Maybe you've just started streaming, or perhaps you haven't started yet because you can't decide what your niche is. You've probably heard the advice already that you need to find a niche, essentially something you'd be doing for the bulk of your career. Others may tell you to diversify your content. While both sides have great points, something that works for one person may not work for them all. To help you choose the best path for yourself, we've compiled all the pros and cons of niche vs. variety streaming. But first things first, what's the difference between the two?
Variety streaming means you stream content across many different, unrelated categories. You may, for example, go from playing horror games to discussing politics to laughing at memes with chat. With niche streaming, it's about picking a category or topic and sticking to it. An example of this would be if you only streamed Minecraft content. Now that you know what each type of streaming is, let's get into the pros and cons, starting with variety streaming.
Variety Streaming
Pros
There is a wealth of content available to you because you are not locked down to a specific type of content.
Viewers will always be kept on their toes since they wouldn't really know what to expect next. This could lead to a lot of surprises for your viewers!
It's harder to get bored from creating the content since there is always something new readily available for you to try so long as you have the time, ability, or funds.
Casts a wide net to attract many different viewers who may be interested in different things to your channel.
Your personality is the thing that drives the channel, giving you free rein on your content so long as you stay consistent with yourself!
Cons
Drives away viewers who like only one type of content or a specific category.
Not knowing what to expect can be a turn-off for some viewers, since they lose the sense of comfort that predictability brings.
Can be overwhelming to constantly have to find new and engaging content.
Niche Streaming
Pros
Viewers will know exactly what your brand is and what the content will be after attending one stream.
It's easy to become a place of comfort since the content is consistent, and they would know what to expect.
It's easier on you as the streamer since you don't have to try to find something your viewers would like, they already like what you do!
The viewers are more likely going to start showing up for you and your personality than the actual content since it's so consistent and comfortable, though it would take a bit longer for that to click in with people.
There is still a level of variety available if you create content out of a specific genre.
Cons
Some viewers may become fatigued from seeing the same content or type of content.
Harder to make the content new and interesting, so you're more than likely going to have to come up with out-of-the-box ideas for that content.
Risk of losing viewers if you decide to change the theme or content you create.
As you can see there are a bunch of different ways to go about curating your content to your channel, and ultimately what you decide to do is up to you. But take those pros and cons into consideration. To help you out, here are two examples based on the different types of streamers you could fall into.
The Gamer
As a variety gamer, you can play multiple games during a stream across multiple different genres. You could go from a dark horror game to a battle royale to just kicking it with your chat. You must remember you will always risk alienating a part of your viewers, so your viewership will flux frequently, especially when you're just starting out.
But as a niche gamer, you'd likely pick a genre, which is recommended over only ever playing one game. So for example, if you are into simulation games, that's your niche! You could play different simulation games with the same overall tone without completely alienating your audience. You need to be careful though, because you still need to stay mostly in the same type of game. The Sims and Stardew Valley are both simulation games, but the audience can be very different at the same time. On the other hand, Stardew Valley and Story of Seasons are very similar, so those audiences will overlap better. Maybe you still want variety in your games but you only play indie pixel games. That's your niche!
This Chit Chatter
Maybe games aren't really your thing and you rather just talk to people. That's great, but you still need to figure out what your topics are going to be. A variety streamer will chat about any topic under the sun. It's very easy to stay engaged in the conversation when you can change the topic to whatever vibes you have at that moment.
However, a niche streamer would discuss topics based of very similar topics. For example, you could be a true crime streamer, and you can even get more niche than that. You could focus on a very specific type of crime, such as bringing awareness to crimes against marginalized or queer people. Or you can talk about all things pop culture, tabloid style.
These are two of the most prominent categories of streamers on major streaming platforms, and it's a fast way for you to get an idea of exactly the difference between the two types of content. Do remember, picking a niche does not mean you are tied down to only one thing. Find the stuff that you enjoy and figured out how to broaden your niche enough to fit more content into it. On the same token, being a variety streamer doesn't mean you can't lock down your content to something consistent and methodical. At the end of the day, the most important part is finding something you enjoy or find interesting, because if you love what you do, so will the rest of us.
Credits:
Images by DCStudio on Freepik
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