In a nutshell
- It is completely free to use a Twitch Prime sub; you just need a subscription to Amazon Prime
- Most users need to be reminded that they have a Prime sub
- Getting your viewers engaged with your content encourages them to spend their one Prime sub on you
Whether you’re new to streaming content on Twitch or well-versed with the platform, you have probably heard about the importance of getting prime subscriptions. Most streamers are always looking to expand their subscriber base and revenue; Twitch Primes are one of the best ways to do so.
Here are five tips and techniques you can use to get the most out of Twitch Primes and to get your viewers to use them on your channel. However, first, you need to know what a Twitch Prime subscription is.
What is a Twitch Prime sub?
To understand what a Twitch Prime sub is, we need to talk about Amazon Prime. Prime is a monthly subscription service offered by Amazon, which also owns Twitch. You get various benefits by subscribing to Prime, one of which is a free, tier one subscription on Twitch, known as a Prime sub. However, you only get one subscription free per month. You can sub to any channel on Twitch, but you have to manually sub every month to keep the subscription going. Also, you can change who you sub to every month. So, if you want to sub to xQc one month and then hop over to Jerma the next month, you can.
Amazon Prime costs approximately $14 a month. When compared to the cost of a single tier one subscription, which is about $5 per month, it’s cheaper to buy a sub directly from Twitch. However, it’s a nice deal if you or your viewers already use Amazon Prime for other reasons.
Four tips to get people to sub
There are no real tricks to getting people to Prime sub to you. You also shouldn’t trick viewers into subbing to you, either. However, there are strategies that will help boost your success and organically get people wanting to use their Primes on you.
1. Remind people to use their Prime subs
The truth is: most Amazon Prime subscribers that use Twitch don’t use their Prime subs simply because they don’t know they have it. Remind your viewers that if they have Amazon Prime, they should use their subs. You don’t have to ask them to sub to you. Make it a friendly reminder. Most likely, they will sub to you. Reminders also help people remember to renew their subscription, as they need to manually resub every month. It’s great to have a reminder to check your Prime sub date since everyone’s date is different depending on when you subscripted to Amazon Prime.
2. Use sub goals
Twitch has a really cool feature that allows you to create sub and follower goals for your streams. Anyone on Twitch can create follower goals, but only Affiliates and Partners can set subscriber goals. Usually, streamers give their viewers a reward if they reach the goal. These gifts include things like a 24-hour stream, dying their hair a silly color or eating something very spicy on stream.
When constructing your sub goals consider what your viewers want and what is realistically achievable. For instance, a sub goal of 200 new subs is much more realistic for a streamer who averages 3K viewers than a streamer who averages 10 viewers. You don’t want to demoralize your chat if the sub goal is too high. At the same time, you don’t want to make it too low, either. You want to make sure that you get enough subs for your effort.
3. Set up alerts
Stream alerts are the onscreen notifications that appear when a viewer engages with a stream. For example, if someone donates, an alert naming the viewer and donation amount may pop up with an animated gif or cool sound effect. Alerts help you engage with your audience and make viewers feel like they’re a part of the show when their donations, follows, and subscriptions get recognized. So, viewers will feel more inclined to use their free Twitch Prime sub on you if they feel like they can get their name on the screen and get your attention. It always feels great to be acknowledged.
4. Do a subathon
Subathons, a never-ending stream that keeps adding run time based on how many subs your receive, are a go-to way for streamers to get you Twitch Prime subs. If you are interested in doing a subathon, check out our guide for it.
Remember to Prime sub
Building your following and subscriptions on Twitch can take a while — sometimes even years. However, with these tips, you will be on your way to making a living on Twitch.