Embark on a journey with us as we unravel underutilized advertising opportunities on Twitch and Tumblr, providing you with insights and strategies to elevate your digital advertising game. It's time to go beyond the hype and explore untapped potential in the ever-evolving landscape of online advertising.
We all thought the introduction of Threads would meet the advertising hype to compete with X (Twitter). However, since the active user decline and lack of advertising, the platform may not be the channel to reach new audiences right now.
So where’s the hype?
Until Threads can integrate with Meta’s Ad Manager (fingers crossed), there are a plethora of potential platforms to consider that boast +100 million active users that may not yet be apart of your media mix. Let’s take a deeper look at the advertising and audience landscapes of Twitch and Tumblr.
Twitch: The Video-First Community
Twitch is a video streaming service owned by Amazon, largely populated by the gaming community. Fortunately, there are other niche communities that can fall into the industries of sports, art, music, and more.
Ad placements available on Twitch include:
- Headliner, aka Twitch’s “most prominent ad”: The unit includes two ad units, one on the Twitch desktop homepage and the other on the Twitch mobile app default landing page. This ad is great for brand awareness and reach.
- Homepage Carousel: This ad is only one slot of the total carousel, where advertisers can partner with streamers to promote their channel and therefore your ad.
- Medium Rectangle: This placement will be on an explore page as users look through live channels. It’s “not expandable and does not support video, however animated assets (GIFs) are supported.”
- Stream Display: Similar to the homepage, advertisers can utilize display ads around a specific live channel.
- Streamables: According to Twitch, “The viewer opts into a full-screen ad experience while on a Twitch Partnered mobile game. Once they are opted in, the viewer will watch :30s of an unskippable live stream. They can then continue watching the stream on Twitch or continue on their original app.” Definitely for the gaming industry.
- Super Leaderboard: Similar to “medium rectangle”, this is a larger placement at the top and across the explore page.
- Premium Video: Almost like a television commercial, viewers will watch 30 seconds of an unskippable ad.
[TIP] Repurpose YouTube, Television, or search display creatives. Then match it up with Twitch’s specs and guidelines if you need additional information such as copy.
Influencers Ripe for the Marketing Pluck
As of 2022, Twitch has reported 35 million daily visitors and 7 million unique monthly streamers, all aged 18-34 across 35 languages. This means there are a lot of “mini-communities” with a lot of loyal audiences.
Just like TikTok, Twitch carries influencers that brands partner with to reach their following audience. In fact, audiences support advertisers if it means their beloved streamer is supported, which in turn creates more content for them. As the platform reports, “76% appreciate brands that help their favorite streamers achieve success.”
It’s a win-win-win for the advertiser, creator, and viewer. So take advantage of the platform by optimizing influencers, and go straight to the high-intended customers.
[TIP] New to influencer marketing? Here’s what to consider when getting started and the kinds of influencers there are.
Tumblr: The Blog-First Community
Similar to Twitch, with plenty of niche communities, but without as many videos. Tumblr originally began as an ad-free, microblogging platform for users to discuss and collaborate on interests and content. Yahoo acquired the site in 2013 and started the opportunity for brands to advertise, while controversially enforcing moderated content.
It’s great that Tumblr introduced advertising, but they’re still sensitive about who comes through the door. To maintain a relationship with its native users, marketers must request advertising access to learn more about placement options and targeting.
In another step to strengthen user relationships, Tumblr announced the “Creatr Network” last year. This program partners platform artists to brands, making a creative agency. Advertisers will be able to work with these artists to create original, native ads that users will be more likely to engage with.
[TIP] According to the Creatr network page, artist experience ranges from 3D, animation, illustrations, and more.
Gen-Z's Underrated Source of Awareness
Remember when I mentioned the “Tumblr scandal of 2013”? Well, the decision to moderate “explicit” content upset millennial users, causing a mass exodus. On the other hand, this became a great opportunity for advertisers to display in a safe space.
Since then, Gen-Z has claimed 48% of active users and 67% of new users. In the young generation’s newly claimed habitat, the goal is to share creative ideas and obsess over content.
Advertisers will have plenty of opportunities to promote their ads adjacent to these blogs, a great way to optimize brand awareness. Some placements are treated like posts themselves, of course with the caveat that the platform labels the ad as such. See below for example:
Tumblr & Twitch: New Creative Opportunities
Like Reddit, both Tumblr and Twitch have native “languages” that connect communities together. The challenge for advertisers will be tapping into these custom audiences through copy and assets. For Tumblr, it may be finding the right tags. For Twitch, it may be creating custom emojis for chat. But that’s what social marketing experts are for.
New Ways to Reach your Audience in the New Year
Twitch and Tumblr, with their distinctive communities, provide advertisers with rich opportunities to connect with audiences in innovative ways. The future of advertising lies not only in the platforms with the loudest hype but in the strategic exploration of those with untapped potential. So, go beyond the expected, embrace the unique, and elevate your digital advertising game in this ever-evolving landscape.
