This week, Stream Hatchet analyzed all of the sponsored streams containing #ad in their titles. The FCC now requires an indication of an ad within the stream title making tracking sponsored segments easier. Comparing the past few months to last year, sponsored streams have increased 79%. The substantial growth can be attributed to two major factors: the growing popularity of gaming and brands reallocating marketing budgets to live streaming.
Gaming has become a large part of pop culture over the past year as many people turned to video games for entertainment during quarantine. More viewers tuning into Twitch and YouTube Gaming was inevitable with the increased player bases. Because of this, many streamers had a much larger reach than before, dipping into various audiences. Brands obviously took notice and began to establish marketing budgets for the streamers. The result is a massive increase in the number of sponsored streams and associated viewership.
Content creators are benefitting from the sponsored streams and have become the new celebrity promotions. In years prior, athletes may have seen Michael Jordan or LeBron James on a box of Wheaties and wanted to buy it. Now, gamers see Ninja’s apparel in Walmart or TimTheTatman in Super Bowl commercials and become fans of the product. Brands understand the audiences they can reach using Twitch and YouTube Gaming; new companies venture into the space everyday. Moving forward, live streaming will likely eat up portions of marketing budgets as the industry continues to grow even bigger.
Subscribe to the Stream Hatchet newsletter for more insights delivered directly to your inbox weekly or visit our blog page.
