Sponsorships are a huge stream of income for many video creators. Although some brands are looking for streamers with large audiences, many see the value of partnering with small streamers who have an engaged following.

Luckily, there are a variety of different types of sponsorships for small streamers, ranging from strategic product placement to affiliate marketing. There are so many options and opportunities for small streamers of every type.

Without further ado, let’s review seven types of sponsorships for small streamers.

1. Product Placement

Product placement is a major sponsorship opportunity for many small streamers. Basically, this involves showcasing or promoting a product in a stream. This can range from products that are subtly placed in the frame to blatant product promotion.

Some brands will gift small streamers products in exchange for promotion. Although this doesn’t come with a cash payment, this is a great opportunity for newer streamers to establish relationships with brands. A successful “gifted” campaign could lead to paid sponsorships down the line.

As you grow your audience, you can charge a higher rate for these sponsorships.

2. Gear Sponsors

Gear sponsors are one of the most common types of sponsorships for small streamers. This specific type of product placement sponsorship involves using and promoting branded gear. Depending on the type of streamer you are, your gear will be a little different. 

For example, if you’re a gamer, your gear could include headphones, a mouse, a keyboard, your PC, controllers, and so forth. If you’re a fitness streamer, you could land gear sponsors for your weights, yoga mats, pre-workout supplements, headbands, and more.

3. Clothing Sponsors

Just like gear sponsorships, clothing sponsorships involve streamers sporting apparel from clothing brands.

Businesses like Adidas and Nike are great examples of brands that have leveraged clothing sponsorships for advertising. While these companies typically work with more prominent public figures, smaller boutique brands are often interested in working with smaller creators like you.

4. Chat Sponsors

Another creative way to work with sponsors is by allowing them to own your chat feed on your stream. This sort of sponsorship for small streamers is comparable to a sponsored club in an arena or a sponsored lounge at a conference.

If a brand sponsors a chat, the host of the stream would encourage users to participate in the named chat. For example, Pandora has sponsored chats for most of their events. If a chat was sponsored by Ford, the host of the stream would incorporate language about the “Live Chat by Ford” when encouraging viewers to join the conversation.

5. Ad Placement

Ads are another great type of sponsorship for small streamers. Basically, this is a static or video advertisement placed on our around the video player. Typically, it is up to the sponsor to create the ad assets.

Ads can be placed as overlays, in the descriptions, in the footer, and anywhere else on your video player, channel, or website. No matter where you place the ad, you need to make sure it’s visible but doesn’t affect the user experience.

If you aren’t yet working directly with ad sponsors, partnering with an ad agency is a good place to start. Partnering with an experienced ad agency can help you get started. 

These agencies have established relationships with ad sponsors and can help match you with sponsors that are a good fit for your brand and audience. Additionally, they can provide guidance on how to create effective ads and optimize your ad placements for maximum revenue. 

6. Game Sponsors

Esports streaming is a huge industry, so many gaming companies sponsor streamers who are known for playing their games. This involves free licenses to the games, free upgrades within the game, free access to in-game currency, and so forth.

Like some of the other types of sponsorships we’ve discussed, sometimes access to these things is gifted, and other times, it is paid.

7. Affiliate Marketing

While we’re on the topic of sponsorship, it’s worth calling out affiliate marketing as a “sponsorship” opportunity for small streamers. 

If you’re not familiar, affiliate marketing is a content monetization method that involves streamers (and other types of creators) promoting a product and making commissions on the sales that are made with their unique affiliate link.

What’s nice about this type of “sponsorship” is that you don’t need much of a following to get started. There are several great affiliate tools that have very low barriers to entry. 

For example, Amazon offers an affiliate program that offers up to 10% commission on all sorts of products. Since Amazon has millions of products, there are things that streamers from every niche can promote.

While affiliate tools like the one from Amazon are valuable, affiliate partnerships that are formed directly with brands are also an option.  

Tips for Landing Sponsorships for Small Streamers

Now that you’re more familiar with the types of sponsorships for small streamers, let’s discuss some tips and techniques you can use to land sponsorships.

1. Create a Media Kit

When pitching sponsorships, it's crucial to have a media kit on hand. A media kit is a comprehensive document that provides information about your brand, audience demographics, and past collaborations in a visually appealing way. 

Your media kit should include:

• Your logo and/or headshot
• A short bio and summary of the content you create
• Metrics related to your site or channel (i.e., follower count, engagement, traffic, views, etc.)
• Information about your target audience (i.e., demographics, interests, etc.)
• Contact information
• Examples of past sponsored campaigns (if applicable)

If you don’t have a professionally designed media kit, don’t fret. You can create something presentable in Canva for free to get started. As your streaming business grows, you can invest in more professional assets.

2. Know Your Worth

As you pitch partnerships to potential sponsors, knowing your worth is important. This means that you need to charge a fee that is comparable to the value that you’ll provide.

Many people hear “know your worth” and assume that it means to charge more. In many cases, this is true. However, this also means that you should be realistic with your rates. 

If you have 1000 followers, your rates aren’t going to be anywhere close to your peers with 1M followers. Be careful not to overcharge your prospective sponsors because this can dissuade them from working with you.

By charging a fair rate, you’ll build trust with brands in your industry, which will open more doors.

3 Promote Products You Love

If you’re looking to get sponsors but haven’t gotten any bites yet, start promoting products that you’re already using and loving. This will start to build trust with your audience and let them know that you’re promoting out of passion and not just a paycheck.

Plus, tagging brands that you’re promoting for free is a great way to capture their attention and open the door for possible partnerships down the line.

Other Monetization Techniques for Small Streamers

The beauty of video businesses is that, with the right setup, they come with a plethora of monetization possibilities.

• Ticketing/PPV: Charge for access to individual titles or live streams
• Subscriptions: Charge a subscription fee for ongoing, unlimited access to your library of content and events
• Live Shopping: Sell your own products or merch during your live stream
• Tipping: Collect tips from viewers

All of these powerful monetization tools are available on Maestro.

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Stream on Maestro

Maestro offers a highly customizable streaming experience, which is great for launching sponsored brand activations. From drag-and-drop landing pages to fully customizable channels, there are so many ways to showcase your sponsors.

Plus, Maestro provides a full dashboard of revenue and viewership analytics, which is valuable to both you and your sponsors. Access to this data will strengthen your pitches to your sponsors because it will show them exactly what you have to offer.

Try Maestro risk-free for fourteen days, and see how you can showcase your sponsors!

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