How to Retain Viewers on Twitch?

You’re getting a good number of views on your Twitch live streams but fewer reactions, comments and messages in the chat. Why’s that? You sometimes get 100 viewers, while other times, they get dropped to 50; what’s stopping them from returning to your stream? Either they come to your stream and never interact, comment, or chat. Or they come once and then vanish. 

It’s just because you’re unable to retain your Twitch viewers. For that reason, understand how to retain viewers on Twitch and have them keep coming back, interfacing more, and supporting your channel.

Why do your Viewers Never Come Back, Interact or Chat?

Your viewers aren’t interacting, chatting or coming back to your Twitch stream because of these common reasons.

• Your Stream Has Too Much Dead Air – You’re quiescent, not speaking as much as you want to.  Users lose interest in the stream when the streamer isn’t speaking a word or just not replying to them.
• You’re Not Asking Open-Ended Questions – If you don’t ask the open-ended questions but only the scripted or the rooted ones like “Hey” or “How’s it going?”. It will make the viewers run away as those questions don’t have any deeper meaning.
• Your Content Feels Generic or Forgettable – If you just create generic content without any fun, jokes, challenges, questions or interactions, then viewers will forget you.
• You Don’t Have a Schedule – You randomly start streaming and most of your viewers don’t even know that you’re live.
• Your Stream Title & Thumbnail Aren’t Eye-Catching – If your titles are boring and just like other streams, it won’t get your viewers to click on them. 
• You’re Playing an Oversaturated Game Without a Hook – You’re just playing the popular games that other streamers are also playing. You’re not adding creativity, fun or your own test to it.

These are the common reasons why your viewers never come back to your Twitch or never interact.

How to Retain Viewers on Twitch?

If you want to retain Viewers on Twitch, these are the tips you need to follow:

1. Keep Conversations Going

Viewers don’t like watching streams which are silent or contain any generic questions. So, never stop talking and asking open-ended questions to your readers. If they’re quiet,  still talk to them, ask them about current affairs or anything that you know will interest them.

2. Never Call Out Lurkers

You should never call out the lurkers. Twitch lurkers are quiet and they watching your stream without interfacing. You can’t force them to comment, chat or participate in the stream. It’ll make them uncomfortable if you keep calling them out  like “Hey lurkers,” “Why are you quite lurkers?”.  And they’ll run away and never come back. So let them live, stay on the stream, if they want to talk, they will.

3. Refresh Engagement Every 10 Minutes

Consider it a rule that you must refresh the engagement every 10 minutes. You can talk about what’s happening in the game, share your stories or just casually talk.  You can ask questions like “What games are you into lately?” “What’s the best food combo ever?”.  

These questions will initiate the conversation and make the engagement alive. That will get your viewers to keep coming back to your stream.

4. Act Like Someone Is Always Watching

If you see the number of views getting down, don’t just stop speaking. The number takes time to get updated meanwhile, people join in and quietly start watching your stream. So, always think that there’s someone who is watching your stream and wants to get entertained.

5. Build Small Relationships With Viewers

Build relationships with your viewers by remembering their names. Some viewers are consistent, and you must remember their names and their interests if they share any. 

Even if you ask them, “Good to see you [name] again. Welcome”. That will enlighten their mood and will keep returning.

6. Engage in Other Streams & Be Part of the Community

Don’t just be a streamer; be a member of the Twitch community. Participate in other people’s streams, comment, chat and also support. When people see you as an active member, they’ll likely check out your streams and then support them, too. If they like your work, they’ll also keep coming back.

7. Improve Your Stream Title and Thumbnails

Try to come up with something new when creating your title and meta description. They’re the first impressions determining how many viewers you will get and whether they return.  

Instead of writing “Playing Fortnite”, write like this: “1v1 Me? Sweaty Arena Grind and Vibes” or “Can I win only Pistols? Come watch the Chaos!”. Any titles like these do well; some can go for the thumbnails but with interactive, full HD graphics.

8. Add Fun Interactive Rewards for Viewers

Viewers don’t just want to see the stream but get involved in it. You can help them do it by adding the following things to your stream.

• Redeemable sound effects
• Make you play with a certain challenge (e.g., no jumping, inverted controls)
• Pick your next character/loadout
• “Hydrate” or “Stretch” reminders to encourage chat participation

9. Have a Unique Segment or Theme

There must be something unique that people remember you and come back to your stream for, such as: 

• A custom intro song that hypes up your stream
• A dedicated “Viewer Games” day every week
• A mini Q&A session where you answer random chat questions
• A quirky on-screen challenge (e.g., push-ups for every death)

10. Use Twitch’s Built-in Engagement Tools 

Twitch offers many built engagement tools that can help you improve your retention rate.

• Polls –  You can create polls to ask questions related to the games or any current affairs that they may be interested in. It can increase engagement by up to 10%.
• Channel Points – You can offer various channel points, such as unlocking the emotes or highlighting the user’s messages. You can set some channels for the users, and when they complete it, you can give them these channel points. It can increase the watch time of the stream by up to 18%. 
• MegaCheers – Viewers who cheer with Bits get exclusive emotes and can gift them to others. Talking about MegaCheers boosts Bits usage by 30%.
• Extensions – Use the Twitch extension to add some add-ons like sound Alerts, crowd controls or game overlays to make your stream immersive and fun.

This is how to retain viewers on Twitch. Follow all these tips to increase your retention rate on Twitch, and you’ll see a huge difference in your engagement.

FAQS:

How to Keep Viewer Retention on Twitch?

You can significantly increase your Twitch Retention rate by never stopping to talk in the stream, asking open-ended questions, making your stream interactive, and building relationships with the viewers. Furthermore, you can also use Twitch’s built-in engagement features, such as polls, MegaCheers, and extensions. 

How to Get Viewers to Stay on Twitch?

Make your streams engaging by adding jokes, questions, and challenges and improving your titles and thumbnails. Also, schedule the streams, build relationships with the viewers and also reward them.

How to Get Constant Viewers on Twitch?

Be consistent, build relationships with your chat, and create a unique vibe that stands out. Network with other streamers, promote your content, and always make your stream worth watching.

Final Words:

How to retain viewers on Twitch? You can retain them by following these tips:

• Keep conversations going, 
• Never call out lurkers, 
• Refresh engagement every 10 minutes,
• Always act like someone is watching. 
• Build relationships with viewers, 
• Engage in other streams, 
• improve your titles and thumbnails, 
• Add fun interactive rewards, 
• Create a unique segment or theme.

Furthermore, you can also use Twitch’s built-in engagement-enhancing tools, such as the pools, Channel Points, MegaCheers, and extensions to make your streams immersive.