How to Stream & Grow a Following on Kick

Everybody knows and loves Twitch. It’s by far the most popular live video streaming platform on the internet. You can log on and watch any number of streams from gaming to music to just chatting.

But there’s a new player in the live-streaming world: Kick. Kick came on the scene in 2022 and has been making huge waves ever since. Streamers and viewers alike are flocking to the shiny new platform in droves.

If you’re a streamer looking for an alternative to Twitch, you’re going to want to give Kick a serious look. To that end, let’s take a look at Kick, what the perks of streaming on Kick are, and how you can do it and build a following.

What Sets Kick Apart?

There are a lot of benefits that Kick puts on the table to draw in new streamers and viewers. If you’re unsatisfied with Twitch, you might be a little more keen on how Kick treats its streamers.

Limited Moderation

For starters, Kick has far less moderation than Twitch does. According to one of the top guys at Kick, there are only a few rules that creators need to follow: No pornography and no hate speech. Of course, there are more specific community guidelines on Kick, but these are the big rules to follow.

One of the key differences when it comes to moderation is Kick’s stance on gambling. Twitch has a strict “no gambling” policy — you’re not allowed to stream gambling content because the audience on Twitch contains a lot of underage viewers.

However, on Kick, there is no such ban on gambling content. You can gamble on stream to your heart’s content. This is likely because Kick was started by a company called Stake.com, which is an online casino website that deals with cryptocurrencies.

This is a big driving factor of people’s interest in Kick. If you wanted to stream gambling content but you couldn’t because of Twitch’s rules, you now have a place where you’re allowed to do that.

Much Better Payouts

Sure, fewer rules can be nice, but the biggest reason that creators are moving to Kick is because they stand to make a lot more money on Kick if they play their cards right.

Twitch will take a 50% cut of all your earnings on the platform. This money is for maintaining the platform, creating new features, helping you manage your account, etc. However, Kick will only take 5%, meaning you get to keep nearly all of the money that comes in through your account.

This is pretty much unprecedented in the streaming community. Even YouTube can’t hold a candle to this massive 95-5 number — they take 45% of your earnings. If you’re trying to make money as a streamer, this earning potential is tough to beat.

So even though a smaller audience is available on Kick, you stand to make nearly twice as much money from each subscriber than you can on Twitch.

Because of this, even a lot of big streamers are flocking to Kick. GMHikaru, Amouranth, and xQc have all made the transition and stand to make a lot of money because of it.

Why Are People Dissatisfied With Twitch?

Many creators and viewers alike have been frustrated with Twitch in recent months and years. This is largely due to the decisions that the executives have been making, which, in many peoples’ minds, are hurting the platform. Back in 2014, Twitch was acquired by Amazon, and some people feel that Twitch has lost the core of who it is since.

In 2022, after Twitch’s CEO resigned, the company laid off around 400 of its employees as part of an ongoing effort to cut costs. Then, the ban on gambling content in October of 2022 prohibited many creators from streaming the content they wanted.

But Twitch's biggest decision that frustrated creators was the move from a 70-30 revenue split on subs to a 50-50 revenue split. Prior to June 2023, it was possible for larger creators to get a special contract with Twitch allowing for a 70-30 split of revenue from subscriptions.

Twitch was no longer handing out those special contracts for a time, and all new creators will be stuck with a 50-50 subs revenue split. Creators will still make 80% from Bits and Cheers, and they can make up to 55% of ad revenue generated from their channel. But this change upset a lot of larger creators who enjoyed the bigger cut.

Twitch has since made a change to its revenue model, creating the Partner Plus program, which allows creators with 350+ subs to unlock the 70-30 split, but it’s still not as juicy as 95% of your revenue.

One other reason for the increasing dissatisfaction with Twitch is that, due to the maturity of the platform and the way the platform is constructed, it is growing more and more difficult for new streamers to find an audience. The platform is not built around streamer discovery and small streamers who are just starting out are not growing as quickly as they once were.

How to Stream on Kick

Kick is super easy to use, and if you’ve already been streaming on Twitch for some time, you’ll probably feel right at home on the platform. The interface is staggeringly similar and functions in the same way.

1. Download a Streaming Software

First things first, you have to download streaming software to help you capture video and stream it to Kick. If you’ve been streaming on Twitch already, you’ve already been using one, so you’re ready to go. But if you’re new to streaming, there are lots of options out there.

OBS, Streamlabs, and XSplit are a few of the popular ones that have free options for you to get started with the basics. Play around with them and find out which one works best for you. For this article, we’ll be using OBS.

2. Put Your Stream Key and URL into OBS

Create an account on Kick.com, log in, and head to the Settings menu on your creator dashboard. Click “Stream Key” and you’ll see your Stream URL and Stream Key listed there.

Copy these and then head to OBS. Click “File,” “Settings,” and then “Stream.” Change the service to “Custom,” paste your URL and Stream Key into the appropriate boxes, and then hit “Apply.”

3. Dial in Your Settings

This next step is going to vary depending on your setup. But the main thing to do is check your internet upload speed and make sure that your bitrate settings don’t exceed it. Kick supports up to 8,000 kbps.

If you scroll to the “Encoder Settings” section, you’ll be able to dial in your encoder settings. Choose the settings that correspond with your particular streaming setup.

4. Put in Your Title and Category

Now head to your Kick Creator Dashboard, and you’re almost ready to stream. Click “Edit Stream Info,” type in your title, and select your category. You can also select whether or not your content is for children or not.

5. Go Live!

Now you’re ready to stream. Simply head to OBS and click “Start Streaming.” Game well, engage with your chat, and have a good time. When it’s time to wrap up, click “Stop Streaming,” and you’ll be done.

How to Grow Your Following

Growing on any internet platform requires a lot of hard work and even more luck. You need a strategy, you need to be consistent, and you need to make quality content. Here are some general tips when it comes to growing your following on Kick or any streaming platform.

Stream Regularly

One of the most important things you can do as a streamer is to give your followers a rhythm. You don’t necessarily have to stream every day when you’re first starting out, but you should stream at the same time or times every week.

Make your schedule consistent so people can know when they can log on and find you. You've gained a devoted fan if you can become a part of someone’s daily or weekly rhythm.

Make Content Across Multiple Platforms

At the end of the day, becoming a successful streamer means you’re going to have to do more than just stream. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels are immensely important tools in your arsenal.

These platforms have far better algorithms than Kick or Twitch, meaning that you can get your content in front of more people. And since short-form videos are the primary form of content people consume, you’ve got to be on TikTok and Reels.

However, making those videos can be tough and time-consuming. That’s why we created Powder. Powder is an AI software that analyzes your streams, detects the biggest moments, and then automatically clips all of them so you can have short videos from your streams to use on your socials.

Powder is trained to detect kills and victories, as well as laughter and loud moments. But Powder also allows you to search - with keyword search - through your video to find the exact moment you want to save, so you can make sure you’re capturing all of the hilarious or tilting moments of your streams with ease.

Powder supports importing links from Kick to create clips automatically. All you have to do is copy and paste in the link to your latest Kick stream and let Powder AI work its magic, polishing your best moments into shareable, short-form content for you to share.

Alteratively, you could upload your VOD to Powder, and it will spit out a ton of clips ready for you to post and even make a compilation of all the best moments from your stream to post to YouTube.

Sifting through streams for clips can take hours, but Powder can do that work in seconds. If you’re trying to grow your platform through socials, there is no better tool than Powder to help you do just that.

Develop Your Brand

You can stream often and put out tons of content all day, but if the product isn’t a good one, people aren’t going to engage with it. You want to be fun, engaging, and even informative. Develop a brand that people can recognize.

You want people to remember you so that every time they come across your content, they’re more likely to engage with it. Use this engagement to drive people back to your Kick. It all starts with a memorable, unique brand.

The New Streamer in Town

Now you know everything you need to know about streaming on Kick. Kick can be a great option if you’re looking for a Twitch alternative. And who knows? If you get in early on Kick, your career as a streamer could be set up for years to come.

For more information about Powder and how you can become a better streamer, check out our resources.

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💡If you're a streamer looking to save time and money extracting highlights and creating montages from your latest streams, get access to Powder for PC (Windows) now. Powered by AI 🎮.

💡Learn more about Powder at our website or join our Discord, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn communities!