Based on anonymized streamer’s report.
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One of the things we see all the time are weak openings. In fact, we see them so often that we wondered if we should remove openings from our grading criteria altogether.
That is, until we found Ellen. This streamer had the best opening performance we had seen! In fact, their opening was so good that there was even a 12-month Tier 3 sub before she was even on camera! What she did different than most was have an opening ritual. What is an opening ritual? What makes them effective? And should you have one?
An opening ritual is a series of triggers that engage the community as they wait for the stream to start. Ellen’s opening screen was not a common ‘Starting Soon’. There was a high-quality animation that was credited to an artist, and emotes and memes were triggered by certain events, such as watch streaks, viewer commands or redemptions.
The most important trigger in the ritual was the “Donut tax”. Each time a viewer checked in (including mods) the streamer’s account would thank them for paying their Donut Tax. Viewers also got a tally for how many times they’ve visited the stream. Users could also pay Donut Tax by redeeming channel points.
Ellen’s stream was warmed up by the time she got on cam. The community was invested and entertained before she ever spoke a word. Ellen’s opening ritual was effective because it rewarded presence, engagement, consistency, and gave viewers several ways to signal to others that they were long standing members of her community. Several of her viewers were redeeming well over their hundredth Donut, which implies continued viewership. She also closed the loop by making sure to shout out each community member that checked in, hit a milestone, subbed, and commented on their emotes.
No doubt, Ellen ‘s opening ritual was extremely successful and complex. But we can guarantee you it wasn’t built in a day. Should you implement an opening ritual? Some would say wait until you have more viewers, but here at Streamhalla we think that anything that can convert a one-time viewer into a regular should be done. Basic forms of opening rituals could be encouraging users to post a specific emoji, keeping track of streaks no matter how small, and of course closing the loop by thank people. Opening rituals can convert what is generally dead space into a community affirming event. Over time you might be the streamer that gets 12-month subs while off cam.
Here at Streamhalla, we study what works and share it with you to help you grow and retain viewers.