🔴 3 Lessons From Kai Cenat

Plus stream from OBS to TikTok, YouTube thumb testing and more!

Author

Harry Blanchflower
July 02, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Issue #52

Hey, it’s Harry.

Welcome back to another week of the streaming and content journey.

I took a few weeks off from sending this newsletter to recharge the batteries. Anyway, I’m back. Let’s dive in!

📰 In Today’s Edition

  • 📈 What can we learn from Kai Cenat’s record-breaking stream?

  • 🔴 Stream from OBS to TikTok LIVE

  • 🎬 YouTube rolls out thumbnail testing

  • 🟣 TwitchCon recap

🟣 Kai Cenat Breaks Twitch Records

Last month, Kai Cenat broke Ninja’s previous viewership record for a North American streamer. His livestream with Kevin Hart and others peaked at over 700K viewers.

Most of us can’t pull Hollywood stars into our stream but there are still lessons to be learned.

Three Things

  1. Event-based streams

    What does this mean? It means planning your content at least to some degree. And then in the days before this stream, hype it up.

    A common example for Fortnite streamers would be to hype up a custom match at a specific time.

  2. Collaboration

    Find like-minded people and ask if they want to stream with you. For Kai, that meant Kevin Hart. For the rest of us, it’s probably just a fellow streamer or creator.😂

  3. Originality

    As Colin and Samir pointed out above, Kai did all this from his bedroom! So whatever you’re doing, find a way to stand out. Kai came prepared with quite a few different props and outfits!

🎬 Weekly Video

OBS remains the most resource-efficient piece of broadcasting software out there.

Below is my latest OBS tutorial for TikTok LIVE, incorporating the latest best practices and plugins for a professional 2024 livestream.

🔴 YouTube Rolls Out Thumbnail Testing

YouTube has rolled out its new Test and Compare feature to all creators. Here’s everything you need to know.

What is it?

Test and Compare is a tool inside YouTube Studio that allows you to test two or three thumbnails on a video and find which one generates the most watch time on a video.

Why watch time and not click-through rate? YouTube wants to discourage clickbait. Also, the watch time is zero if viewers don’t click so CTR is part of the watch time.

Tips for using it

If you think your video will get tens or hundreds of views, then test two thumbs. Otherwise, test three. I’ve found you don’t get enough data if testing three on a smaller channel.

Start by testing contrasting ideas, with large changes in design. Once that test is complete you can narrow it down and test small things on your thumb such as text, icons etc.

📜 Post Of The Week

Do not sleep on YouTube Shorts livestreaming. This creator got 4x their regular views!

Here is my YouTube Shorts streaming OBS guide.

🎯 Bullet Point News

DrDisrespect has been cut from his game studio and demonetised by YouTube following his admission that he inappropriately messaged a minor. This was revealed to be the reason for his 2020 Twitch ban.

  • TwitchCon was last weekend. Announcements included physical awards for reaching watch hour milestones and a feature that looks similar to TikTok gifts. Zach Bussey has summarised everything here.

  • Twitter/X makes likes private. A post’s author can still see who liked its posts.

  • Twitter/X is also going to lock livestreaming behind the premium tier.

  • TikFinity’s Minecraft integration continues to be popular, allowing viewers to control your Minecraft game. Here’s my latest guide.

  • Kick is working on an anti-viewbot tool.

  • TikTok appears to be rolling out co-host and LIVE Match to all LIVE Studio users.

👋 Thanks for reading!

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