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What Is Twitch Partner Program And How To Monetize Your Channel As A Twitch Partner 

Published On March 09, 2022

Twitch has 9.2 million monthly active streamers who spend an average of 95 minutes daily on the platform. It’s one of the most popular platforms for streamers to grow a following and monetize their content. However, a Twitch streamer cannot directly make money from the platform through fan donations – unless Twitch itself sponsors them.  

But if you’re looking to take your streaming passion further to scoring a Twitch partnership, here is where it gets tough. Monetizing your content on Twitch needs a lot of commitment, consistency and hard work. 

If you have already built a decent following on Twitch, you can become an Affiliate and eventually progress to become a Partner. The Twitch Affiliate program is for those who are just starting to monetize their streams. The program aims to reward small to medium-sized streamers for their dedication and hard work by incentivizing them to keep following their passion while also providing opportunities to earn some serious cash. You can achieve this through promoting a brand through mentions and links, advertising new merch, as well as through subscriptions. 

However, the Partner program is more advanced and exclusive in its approach than an affiliate program. Once you achieve your affiliate goals and are ready for more, you can apply to become a Twitch Partner.


What Is The Twitch Partner Program? 

Twitch Partners are Twitch creators who have signed up for Twitch’s official partnership program. These creators create high-quality material and already have a large audience on Twitch or another video network.

Twitch’s partnership program is only open to the most talented content creators, and the standards are far more stringent than their affiliate programs. As a Twitch Partner, you’ll have access to exclusive features on the streaming site reserved for celebrated streamers. These are the top-tier streamers who get the most brand collaboration opportunities. 

However, keep in mind that the Twitch Partnership Program is for those committed to streaming and have an established viewership, and are ready to take their channels to the next level. 

What Are The Requirements For The Twitch Partner Program? 

Becoming a Twitch Partner isn’t easy; the program has strict standards, and only the greatest streamers rise to the challenge. However, because the platform’s affiliate program is much easier to join, being an affiliate is a criterion for Partner status.

The Path to Partner 

Twitch’s “Path to Partner” helps you in progressing toward Twitch Partner eligibility.

The Path to Partner includes three milestones:

  • Stream for 25 hours

You must check your streams and ensure that they are of an appropriate duration, in addition to ensuring that your viewers remain engaged. Furthermore, to qualify as a Partner, you must keep your streams below the minimum criteria. Stream frequency is an important indicator to monitor.

  • Stream on 12 different days

Competent streamers can’t get away with a few random streams. They need to show up consistently. Twitch actively seeks out high levels of engagement – from both the audience and the streamer themselves.

  • Average of 75 viewers (excluding hosts, raids, and embeds)

This achievement takes 75 simultaneous watchers, so that’s the bare minimum you need to tick this off your list. But aim for more. An average of roughly 100 to 200 concurrent viewers should be enough to get you partnership spots.

Those to achieve the Path To Partner criteria also need to maintain it consistently. 

Twitch partner program
Figure 1: Path to Partner involves three criteria to become eligible for Twitch Partner. Source: Twitch

Partner eligibility is not a guarantee of Partner status. You’ll see an Apply button that takes you to the Partner application form when you meet the requirements. Once submitted, it usually takes seven business days for an application to be reviewed and responded to. If your application is turned down, you still retain your achievements and are free to reapply in the future.  

How Do You Make Money As A Twitch Partner?

A solid monetization strategy on Twitch should have a healthy mix of both on-Twitch and beyond-Twitch options. Creating diverse income streams to earn from your streaming can protect you from risking all your efforts in one place as well as give you more control over how you use your content. 

Here are some ways to monetize content through the Twitch Partner Program:

Twitch subscriptions

Accepting subscriptions to their channels allows Twitch Partners to make money. The subscription options are $4.99, $9.99, $24.99, or the Prime Gaming free subscription. People who pay for Amazon Prime can support your channel in the latter case. Up to 50 channel emotes are also available to partners.

Twitch bits

Bits are virtual money that streamers can offer your viewers to purchase and “cheer” to show their support for your channel. Bits can be Cheermotes, or animated gem emotes (animated versions of global emotes).

The streamer receives a portion of the income for each viewer who utilizes Bits to Cheer. Streamers use it as their official donation system. Amazon Payments and PayPal are two options for purchasing virtual Bits.

Video game sales

When you stream a game on sale or has in-game items in the Twitch store, your viewers will see a link on your channel that will take them to the online store where they may purchase the things you showed.

Partners receive a share of the revenue when a purchase is made through their channel.

Donations

Donations are a simple way to monetize your streams. Twitch allows off-platform donations, and you can retain 100% of the income. 

You can use third-party apps to set up donations. You can also use PayPal to establish a donation page that you can connect to right from your Twitch bio.

Advertising revenue

This is another option to monetize your live streams and get a cut of the revenue earned by any advertisements you include in them.

You’ll start attracting more important brands if you use this strategy. Don’t worry if you think it’s a little intrusive for your customers; you can control the length and frequency of adverts in your streaming from your dashboard. Once you acquire $100, Twitch usually pays out in 15 days after the end of the calendar month. 

Grow Your Channel With The Twitch Partner Program

With some fantastic features that Twitch provides, streamers can use these tips to grow their channel quickly and make the best out of being a Twitch Partner. 

Channel customization:

  • Custom Chat Badges: When a fan subscribes to your channel, they will automatically receive a subscriber chat badge that appears next to their name when participating in your channel’s chat. Your subscribers will hit milestones that you may personalize with additional badges to honor them for their continuous support as they spend more time connected to your channel (3 months, 6 months, etc.).
  • Custom Emoticons: Emotes are a fun way to personalize your channel while also rewarding your viewers. Custom subscriber emotes included under the Twitch Partnership and Affiliate programs as part of the membership benefits.
  • Custom Emoticon Prefix: On Twitch, anyone can use global emotes, but personalized Twitch emotes are exclusively available to Twitch Affiliates and Twitch Partners. Because members of your community will primarily use them, you can think of your personalized emotes as your branding. You can also use them as an incentive for your subscribers.
  • Custom Bit Badges and Cheermotes: Starting with the 1 and 100 Bit Reward Tier and beyond, Affiliates and Partners can replace Bit Badges with their bespoke designs and names for their channel. Emote Reward slots are gradually opened from the 1,000th Bit Reward Tier up to the highest tier, allowing users to begin earning emote incentives only when they reach the 1,000th Bit Reward Tier.

Cheermotes are an excellent option to further personalize your channel by adding your own style and branding.

For each tier of Bits used: 1, 100, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000, any channel with Cheering enabled can now create a more thrilling Cheermote. When viewers click the gem icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the conversation, they will see your unique Cheermote in your channel.

  • Verified User Badge: Prime Gaming, Turbo, Bits, and other badges acquired from a Twitch Crate opening share the same global badge space as the Verified Badge. The Verified badge automatically goes to all partners. This is similar to being an Instagram user with a blue tick.
  • Free lifetime channel subscription for your chatbot: Partners can request up to two free lifetime bot subscriptions for their channel.  This enables your bot to execute tasks like displaying your channel’s emotes in chat.

Tier 3 ($24.99) subscriptions to your channel will be automatically granted to bots, allowing them to access all of your channel’s emotes.

  • Lifetime Subscribers: Up to 3 additional free lifetime channel subscriptions to friends and family based on your total amount of subscribers. Chatbots subscriptions are separate from this feature. 

Video on demand (VOD) features

  • Extended VOD Storage: VODs are retained for 60 days for Partners but just 14 days for Affiliates.
  • Reruns and Premieres: Partners can show off their videos to their viewers by rebroadcasting old ones.

Priority support for Twitch partners

You’ll have access to a dedicated support team. The Partner Help staff will respond to you within 1-2 business days if you have any issues or just have a platform-related inquiry.

Your teams 

You’ll also have the option of forming your stream team. The Partner status will allow you to develop a close community of like-minded broadcasters if you don’t already have one. Even though only Partners can build teams, any streamer who receives an invitation from you can join in.

Access to partner-only opportunities

To begin, you will become a valued member of an elite streamer community that accounts for a little over 1% of the entire number of broadcasters on the site.

Partners also get special promotional possibilities such as Partner Spotlights, Meet & Greets, Partner Panels, Streamer Zones, and more.

Video transcodes

Partners are eligible for priority access to high-quality channel options. Viewers can alter the quality of a broadcast they are watching for the optimum viewing experience. Partners are guaranteed transcodes for all of their broadcasts, whilst non-partnered stations receive transcodes based on available capacity.

Broadcast delay

Twitch’s Stream Manager allows partners to set a stream delay to ensure fair play. Click the plus symbol on your new dashboard to add the “Add Stream Delay” option to your Stream Manager. Then, using the slider, modify your stream delay from 0 to 15 minutes by clicking into the stream delay box.

Twitch partner program

More Ways To Earn Money With Twitch 

To earn money, Twitch offers two ways. However, as mentioned earlier, it is always better to have more options in your bag. Here are other platforms that can help you generate an income:

Streamloots

This Spanish platform lets viewers directly interact with streamers. 

It’s a straightforward procedure: the streamer creates cards with challenges or other types of actions, which are then stored in loot boxes. A welcome while doing a handstand, halting a videogame session, or sipping a soda are all examples of actions.

The streamer receives money when a viewer purchases one of these loot-boxes with a random card while Streamloot retains a 20% fee.

Muxy

This platform is designed to work in tandem with Twitch, allowing you to update and add extensions for streams and eSports teams. You can market your own game, make money through Paypal, or even add more levels to your game for your audience. 

StreamLabs

StreamLabs is a platform that not only helps you monetize your broadcasts, but it’s also a popular tool for streamers to manage their streams.

When your viewers take any action (e.g., contribute money, subscribe, etc.), you can add custom alerts, integrate a conversation in your stream, or change the background theme while streaming. Multi-streaming features let you stream to Facebook, YouTube, and more simultaneously. 

twitch partner program

It’s no surprise that everyone wants to become a Twitch partner, given that being a Twitch Partner is the most coveted milestone for any creator on the platform. It puts you at the top of the Twitch leaderboard, with the largest esports teams, leagues and streams. We’ve provided you with all of the knowledge you’ll need to succeed. All you have to do is put forth the effort with joy and passion. 

Once you achieve that, if you need a partner to help you crack the deals for you – we’re there for you. Our AI-based platform, Atisfyre revolutionizes the way influencers collaborate with brands, enabling you to monetize your creativity. All these features allow you to focus your time and energy on what you do best and let us do the hard work for you. 

Achieve your influencer dreams for free with atisfyre! Sign up now! It’s free!

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