How Long Does it Take to Get Affiliate Twitch (3 Ways to Get it Fast!)

Twitch is no doubt the biggest streaming platform out there. Streaming is the core content form on Twitch and it has been built keeping streamers in mind. For that reason, Twitch has 2 built-in monetization programs. You can make income from streaming by becoming a Twitch Affiliate or Twitch Partner.

For joining the Twitch Affiliate Program, you need to cross clear milestones in 30 days. You will then get invited to join the program. It will require you to fill up basic, general info, your tax info, and payment details to get started.

Sounds fairly simple right?

In this article, we go through the Twitch Affiliate process step by step and arrive at how long does it take to get Affiliate Twitch. With Bonus Content to get it fast!

So, let’s get started, with the most burning question –

How Long Does it Take to Get Affiliate Twitch

It can take as little as 7 days, and as long as even a couple of years to become a Twitch Affiliate. The average time it takes a streamer to achieve the Affiliate status is 2-4 months. Even if your target is 7 days to become a Twitch Affiliate, it will need prep work of at least 2 months.

All you need to do to get there fast is focus on 3 things in a pre-planned way:

  • Community Building, viewer acquisition and retention
  • Content type and quality
  • Consistency

If you’re thinking of using hacks for becoming a Twitch Affiliate, it might not be a great strategy. After achieving this coveted status, you would aim to make a living from streaming, right? Real money will only come in if you have strong content and invest in community building.

Let’s break down the minimum requirements to achieve Affiliate status. We’ll then use that to arrive at how much time it would take to achieve the Affiliate milestone.

Twitch Affiliate Requirements

To join the Affiliate Program, you should have:

  1. Streamed on 7 different broadcast days in the last 30 days
  2. Streamed for at least 8.33 hours or 500 total minutes in the last 30 days
  3. At least 50 followers
  4. At least 3 or more concurrent average viewers over the last 30 days

These criteria may change at any point in time. You can check out this post by Twitch for the latest updates.

In essence, you can crack the Twitch Affiliate requirements in a total of 7 days. Just stream consistently for each of the 7 days for a total of 8.33 hours. Also, line up 50 followers before you even start, with at least 3 or more concurrent viewers on average.

The first two requirements are still easy to do, being in your control. But the last two will take extra effort and some planning in advance if you want to go about this the right way.

An important thing to note is even if you crack the requirements in 7 days, the 30-day period rule will still hold. You will have to stay consistent till the time you receive the invite.

This brings us to the next part of the article –

Affiliate Onboarding Process

Done with all possible efforts consistently for 7 days to become eligible? The next question you may have is:

How long does it take for Twitch to activate the Affiliate Onboarding Process?

The answer is it can anything between a few minutes to a few days for Twitch. They will send you an Affiliate invitation over mail and a notification will pop up on Twitch. The catch is you will have to be consistent across the period it takes for that to happen.

According to this article by Twitch, within a few weeks of your channel becoming eligible, you will be invited to become a Twitch Affiliate.

Once you have the invite and have clicked on “Get Started”, you’ll be taken to the Preferences tab of your Creator Dashboard.

After that, the application process captured below will take 10-15 minutes. You just need to have all your Tax information ready with you.

Twitch Affiliate Application Steps
Source: Twitch

After this, within a few minutes, you should be able to see the bits icon in the chat section of your channel. It should be an instantaneous activation. If not, try changing your browsers or contacting the Twitch team to check-in.

How to Get Twitch Affiliate Fast

3 Simple Ways to Plan and Achieve Twitch Affiliate Status in 7 Days

There can be a huge list of things you can do to build steam and kick off your streaming journey with a frenzy to hit that Affiliate milestone in 7 days.

But at the core of it, all you have to do is focus on 3 important aspects. This will help build a strong base for your streaming career right at the start.

  1. Twitch Community Building, Viewer Acquisition, and Retention

This is definitely the most major step to building up your stream for success since day 1. Now more than ever, with the power of social media and networking tools at your disposal, this can be a fun precursor to starting your channel.

A good strategy before you start streaming on Twitch would be to start networking. Approach people on Twitter or Reddit from a month before. Bounce off your unique style and content type to potential viewers. Get them excited and create hype before you even start. Also, network with fellow gamer friends and make awesome streamer friends while you’re putting yourself out there.

Your community is the single biggest asset you are building on Twitch. While you will be bringing unique and interesting content to the table, the community is something you would exclusively build on Twitch. Your focus should be on building that community with viewers with common interests. They will then come back every day you stream. Keep this in mind, as you hustle to build that initial support.

Following your channel launch, be sure to build an amazing Discord community or Twitter following. Your community can then engage with you, and keep in touch with you always. They can also connect with fellow community members outside of your Twitch streams.

  1. Stream Content-Type and Quality

You may be a gamer or an artist (or even both). Whatever you decide to stream, keep content type and quality at the heart of it.

As you start your hustle to gain subscribers and viewers, they would want to know who you are and what you would be streaming about. This, therefore, makes it the first step, even before you start building your community.

The ideal time to begin this prep work would be 2 months before you start to stream. This will allow you 1 month in between to refine that content as you network with potential viewers and fellow streamers.

Suppose you are an avid gamer out to target the gaming community, here are the steps you can follow:

  1. As a first step, try to identify your content type and strategy, based on the best time to stream on Twitch. Things can get very dynamic on Twitch though. So keep a lookout on TwitchTracker till the time you begin streaming. Ensure your slot works out to suit your stream content type.
  2. Next, be smart about the quality of the stream, so your viewers can appreciate the effort you’ve put in. But at the same time, there’s no need to go overboard at this stage. A decent stream quality can work great for someone just starting.
  3. Lastly, think over your stream titles. Make them attractive for new viewers, so you can gain some organic traffic on Twitch as well.

These steps should help you strap into your content type and quality.

  1. Streaming Consistency

Active users who can be your potential viewers will appreciate a consistent streaming schedule.

So while you hustle up to put up a successful stream for the initial 7 days, don’t forget the days that follow ahead. Have a consistent streaming schedule so your viewers keep coming back. This will help you maintain and grow the average viewership even after you’ve achieved Affiliate status.

Set up and promote your Twitch schedule on Twitch and other channels like YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter for sustained success.

In Conclusion

Planning to be serious about Twitch and making streaming your full-time career? Income from streaming is the first step in that direction. That’s where Twitch Affiliate comes in.

Becoming a Twitch Affiliate will need 2-3 months of work.

But don’t worry. If you build a strong base, in no time, you should be on your way to becoming a big-time gamer or artist and Twitch Partner. And from then on, dollar dollar bills y’all!

So strap in, as you follow the guide above.

For ideas to make your stream fun and engaging, check out this guide I’ve created with 100 fun stream ideas to turbocharge your stream.