Find brand sponsors for your streams

6 steps to find brand sponsors for your streams

It’s no surprise that brands are reallocating their budgets from traditional media to content creators, influencers, and streamers. In a world where they compete for time and attention, brands struggle to be heard in a world full of noise. This is where content creators and streamers come in: they create content that resonates with their followers and know what their audience wants, which makes them highly enticing to brands.

So, instead of spending their whole budget on campaigns that may result in little to no engagement, brands nowadays prefer to branch out their time and resources and allocate part of their budget to content creators/streamers who have built an audience that trusts and follows their opinions.

What if you are a small Content Creator?

Basically, even if you’re a small content creator, there are plenty of opportunities as brands are always looking to promote their products and for viewers that will engage with them. If you’re into numbers, you’d be happy to know the Global Live Streaming Market is projected to reach USD 534.37 Billion by 2030, growing continually at 29.3% CAGR throughout the forecast period.

To help you in this quest, we have put together a list of steps that will increase your chances of success. Read the list, follow the steps and get ready to skyrocket your streams to all new heights!

Let’s begin with the basics: What is sponsorship?

In a nutshell, sponsorship is a mutually beneficial relationship between you and a company. This relationship is not one-sided; it’s a partnership to help each other grow. You will support the company in achieving their goals and get retribution in return. This retribution can range from getting money, free products, exclusive content, among others.

If you want to know how to find a sponsor, keep reading to learn everything you need to know:

1. Groom your channel: Quality matters

Brand your channel

Avoid having a collage of icons and banners with different styles or colors, as they can easily put off brands. Make sure you’re taking good care of your channel and its overall look and feel. Hence, ensure your cover and profile picture are high-quality, perfectly optimized for display, and represent everything you are as a streamer: who you are, what are your intentions, as well as the content viewers can expect. In a word, a cohesive, organized, and branded design will allow you to guide your viewers/followers through your channel quickly and will show brands that you have an established identity.

Content is essential

The content you stream is essential. While having a large follower base can give you extra points, it’s not the only determining factor in getting sponsorships. Brands are also looking for streamers who can create consistent and engaging professional-quality content, and achieving to deliver it could be what breaks the tide between getting sponsorship and not.

Understand your audience

Before you can deliver a successful streaming session, you need to know who you’re delivering it to and why, it’s really important you develop a sense of empathy for the people you’re talking to.

Keep your audience engaged

Being able to engage your audience is a challenging task. The more visual and interactive, the better! Check out your favorite streamers on your favorite streaming platform, twitch or ection.io, and how they constantly interact with their followers.

Be yourself!

Every streamer is unique and so are you. The truth is that each of us has a unique personality and it shows in the way we express ourselves and communicate with others. Be faithful to your style. Authenticity will help you connect with your audience.

Be consistent

Growth and consistency go side by side. Don’t give up! Plan your content, work towards generating consistent streams your audience will love and your efforts will sooner or later pay off.

Nurture your fan base

Be there for your followers, reply as much as you can, engage with them. It will help you build bonds over time.

2. Craft your Media Kit

Having a media kit is a must. We suggest you create a professional-quality presentation that includes the most important metrics of your channel:

Most valuable thing you can offer

Most valuable thing you can offer: This includes metrics on both your streams and your social media channels.

Number of followers

Specify the amount of followers on each of your social media channels.

Overview of your audience

size, age, gender, location, and the type of content they engage with most.

Average Viewerships

This statistic, together with your Audience Growth, is a testament to your popularity over time.

Common interests

This section will require you to know your audience as it should contain information on all your followers’ interests. The more broad the topics you can cover, the better!

Case studies (if applicable)

If you have run campaigns in the past, share the good results! The credibility you convey, will lead to trust.

3. Identify and investigate your potential sponsors

Before reaching out to brands, be sure you know who they are and what they are offering.

If you want to run the extra mile, we recommend you interact with your brand’s content for a few weeks. Pitch to brands you love! Remember, brands seek to work with streamers who are genuinely excited about the product. It’s very easy to spot when someone is just doing it for the cash.

So, do your homework, research and pitch only to those brands that are aligned with you, your audience and that you will promote with authenticity!

However, if you find yourself struggling, there are companies like Nexoom who are made to connect brands, creators and viewers. Perhaps it is something you should consider if you’re serious about getting a streamer sponsorship.

4. Networking

Do not underestimate the power of word-of-mouth and networking.

Craft a list of potential brands and personal contacts and ask around! Let everyone know you’re looking for a sponsor. You never know, someone may be one Whatsapp away from your brand-match.

5. Tailor your communication

Make it personal.

We know it’s very tempting to write a pitch template and send it to every brand you’re interested in, but we suggest you refrain from doing it. The more personal, the more you show why you’re interested in a brand in particular, and how you both can benefit from a partnership, the more chances you’ll have to start a conversation.

Let brands know how your partnership will look like. If you have planned a campaign that you think would work great for them, by all means, let them know!

6. Invest time and do not give up

Behind every yes, there might be several noes!

While knocking on doors and getting a no for an answer can feel frustrating, we’re here to tell you not to give up! And most importantly, don’t take it personally; there are many reasons why a brand may not be interested in sponsoring you at a particular moment, and none of them may have to do with you not being a great creator. Keep on trying, remember good things happen to those who ~~wait~~ work really hard, and, eventually, you’ll see the fruit of your hard work!

Extra tips (Because you’re worth it)

Know your worth, do not sell yourself short and always read your contract carefully!

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