Why Marketers Should be Paying Attention to Twitch

An article posted about two years ago still remains relevant today regarding the internet streaming service Twitch. Twitch.tv is a live-streaming platform for video games, chats, and competitions for eSport genre events. Amazon bought the company in 2014 at the time for a bit less than $ 1 billion, but this to me demonstrates the significance Twitch carries as an industry titan like Amazon saw the potential in the platform's services. Unlike competitors such as Youtube or Netflix, Twitch has become something that is more than just video-streams, it has created a novel environment that integrates social interaction alongside a viewing experience.

The main point of this article is, why should marketers care about this seemingly small subgenre of video-gaming and streaming? Many people are unaware of the grossing profits and numbers this platform has been generating on average.

Some facts include:

• Over 100 million monthly viewers
• On average viewers spend more than 1.5 hours per day.

At this point Twitch is becoming more than just a "video game space" it has become a direct competitor to media outlets such as Netflix, iTunes, and Spotify. The article I am referencing which can be found here, shows that in terms of Twitter mentions, Twitch is keeping an equal pace with Netflix.

Twitch is becoming a large part of this generation's digital identity. One tactic going forward will be to see companies begin to create their own content, whether it is cooking, video games, arts and crafts or discussion, companies have plenty of opportunities to advertise within this space. If companies feel that Twitch demographics match the companies target consumers, it would be beneficial to start advertising. I personally just a week ago was browsing the Twitch.tv website and found Wendys, popular fast-food burger chain had created a profile and was live-streaming video games with over 8,000 viewers. During this viewing session, the viewer-chat was generally surprised and excited to see that "the Wendys" was partaking in their culture. Wendy's was showing live footage of someone playing Rocket League, a popular computer game, while having popup ads for burgers appear every now and then. Twitch may be unfamiliar ground for companies to get their feet wet with in regards to marketing, but I feel both this article and in my opinion, there is a lot of potential for companies to begin streaming and advertising their content in front of millions of viewers.

Link to Article: https://marketingland.com/marketers-paying-attention-twitch-202984

Q&A:

1) Can you think of some other examples of companies that could benefit from marketing via Twitch? If so who?

2) The most popular Twitch streamer has been able to generate $500k per month through the platform. Is this a good indication that Twitch streaming may become a full-time job in the future for some dedicated content creators? Is this a good or bad thing if you believe it becomes a career option.