As the online gambling affiliate space becomes increasingly competitive, publishers are having to look to other platforms to engage players and drive awareness of their brands and sites.
Streaming is becoming increasingly popular in this regard, with affiliates using platforms such as Twitch to broadcast highly entertaining footage of them playing slots and landing big wins.
Some of the most popular streamers now have audiences in excess of 50,000 and are leveraging this to push followers to the online casino brands they work with.
But the streaming game has changed recently with Twitch announcing that it was no longer supporting affiliate links and referrals for online gambling.
This was a major move from the platform and has undoubtedly hit streaming affiliates hard. That being said, streaming still offers plenty of upsides for affiliates to take advantage of.
Before looking at these more closely, let’s first cover what affiliates need to establish a streaming channel that is both professional and fun – a hard combination to get right.
The basics for online casino streaming
There are three elements to streaming in terms of the process. You will need to record your voice, film yourself as you play and also capture the video of the game you are playing.
In terms of the technology required, the following will get you up and running – a microphone, a video camera and software to capture and edit footage.
The first two are easy to get hold of – most laptops have built-in microphones and cameras that are more than good enough for streaming.
Of course, you can invest in more specialist equipment if you have the budget to do so. Logitech webcams are among the best and Blue brand microphones are also popular with streamers.
You will then need to pick your video editing software – OBS Studio is a great choice as it is free to use and lets you capture various sources and arrange and organise them for broadcast.
Players come for your personality
Once you have the basic technical set up in place you are ready to start your online casino streaming channel. Twitch is the best place for this.
Remember that people watch streamers for their personality, and they want to see how you react to big wins and surprise losses as well as hearing your thoughts on the games you play.
The more engaging and entertaining you are, the larger your audience will be and the more likely they are to keep coming back for more.
Consider streaming brand building
Twitch’s recent changes around affiliate links and referrals means that streamers can no longer directly monetise from their channels but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t launch one.
The most successful online casino affiliates consider themselves as brands, and streaming is a powerful way of building a loyal audience via content they love engaging with.
Affiliates can also monetise their streaming channels through commercial agreements with game providers – many will now pay for you to play their games.
Ultimately, streaming is just another way to connect with players, drive awareness of your affiliate site or brand, boost traffic and aid conversions.
For this reason, it is a marketing channel that affiliates should embrace.