How do you use chat features to increase viewer engagement and loyalty in live streaming?

1 Chat basics

Before you start using chat features, you need to understand the basics of chat etiquette and functionality. Chat is the main way for you to communicate with your viewers and vice versa. It's where you can greet them, answer their questions, thank them for their support, and create a friendly and respectful atmosphere. Chat is also where you can moderate your stream, set rules, ban trolls, and promote your sponsors. To use chat effectively, you need to have a clear chat window, a chat bot, and a chat overlay.

2 Chat bot

A chat bot is a software program that can automate certain tasks and responses in your chat. For example, a chat bot can welcome new viewers, send reminders, run polls, play games, and reward loyalty points. A chat bot can also filter spam, enforce rules, and ban users who violate them. A chat bot can help you save time, increase engagement, and customize your chat experience. Some of the most popular chat bots for live streaming are Streamlabs, Nightbot, and StreamElements.

3 Chat overlay

A chat overlay is a feature that allows you to display your chat messages on your stream screen. This can help you and your viewers see the chat without switching tabs or windows. A chat overlay can also make your stream more interactive, as you can react to the chat in real time, acknowledge donations, and highlight comments. A chat overlay can also enhance your stream aesthetics, as you can choose different fonts, colors, and animations. Some of the most common tools for chat overlay are OBS Studio, Streamlabs OBS, and XSplit.

4 Chat engagement

One of the primary objectives of using chat features is to increase your chat engagement, which is the measure of how active and involved your viewers are in your chat. This can have a positive effect on stream performance, such as watch time, retention, and discoverability. To maximize your chat engagement, use features that stimulate participation, feedback, and fun. Chat commands enable you to display social media links, play sound effects, or start a giveaway - making your chat more dynamic and entertaining. Chat polls are interactive questions that you can ask viewers to vote on - helping you get to know them better and involve them in decisions. Finally, chat games test their knowledge, challenge their skills, or reward their loyalty - creating a positive atmosphere and generating more messages.

5 Chat loyalty

Achieving chat loyalty is an important goal when using chat features. Chat loyalty can affect your stream revenue, including donations, subscriptions, and sponsorships. To increase your chat loyalty, you can use features such as chat badges, emotes, and currency. Chat badges can identify and appreciate loyal viewers, create a sense of exclusivity, and motivate others to join them. Chat emotes are custom images that reflect your personality, brand, or theme and help create a visual and emotional connection with your viewers. Chat currency can help create a loyalty program, incentivize engagement, and monetize your stream. These features can help you increase your chat loyalty and stream revenue.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?