Super Chat is a fantastic way to directly interact with your audience and nurture long-standing relationships. Super Chats are comments that are pinned and highlighted in your live stream chat. Your audience can send you a Super Chat by paying any amount that they wish. The more money your audience puts into a Super Chat, the more airtime it gets in your comment section.
Some YouTubers have earned thousands of dollars through Super Chat. Typical Gamer, earned upto $4,000 through Super Chat donations during a 90-minute Grand Theft Auto V broadcast. Super Chat is a great strategy to get your audience to keep returning to your channel consistently, with the hope that they can directly interact with you.
To enable Super Chat, you need to have over 1000 subscribers on your YouTube channel and have monetization enabled. Check out our previous blog post How To Make Money On YouTube With Ads (insert hyperlink) that will take you step-by-step through the monetisation set-up process. Once you’re done with the setup, head over to Creator Studio > Status and Features > Enable Super Chat.
When you enable Super Chat, YouTube will prompt you to enter basic details like your name, email, title, company name and phone number. And walla, your Super Chat will be up and running in no time. After you finish setting up Super Chat, head over to your livestream video. You should see a dollar sign on your chat box to the right hand side of your screen. The dollar sign confirms that your Super Chat is enabled. Well done!
Now that you know how to set-up Super Chat, let’s dive into specifics. Here are a few Super Chat best practises that will get your channel more revenue:
- Introduce the Super Chat feature at the beginning of your live stream videos
Super Chat is a relatively new feature that’s integrated into YouTube live. Many people are unaware of its existence. Take a few seconds to explain how the Super Chat system works and encourage your audience to participate. You can start by saying: “Hey guys, I’m using this amazing new feature called Super Chat in this video. If you want to support my channel, consider shooting me a Super Chat.”
- Always acknowledge a Super Chat in your livestream
When someone send you a Super Chat, make sure you thank them and respond to the chat personally. Shout out to everyone else that this is what a Super Chat looks like. You can say “Thanks so much for sending me a Super Chat Jane. You’re awesome! Guys, this is what a Super Chat looks like.”
When one fan sends a Super Chat, others catch on and follow suit. So your fans get their message highlighted for everyone to see, plus they get your attention as well!
- Use calls to action
Your live stream could go on for a long duration, and you’ll have people popping in at different intervals. People who visit your stream later on should know that you have Super Chat enabled. You can achieve this by placing text in a corner of your video that reads: “Talk to me directly by sending me a Super Chat. Check description below for more deets.” You can explain in depth about how Super Chat works in your description.
- Set Super Chat challenges and goals
Set a Super Chat goal so that when you hit a certain number of Super Chats, you can do something fun and creative for your audience to look forward to. For example, every time you receive a Super Chat, you can reveal secrets about yourself or write the donor’s name on a wall of fame. This gives an exciting incentive for people to contribute.
- Collaborate with a not-for-profit
Check whether Super Chat for Good is available in your country. If it is, enable it and select a charity you want to support. 100% of the funds raised in your livestream will automatically be routed to the charity you’ve chosen. Partnering with a nonprofit is an ideal way to give back to the community and play your part as a corporate citizen. You can build trust, respect and positivity in your community by engaging in corporate citizenship activities.
- Moderate your Super Chat
YouTube’s live chat moderation tools let you automate your livestream to filter out spam and unwanted messages. You can use YouTube’s moderation system to can add words that you want to block. This will filter out inappropriate messages from your stream. Alternatively, you can also delegate other people you trust to manage your chats for you. This system is designed to save you heaps of valuable time and streamline your chats to give you a hassle-free Super Chat experience.
- Tell viewers how Super Chat will help fund your projects
Be as honest as you can about how exactly you intend to use your donors’ money in funding your channel. The more you dive into details, the easier it is for people to trust you. Instead of saying you’re using your donors’ money to make new videos, tell them which video in specific you’re going to be using their money on, what equipment you will be buying and why you will not be able to buy it yourself. Weave a storyline that lets people empathise with you and trust your intentions.
Super Chat is an invaluable tool in getting revenue for your YouTube channel. All you have to do is believe in yourself and your content. Once you garner your audience’s trust, your supporters will go out of their way to help turn your dreams into reality.
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