3 Ways You Can Solidify Your Stream’s Brand

PowerSpike
Jul 24, 2017 · 6 min read

Ah, Twitch branding.

It’s the thing that streamers either take extremely seriously, or don’t give two s**ts about. You either get an MS paint info section made from a 30 minute bathroom session, or you get a masterpiece from the likes of Geersart.

Branding on Twitch is highly debated on whether or not it’s actually important for the growth of your stream. And there isn’t a clear answer.

But while a nice looking info section may not help you gather more viewers, I can tell you this for a fact: professional Twitch branding makes it a hell of a lot easier to impress potential sponsors on your channel and increase the likelihood of you getting their attention.

And since this blog is centered around Twitch sponsorships, let’s talk about that, shall we?

(by the way, we talk a ton about sponsorships on our Twitter page; you should come hang out: twitter.com/powerspike_)


Before we dive in, let’s get a few things straight for those who aren’t well versed in the realm of branding on Twitch.

I know I was just going off about MS Paint info sections, but your Twitch brand is everything about your stream combined into one.

Whether that be your personality, your graphics, your social media personas, your attire, everything.

However, this post isn’t long enough to hold all those details into one. You’d be asleep by the end of the read. So, in this post, we’re going to focus on one of the most important aspects of Twitch branding in relation to sponsorships:

Graphics.

Your graphics are the first thing that brands passing by are going to view on your channel, and it’s perhaps the most important part in making a great first impression with your potential sponsors.

However, graphics on Twitch are extremely easy to get wrong, so it’s important that you follow these guidelines when branding your graphics:

1. Have consistent graphics across all platforms.

First and foremost, you need to make sure that the graphics you show on your stream are consistent with graphics on other social media profiles, YouTube channels, and more.

Your goal in designing graphics is to immediately let passing people know that they’re looking at something owned by you, without even reading your name.

This means that using the same profile picture, the same color scheme, the same username, and the same icons across all platforms is extremely important.

Furthermore (and a lot of people seem to skip this), but you can create designs that follow your brand guidelines for your donation and sub alerts. I’ve seen a ton of great examples from awesome streamers over the past few months, and it’s a great way to solidify your brand on all fronts:

From Lirik’s stream: twitch.tv/lirik

Not only will this allow sponsors to find you easier, but it will also create triggers in the minds of your fans that will bring up your stream in their mind much more when they see similar graphics or color schemes.

2. Ensure that your graphics are done professionally.

However, there’s also a good chance that you don’t have years of graphic design and art experience.

I know, it’s tough to fight the urge to do something yourself to save money. But I’ll tell you this now: hiring a professional to create your graphics and emotes will make you come off exponentially more professional to brands than if you were to throw something together in Gimp and call it a day.

There are a few more reasons that you’ll want to go with professionals as well:

1. Professionals can connect your personality in with the graphics they create.

Professional designers know how to implement personality into graphics and present a feel like no one else can. It’s quiet literally a science.

So next time you sit down with your designer, talk about you. Are you outgoing? Are you laid back? Do you enjoy futuristic styles? Or are you more of a vintage person who dresses like it’s the 1970s? Let them know, and they’ll do the work.

2. Professionals can craft unique designs.

You’ll see it commonly in streamers and artists combined who don’t have a lot of experience; they’re pretty much just a mish mash of different people or styles put together.

It takes years and years for an artist or creator to find their unique style. And it’s just something that you as a streamer probably haven’t figured out yet. And that’s fine.

3. Professionals can craft stream ‘mascots’.

A great way to strengthen your brand is to create a mascot to go along with your stream.

We’re seeing brands every day who are focusing on creating characters to accompany their brands (look at Discord). And now, we’re seeing streamers do the same.

From Discord

A mascot allows you to spread a unique image in the minds of viewers, and it also opens you up to a lot of creative opportunities with posts on social media and for on-stream bits.

3. Take advantage of ‘sound branding’.

One of the best ways that you can brand your stream is by using what’s known as ‘sound branding’.

Sound branding is when a streamer uses a specific sound that plays on their stream when they get a donation, follower, subscriber, or something similar. They usually use the same sounds or similar sounds for each one, and by the end of the stream, the sound clip has been engraved into your viewers heads.

The reason that sound branding is so important is because it creates ‘triggers’ in the heads of your viewers. And no, this isn’t some psychic brainwashing tactic.

A trigger is when someone is reminded of something from seeing or hearing a totally different thing than what they are reminded of.

For example, one of my favorite examples of sound branding and triggers is from Lirik’s stream.

For a while, Lirik used the sound clip of Jesse on Breaking Bad screaming, “Where’s my money, b**ch?”, every time he received a donation. It was super relevant, and gave viewers a good laugh. He continued to use this for a long time, and it became a staple for his donation sound.

By the end of the stream, viewers had heard Jesse screaming so many times that it had been burned into their memory. And now, every time one of the viewers sees a Jesse clip from Breaking Bad (especially the same one he uses), they’re reminded of Lirik’s stream.

This doesn’t make sense to be here, but it’s pretty funny right? https://www.buzzfeed.com/zgalehouse/125-breaking-bad-gifs-bitch-7sat?utm_term=.bml4DeW64R&sub=2634101_1713917#.lePV3kqeV7

With sound branding, you don’t have to rely on viewers seeing your graphics and your graphics only. You can take advantage of outside sources, which is always a good thing.


And that’s it!

Be sure to follow this Medium publication for new streaming posts every Monday.

If you’d like, feel free to join us on Twitter where we talk sponsorships, share relevant articles (and the occasional meme), and more.

PowerSpike

PowerSpike is a Marketplace for @Twitch Sponsorships | Discover. Create. Monetize.

PowerSpike

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PowerSpike is a Marketplace for @Twitch Sponsorships | Discover. Create. Monetize. | DM or Email for support: contact@power-spike.com

PowerSpike

PowerSpike is a Marketplace for @Twitch Sponsorships | Discover. Create. Monetize.

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