Effective Strategies for Creators Running Ads on Their Channel

Through our research, we’ve identified several successful strategies for creators looking to optimize ad placement on their channels. These strategies can help enhance your viewers’ experience while maximizing ad revenue.

1. Inform Your Community about Upcoming Ad Breaks: When creators or moderators manually run ads, it’s essential to communicate with your viewers when an ad break is about to start. For those using automated ad tools, it’s a best practice to display information on your page regarding the frequency and duration of ad breaks. This transparency keeps your audience engaged and aware.
2. Avoid Front-Loading or Back-Loading Ads: Front-loading ads (running them all at the start) may result in lower viewership, as your audience is still joining the stream. Back-loading ads (playing them all at the end) can also lead to reduced revenue, as viewers tend to drop off toward the end of a broadcast. Distributing ads evenly throughout your stream is more effective.
3. Start with 1-Minute Ads per Hour: Begin by incorporating one minute of ads per hour, such as inserting short breaks between game sessions. Gradually increasing this to the targeted 3 minutes per hour can help your community adjust to ad breaks without disruption.
4. Utilize Multiple, Shorter Ad Breaks: As you become more comfortable with ad placement, consider running multiple 1-2 minute ad breaks per hour instead of one extended ad session. This approach minimizes viewer intrusion.
5. Delegate or Automate Ad Breaks: Running ads consistently while focusing on creating live content can be challenging. Tools like Nightbot or Moobot can help automate ad placement. If you have reliable moderators, delegate ad running to your moderation team.
6. Space Out Ad Breaks: To ensure a positive viewer experience, avoid running ad breaks too close to each other. It’s best to wait at least 15 minutes between ad breaks, as this not only enhances the viewer experience but also allows you to reach your desired ads per hour.

Ad Placement

The choice to run mid-roll ads is at your discretion as the channel owner. Keep in mind that not all viewers will see these ads, as ad fulfillment varies by user location and availability. You can consider offering ad-free viewing as a subscriber benefit, as many Twitch users expect this perk. It’s important to clarify with your community whether ad-free viewing is available to subscribers on your channel.

Concerned that viewers will miss out on your content during ad breaks? If you’re streaming in a gaming category, viewers can still watch your stream using Picture-by-Picture, even during an ad. For more information on this feature and other ad options, [click here](link to Picture-by-Picture and new ad features).

Earning Money Through Ads

Partners and Affiliates, regardless of their audience size, can earn money by running ads. As your viewership increases, your ad revenue will also grow.

Ad breaks can range from 30 seconds to three minutes, and your earnings depend on how many viewers see the ads. Running multiple shorter ad breaks throughout your stream, rather than clustering them at the start or end, maximizes your earnings, as viewership tends to peak in the middle of your broadcast.

If you’re ready to run an ad, you can access your creator dashboard and start one by clicking the button below.