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Kip (otherwise known as kipperz) is a former basketball coach who spends his free time as a content creator, streaming family-friendly games and tech content on Twitch and YouTube.
For kipperz, Discord started as an extension of his off-platform streams and grew into a place where his community could come together for a unique experience they couldn’t get anywhere else.
“I wanted to create a place where members could be themselves, give and get support from each other, and develop character; like one of my basketball teams. So we became Team Kipperz.”
The Team Kipperz server started to grow rapidly in 2020, and it’s now the central hub where kipperz and his viewers from all over the world come together to discuss his latest streams and content. Most of the time, those conversations extend far beyond his latest video.
“I'm not sure you can create an actual community on all social platforms. You post content, people comment back and forth or have small chats during streams, but it's very different on Discord where members interact 24/7.”
Kipperz uses Discord to spread the word about a new video or livestream alert, and that’s when he sees viewer activity start to pick up. It’s an extra step for him, but the benefits are worth it.
“It is a time and energy investment. I choose to invest my time on Discord because I enjoy interacting with my community and can do so without worrying about being fully ‘in character’ – and I think members enjoy that as well.”
Kipperz focuses on creating a unique experience exclusive to Discord for his server members. He hosts seasonal events, tournaments and minigames, and will sometimes use the content created during those events for livestreams and in posted content.
“I've found that my Discord community are my most loyal supporters, but that community requires a different kind of effort to ensure it represents the values you want to be about as a content creator. For me, the effort is worth it to create long lasting community members who will help you grow and support you in the long term.”
As a creator using Server Subscriptions on Discord, kipperz’s advice for other creators is to integrate tiered benefits into what you’re already doing. Be additive to what’s working instead of replacing something.
“My server already had a VIP role with various benefits that were granted to my subscribers [on other platforms]. Since many of my members can’t attend my streams due to timezones, I wanted to give them the same opportunity to access the VIP benefits by subscribing on Discord.”
Since kipperz also encourages viewers to support his streams on other platforms by subscribing, he keeps it simple on Discord and offers one tier of subscription. One tier allows him to recognize some of his most engaged members on Discord and still feels like a special experience.
“I went with one tier because I wanted to keep it simple. I felt that keeping all of my Subscribers on the same level would make Server Subscriptions feel more premium – instead of a Tier 1 being less premium than a Tier 3.”
Kipperz isn’t a full-time content creator, so he views building his Discord server as a passion project that allows him to give back to his community.
“At the end of the day, Server Subscriptions give my members a way to support me and what I do. The benefits are nice, but the goal of our Server Subscription tier is to allow members a way to say thank you and be acknowledged as a supporter. Subscribers get recognized as VIP supporters.”
A big thank you to kipperz for sharing this wisdom with us! If you want to join Team Kipperz and support the community, you can join here and subscribe to their Server Subscription! If you are a server owner interested in turning on Server Subscriptions, you can click here to learn more.
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