of around 100 concurrent viewers (or less), it definitely is easy to skip them. Compared to traditional influencer marketing terms, you can think of them as micro-influencers.
However, they are called up-and-coming for a reason.
Why should you not dismiss them?
- Authenticity
They are authentic, they are doing something different (otherwise they won’t be up-and-coming, but down-and-buried). Their viewers can easily relate to them and view them more as friends rather than “stars”. A recommendation from them usually carries much more strength and resonates with the community a lot more!
2. Budget
If your budget is smaller, this is your go to choice. Up-and-coming streamers will be happy to promote your product without sucking out your budget. If you are a startup or just running on smaller influencer marketing budgets, these are the streamers you need to be looking at!
Budget friendliness can also allow you to hire up-and-coming streamers on a scale. This can allow you to spread your message around many smaller, but highly engaged audiences.
3. Community interaction
Up-and-coming streamers don’t just offer a money saving option. In most cases they have a very intimate connection to their viewers.
This is what a normal chat section looks like:
As you can see above, bigger streamers will have a hard time actually replying or interacting in any way with each viewer. This is where up-and-coming streamers shine. They can address viewers on an actual 1-to-1 basis. This creates great trust between the streamer and the community.
The behemoths
The absolute opposite of up-and-coming streamers. The large ones (or as we call them, the behemoths) can help you spread a message across a massive audience. The effects a behemoth streamer can have on your brand awareness / sales is huge.
- Brand Awareness
If you’re looking to boost brand awareness across a community, a single behemoth streamer can help greatly. You only need to hire 1 of them in most cases as the message will resonate around the whole twitch / gaming community.
In a simple example, If LeBron James does something, the whole basketball world would know about it. This is pretty much the same for large streamers. When they do something, the whole community will know about it.
- Omnichannel
Large (behemoth) streamers usually have significant following on all major social media sites (Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter). If you really want to spread a message around, you can certainly do that by working with a behemoth streamer!
- Time-sensitive promos
You want to do a giveaway or a large SALE campaign where time is a factor (for example, a 24h flash sale or a 7-day giveaway raffle), hiring a behemoth streamer will be a great way to drive traffic to those offers, without having to spend tons of ad budget on top of it.
There you have it!
Think carefully about your campaign objectives and take your pick!
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