Many streamers host subathons as a fantastic way to engage their community and share diverse content to entertain viewers while also attracting a new audience.
Subathon stands for subscriber marathon. These marathons usually don’t have a limited duration, unless the streamers decide they want to set a limit. Most streams can last from 24 hours up to a few days.
Tips On How To Set Up Subathon
- Plan your activities in advance for the whole intended time of the subathon
- Plan the reward system for your viewers
- Set some limitations (when will the subathon finish, how long will you play, etc.)
- Start with announcements a few weeks in advance (on your Twitch channel and social media)
- Use the Subathon timer tool
- Add panels with all the information for the audience
- If you plan to stream for several days, hire mods to help you
Twitch streamers employ various strategies to engage their audience during live streams. One of the most popular methods is to extend the stream by a few seconds for each new subscriber. Other streamers complete challenges for viewers after reaching specific goals.
In this article, I will introduce you to subathons and ways to engage your audience on your Twitch channel!
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Ludwig’s Subathon
One of the most popular streamers, Ludwig Ahgren, initiated the so-called “subathon.” The concept was straightforward: to begin streaming and add 20 seconds to the remaining time for each new subscriber, with each subscription costing $5.
During the day, he streamed video games, chatted, ate, and cooked. His moderators played the games selected by his community while he slept, ensuring that the stream’s content remained consistently active.
He was popular even before this marathon trend began. An unofficial ranking tool on the Twitch network indicated that he ranked 11th on the list.
Twitch also contributed to the popularity to some extent by featuring Ludwig’s subathon on the front page.
With more than half a million new subscribers, Ahgren has taken the crown from the well-known LOL streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins. Today, Ludwig’s record-breaking stream attracted over 2.2 million subscribers and nearly 30,000 active viewers on his channel at any given moment.
As his live stream showed no signs of ever ending, he imposed restrictions. The time added to the stream was reduced from 20 seconds to 10 seconds, and he also established a limit of 31 days, regardless of what the subathon timer displays.
Inspired by his success, other streamers, including XQC, have announced plans for a 60-day sub marathon, with an investment of $50,000 for exceptional content. XQC is committed to breaking Ludwig’s record and intends to run the stream on multiple computers simultaneously.
Felix “XQC” Lengyel recently stated that he is more interested in breaking the current Twitch record than in earning money.
Set Up Subathon
To host your first live marathon, you will need to prepare adequately. The first thing you should know is the schedule of activities planned for the multi-hour marathon and how to encourage people to subscribe to your channel.
A few days in advance, try to gather as much information as possible about your viewers, including their interests, what they enjoy watching the most, and which video games they play.
If your viewers enjoy Call of Duty, a great idea is to create a comparison between Warzone and Apex Legends. This information will assist you in developing a plan of activities that will have the greatest impact.
After creating a plan of enjoyable activities, you must consider the technical details necessary for a successful Twitch subathon.
This involves planning how much you want the stream to grow with each new subscriber and determining your priority goals. Based on these goals, you will provide rewards to the viewers.
Additionally, consider the upcoming days of your personal life and whether you want to limit your streaming to avoid disrupting your daily responsibilities. Many Twitch streamers restrict their streams to 24 to 36 hours, as this is a suitable amount of time to dedicate to streaming.
If you wish to be more extreme, a well-organized approach will not pose a problem. It is essential to tailor the length of the stream to the size of your audience.
If your channel has more than 1000 viewers, you should configure it to add a few seconds for each new follower and extend the entire marathon to several days. This approach will undoubtedly bring you numerous benefits in terms of subscribers and revenue!
The most crucial step before you begin your live stream is the announcement! You can start making announcements ten days in advance to help spread the word.
Share the announcement on social media and your channel. Let all your followers know about the exciting activities they can enjoy during your multi-hour marathon, as well as any potential rewards for subscribers!
Subathon Ideas
Since Subathon became a trend among the hottest Twitch streamers, many have started to contemplate ways to engage viewers and motivate them to subscribe.
Each channel unites a distinct group of people. Therefore, it is essential to understand your specific community and their interests.
Therefore, you will create the most effective plan of ideas for activities during the streaming.
I will provide you with some general suggestions, but you can always take it a step further and tailor the program entirely to your audience.
1. Extension of Time
Adding simulation time for each new subscription is the most popular Twitch subathon idea. Extending streams enables viewers to enjoy more of the live content you share.
By doing this, you encourage new viewers to subscribe to your channel. With each new subscriber, you earn $5 and grow the community around your channel.
Popular streamers, such as Ahgren, typically add a few seconds to their stream, while less popular ones may add up to 15 minutes.
As time progresses, the Twitch stream becomes even more thrilling. You can also establish a final day limit if your live stream breaks records.
2. Gifts
One of the simplest ways to motivate viewers to subscribe is by offering rewards to new followers who assist you in reaching a specific goal. These rewards can include prizes such as bits, emotes, or other incentives.
You can also reward each new follower with a personalized stream where you answer their questions or play video games of their choice.
Consider what your audience values most and provide it to them; in return, you could significantly monetize your channel.
Expand the giveaway among your viewers’ friends, so that those who contribute the most will have the chance to win one of the main prizes.
This way, in addition to becoming your subscribers, viewers will gift their friends, who may also want to participate in the prize game!
3. Playing games
During the sub marathon, you will have plenty of time, and it is easy to run out of subathon stream ideas for activities. One effective way to keep viewers engaged is to explore different video games.
Engage with your viewers and request their suggestions on which games they would like to try. If you typically play League of Legends, it might be time to switch to Fortnite, GTA, or perhaps Pokémon.
This can also motivate new subscribers to win a prize by playing specific games with you. It is essential to engage your viewers and offer them content that interests them, so always consider this as an option during the live stream.
If you are interested in music or art, engage with your audience to discover what they would like to see and hear!
4. Unusual spicy food
An unusual activity that has gained significant popularity is eating strange or spicy food. You can choose to engage your viewers by sharing your reactions to various spicy or unusual dishes, or you could commit to eating something after reaching a specific target number of subscribers.
Viewers find it very entertaining when Twitch streamers eat hot peppers or chicken wings coated in hot sauces, so that could be one of the possibilities!
If you are in shape, you can also host a competition or challenge with your viewers, such as seeing how much spicy food they can eat without drinking milk. Get creative and surprise your new subscribers!
Additional Tips
The subathon timer is a tool that will greatly assist you with an uncapped subathon marathon timer. This timer will automatically calculate the remaining time until the end of the stream.
You can manually adjust the TwitchTracker if you wish to increase or decrease the additional time per subscriber at any point.
You can also establish final day limits and monitor both yourself and your viewers over time. To use the Evolved subathon timer settings, you must have a linked Steamlabs account.
Another excellent tip is to include panels that provide all the necessary information for the audience!
The panel should include all the essential information to motivate new viewers to join you and subscribe. Include a description of your event, along with its goals and rewards!
Establish a plan for activities in the coming hours. This way, you won’t need to respond to all the questions individually, and each new viewer on your channel will be promptly introduced to the event.
If you want to elevate your stream, set up a command to direct viewers to the panel or hire moderators to respond to viewers’ questions while you are busy!
Conclusion
These are some of the most popular activities performed during the Subathon, but you can always create new activities that are true to yourself.
Play and comment on movies and series, and try out new games. Dance for every 10 subscribers, eat something sweet or spicy for every 50, and share gifts for a hundred new subscribers.
Or simply live your life, engage with the viewers, eat, sleep, or shop on Amazon. Everything matters, right?
Now that you have all the tools for a successful sub marathon, the only thing left to do is start your live marathon!
Keep your promises, adhere to your program, and most importantly, be spontaneous with your potential subscribers! Enjoy a good rest and break records with your long stream, whether in subscribers, revenue, or duration!
Related: Sub Badges – 10 Best Free and Premium Twitch Sub Badge Makers
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ludwigs Subathon?
Ludwig Ahgren started the concept of adding 20 second stimulation time for each new sub. After 31 days of streaming, Ludwig’s record-breaking stream brought him over 273,000 new subscribers. That is why this trend exploded and was named Ludwig’s Subathon. This man played games, ate, even slept while streaming!
What is the point of a Subathon?
The point is to get more followers and make more money! If your Twitch channel has an average of 1,000 viewers, a subs marathon is a great way to turn those viewers into subs and attract new followers. If your channel has very few viewers, then it is better to wait a little longer. Most beginners misinterpret it as a way to boost their channel right away, but for the most part, they fail to do so.
What is an uncapped subathon?
It is a streaming marathon with no limited duration. Each time someone new subscribes to your channel it adds additional time to the total duration of the Twitch stream. That way the uncapped marathon can last forever, of course, until the streamer decides to limit it. Ludwig started with no limitations, but when he saw how much it exploded and that new followers were constantly adding seconds to his stream he decided to limit it to 31 days.
Did Ludwig sleep during the subathon?
Ludwig Ahgren did sleep during the 31-day streaming. In fact, 31 percent of the entire stream he spent sleeping in his famous bed in the shape of a red race car. The popularity of the stream did not decline even while he slept. On the contrary, the number of followers increased as did the maximum time until the end of the stream. He made money while he slept, and thousands of followers actively watched him all the time.
How much money did Ludwig make on his subathon?
At the beginning of Ludwig’s subathon, he had about 1.6 million followers, while at the end he had a total of 2.6 million followers and a salary of $ 983,888. He got about a million new followers thanks to his idea of Subathon. In terms of total earnings, he made $ 1.3 million from subscriptions, bits, and roles, but not everything went to him. After all the expenses, taxes, and charitable donations, we can say that he will have a million dollars left. Not bad, is it?
