Game Commerce: Why retailers should consider Twitch
The pandemic’s effects on customer behavior in 2020 lead to significant changes in the e-commerce world. During lockdown many people turned to online shopping and other virtual services such as gaming and esports.
Video gaming and streaming is at an all time high and has recently caught retailers attention. Right now, the UK has the world’s fifth largest and Europe’s second largest interactive gaming industry. The industry is twice as lucrative as it was a decade ago and one of the biggest players is Twitch. For many retailers this is still uncharted territory as the number of retailers who are using Twitch for advertising remains rather small compared to the size of the platform. The new collaboration between Amazon DSP and Twitch, which Amazon announced in September last year, now provides a bridge in the data gap that once plagued advertisers. But what possibilities does this new collaboration bring for retailers?
First of all, what is Twitch?
Twitch is a video live streaming platform where millions of users come together daily to game, stream or just chat. Although it originally gained its popularity through gaming and esports, the platform is also being used to live stream other content, such as cooking, workouts, music productions and more. The streaming platform reported 159 million viewers per month in 2020 and 26.6 million daily active users.
Here are 3 reasons why retailers should consider integrating Twitch in their marketing strategy
New diverse audiences
While the Twitch community is known for its hard-to-reach nature, they are highly engaged, loyal and composed of a diverse range of members with interests spanning from music and technology to films and food and everything in between. 81,5% of users are male, 55% of them aged between 18 and 34 years. This makes Twitch the perfect outlet to reach the Gen Z audience. You don’t have to be a gaming or tech related brand to target the Twitch audience. There are a lot of niche communities that include non-gamers, as well as the diverse interests of Twitch users. Many brands who don’t associate themselves with gaming such as make up, food, furniture and fashion are finding ways to promote their product on the platform. Brands like Red Bull, Old Spice, Pepsi, Burberry and many more have already teamed up with Twitch. Finding a niche within Twitch can be an exciting process for retailers and can help to build brand loyalty with future generations of buyers.
Specific targeting backed up by Amazon’s data
Neither Google nor Facebook know as much about the buying interests and behavior of consumers in the western hemisphere as Amazon does. Though Twitch has already been a part of Amazon since 2014, it only just made targeting available via the Amazon Demand Side Platform (DSP) in September 2020. The self-service solution allows retailers to create display and multimedia campaigns, based on Twitch user data on the platform and beyond. Retailers can create ads that appear both on platforms that belong to the Amazon family such as Twitch itself,IMDb Audible and many more, as well as in networks outside the Amazon ecosystem. Compared to sponsored ads, these ads have a much wider reach and can address target groups regardless of a specific product search. According to Amazon: “Brands running Amazon advertising campaigns can address the diverse interests of the Twitch community through Twitch video and display ad products. Advertising on Twitch will now have the added benefit of Amazon advertising’s unique audience insights and measurement for their campaigns”. Brands using Twitch with Amazon DSP have the ability to track exactly how many sales can be attributed to Twitch and adjust future media spend accordingly.
Many ways to reach new audiences
Currently available as video inventory, advertisers can book instream (pre-roll and mid-roll) videos individually and in combination with other video supply sources. These ads are shown directly on Twitch channels in the form of 30 second maximum, non-skippable ads with the ability to click and “learn more” when viewed from a desktop or mobile device. Twitch videos are especially suitable for campaigns aiming for a good video completion rate or cost per video completion as the VCR is very high on the streaming platform. Additionally, retailers can place ads outside of Amazon using the same insights. Possibilities are endless for those willing to seize the opportunity.
To sum it all up, Twitch is a great opportunity for retailers to reach a fast growing new audience with many interests aside from gaming. With the combination of Amazon DSP, retailers are able to reach audiences based on specific customer data. While Twitch may not be for everyone, retailers who find a way to engage users, target the right community or get creative may be able to dominate the market. At the moment, marketing on Twitch is still in its infancy and there are many ways to reach audiences yet to be discovered. But as it always goes, for those who are eager to give it a shot: First come, first serve.
About the Author:
Nils Zündorf, Amazon expert and Managing Director of the largest European Amazon agency, factor-a, advises more than 150 manufacturers and brands on how to maximize their success on the sales platform. With the creation of factor-a suite, an intelligent software solution, the company helps retailers navigate, interpret and use e-commerce data successfully.
