May 2022 – Pococha Blog

~ Interview with an S Rank Broadcaster ~

Hello from the Pococha Team!

In recent months, we’ve heard that broadcasters are most interested in learning how to gain more fans and increase their Rank. In order to answer these questions, we’ve created this second installment of the POCO PROS Project!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our first POCO PROS article, which contains two top tips for ranking up!

Read the first POCO PROS article here!

POCO PROS articles share knowledge from top broadcasters around the world that can serve as tips and tricks for broadcaster.

If you find yourself thinking things like:

“I want to increase my Rank!”
“I want to capture more new viewers!”
“I want to make my life more fulfilling!”

Or if you are interested in learning:

Methods to build trust with your viewers in order to rank up
Techniques to encourage viewers to use Items
Tips on how to share your thoughts and dreams

Then congratulations! This article is for you!

Want to see more articles like this?

Please take the survey above once you’ve finished reading! It’d be a great help for our research as we continue creating more content you’ll love! 📝

Pococha Team: Today we’ll be speaking with Saayan, an S-Rank broadcaster from Japan!

Thank you so much to Saayan for sharing her lovely thoughts and insider tips with us today! Now, let’s dive into the interview…

Pococha Team: Welcome, Saayan! So, you’ve been a top broadcaster for quite some time now. What has changed for you since joining the top Ranks?

Saayan:

So much has changed for me! To start, I currently make five times the amount I did when I worked in the apparel industry. This year, for my mom’s 60th birthday, I was able to buy her an extravagant ring as a surprise! I was over the moon, and so was she. Before Pococha, I had to save my money to pay off my student loans, so I never had enough to buy my mom a decent present. After broadcasting for two years, nothing has made me happier than finally being able to buy my mom presents.

As an adult, I believe we often limit ourselves when thinking about our dreams for the future. But the possibilities are endless with broadcasting. There are infinite ways to approach our supporters. We can’t predict whether viewers will give us their support or how they will react, but that’s what makes broadcasting in real time so thrilling. These moments lead to excitement for myself and the viewers, and I think that’s what has led to me making broadcasting into a career.

It feels as if my viewers’ support at my back propels me forward towards my goals. You aren’t fighting alone while ranking up, but instead moving forward together with everyone. I believe their encouragement gives me the power to succeed and surpass even my own expectations.

Also, through my viewers, I discovered special skills that I never knew I had. Take drawing, for example. After my viewers encouraged me to draw, it became really fun for me, and now it’s a hobby of mine! My drawings are now a popular gift for my Core Fans.

It was the same with singing. My friend once told me, “Saayan, you’re so good at singing! You should become a singer!” At the time, I thought it was impossible for me, so I quickly shot it down. However, with the support of my viewers, I was a prize recipient for a Pococha event and went on to sing and write songs. They’re not officially released songs, but they’re special songs that helped me win the event, and they’re special to me because they were made together with my viewers.

In a sense, I became the idol I had always longed to be through Pococha!

Since becoming a high Rank broadcaster, I’ve learned that everyone wants a chance to be in the spotlight. With broadcasting, you’ll be able to feel like you are, and you can share that spotlight with your viewers as well. Your self-confidence will sky rocket as you tap into your own potential and bring out your hidden talents. You have the ability to become someone special. I love it!

Pococha Team: You mentioned limiting yourself, but did things change for you after you started broadcasting?

Saayan:

Before I started broadcasting, I wasn’t very confident in myself. I was the type to compare myself to others and easily become jealous. Even so, I didn’t have the financial or mental capacity to become the person I wanted to be. Plus, I couldn’t just up and move, either. I kept making excuses and held myself back from taking any actions to better myself or make meaningful changes.

However, since I started broadcasting, I began to think of my viewers and be inspired by them. I had become very close to them, and their constant support helped me to no longer give up so easily.

Now, I’m always considering how my viewers would feel. It’s not that I’ve become completely resilient per se, but I’ve developed a more positive mindset. I constantly think about how I can continue broadcasting while painting a brighter future for myself. All in all, I feel enveloped in the weight and warmth of support from everyone I’ve met through broadcasting. Nowadays, it has gotten to the point where people around me are surprised at how often I’m face-to-face with my viewers!

Pococha Team: So, you’re often face-to-face with your viewers. Could you tell us how you engage with and understand your viewers?

Saayan:

At the time I started broadcasting, there were some viewers who came to watch every time. I first began conversations with a simple “Hello!” but I felt like my interactions were too simple and stale. That’s when I switched to “Welcome back!” and more personal conversation. That was the beginning of how I started changing how I interact with my viewers.

When I worked in the apparel industry, you would greet new customers with “Welcome.” After they left and visited some other stores, there were times when the customers would come back. When that happened, I would say, “Welcome back! Did you find anything nice at the other stores?” and start up a conversation that way. With my experience in customer service, it felt natural to say “Welcome back!” to my viewers who visited every day. I wanted to make interactions personal, and let the viewers know I remembered them. That’s how I started improving my conversations with viewers.

I believe there may be many other hints scattered throughout daily conversation that can be applied to broadcasting. Pay attention to those tiny ways you interact with people on a day-to-day basis! Those in-person techniques apply to broadcasting too!

Pococha Team: I see! So that’s how you came to create your current community. Could you expand more on your top tips for building more personable and enjoyable interactions with your viewers?

Saayan:

Absolutely! I’d say there are five things I try to focus on most when building a healthy fan community.

Let me introduce how I managed to keep my viewers coming back again and again when I first started broadcasting.

In order to make a better first impression, I put on makeup and stylish clothes. I believe how you present yourself is critical to how you build up your own value.

Also, it’s important to have viewers follow your profile if you want them to keep coming back. Since it can be tough to ask viewers directly to follow you, I’ll say something like, “Come back to watch me! We’re already friends, right?” with gusto to encourage new viewers into becoming actual friends. It’s helpful to consider what would make you feel happy to hear if you were a viewer, then give that a shot.

Other times, I try to introduce what I do to let people get to know me better. For example, I’ll give away handmade crafts or drawings to my viewers as a special gift for supporting me.

I highly recommend getting into the habit of keeping “Viewer Notes” to better understand your viewers.

One of the most important reasons why I communicate so deeply and personally with viewers is because I want them to feel like they’re truly interacting with me, and that our chats are meaningful to us both.

I try to think about what my viewers think when they hear my words. Overall, I want them to feel a sense of security and involvement in my broadcasts that they wouldn’t normally find in everyday life. While there’s so much opportunity to get to know me, the chances to truly get to know my viewers are few and far between. So, I ask them lots of questions in order to learn more about them and take notes. In turn, I use those notes to improve myself, deepen my understanding of them, and better meet their expectations.

Plus, knowing that I’m taking notes makes my viewers happy. It shows that I am making an effort to learn more about them, so they don’t mind watching me jot things down.

It’s also important to note: communicating with viewers is about getting to know each other through a continuous process of trial and error.

When you take action in broadcasts, it’s natural to get a reaction from your viewers in return. Sometimes it can be good, and sometimes it can be bad. If I get a bad reaction, I can choose a different approach next time and I imagine my viewers will hopefully react differently, and will appreciate that I’m making adjustments to suit their needs. If I actively show all these different aspects of myself, each and every viewer will hopefully get something they enjoy out of my broadcasts, and they’ll all develop a unique reason why my broadcast brings them joy.

It’s important to have a deep understanding between yourself and your fans, instead of keeping your conversations and relationships surface-level.

I try to talk about my past and my roots so that viewers who have only been coming for a short time can easily feel closer to me. Regular viewers also brighten up the broadcast when they look back on how long they’ve been a viewer, or they relive memories of my older broadcasts.

However, be mindful of referencing too many past memories and experiences without context! If this happens too much, then new users can feel alienated since they can’t participate in those discussions. I’ve had new viewers tell me that they wished they could have met me sooner because they feel like they missed out on so many things. So now, as my community continues to grow, I always share old recordings of my broadcasts to show how I used to be so they can be a part of those nostalgic discussions.

In my last event, I had a lot of new viewers participating for the first time, so I played all of my old recordings to boost morale going into the event. Because of this, even my new viewers actively participated in the event, and it even brought my fans closer to each other/ Plus, it was just a lot of fun!

Item reactions are super important, so it’s vital to learn why they’re useful and how to create your own unique versions!

Item reactions are how broadcasters show their appreciation to viewers who use Items.

My goal is to have my viewers think to themselves, “Wow, I’m glad I used that Item!” In order for that to happen, the first thing I focus on is increasing my vocabulary to use in reactions by studying the Items themselves.

Increase Your Vocabulary

I have different Item reactions even for the same Item. It’s important to have multiple reactions to an Item in your repertoire to match the vibe of the current broadcast and the viewer using the Item.

For example, when a viewer uses “Sunny”, I react differently depending on the moment and on who is using it. Sometimes I will say, “Let’s bring up the heat in here to match the glaring sun!” while sometimes I will say, “Ahh (Viewer Name), you are so dazzling like the sun — thank you!”

When new Items come out, I’ll even research new words associated with that Item theme so I can be ready to react if I receive it.

Research the Items

I try to stay up-to-date on the full Item list so I’m aware of what Items I might get and how many Coins each Item costs. I pay special attention to newly released Items too! When I do this research, I’ll think of ideas about the Item by considering its motif, its message, and its theme (cute, cool, modern, fancy, etc.)

There is no right answer on how to react to Items, so I think it’s a good idea to try various things depending on what viewers you have and what kind of broadcaster you are. For example, for the “Cheers” Item, you can create a a special moment with your audience by grabbing something close by and creating a cheers with them! Or you could create a little song, or ask them questions about what their favorite fancy drink is… the possibilities are endless!

In this way, you can come up with many different ways to react to Items!

Advice on Item Reactions (For Beginners)

For broadcasters that don’t have any set jokes or reactions, it may be easier to start off by separating Items into different levels based on their Coin amount. From there, you can make different reactions for Items of each level. This will also help you start memorizing the Coin costs of different Items, which will increase your overall Item knowledge.

Also, it doesn’t hurt to show your viewers that you’re considering how to react to Items. Don’t be afraid to ask your viewers for their thoughts, or to stumble through your first few reaction attempts! Viewers appreciate it when they see a broadcaster putting their all into creating something for them.

When in doubt, start small and don’t overthink it. Item reactions don’t have to be complicated! For example, when you get a heart, you can make a heart with your hands. Nice and easy! The most important thing isn’t how you react, it’s that you react at all.

Advice on Item Reactions (Practical Examples)

I often try to create reactions based on the viewers themselves or through interacting with them during broadcasts.

By changing the reaction for each viewer, they become curious and start to wonder, “What sort of reaction would I get if I used it?” which in turn encourages them to use Items.

On top of that, I also have extra special reactions when multiple viewers work together and use Items one after another to create an Item combo.

For example, I’ll start singing a song as an Item reaction. When it turns into a combo, I would continue singing or something, and then when the Item combo ends I’ll do a funny dance (lol!). It’s a great way to have everyone work together to use Items and make the broadcast more fun , exciting, and a bit unpredictable for both the viewers and for myself. It keeps me on my toes!

It is SO important to let your fans know your goals and how they would benefit if your goals are met. Here are the three steps I follow when I do this:

Step 1: Setting Goals

First, I’ll announce numeric goals at the start of the month or before events like, “Let’s have this many PocoKnights!” or “We’re aiming for this many Core Fans!” I do this because I want to show my viewers that I am serious about these goals.

Step 2: Expressing Goals

Then, I use multiple methods and tools to convey my goals. Of course I share my goals during my broadcasts, but talking alone is not enough to get the message across. Other things that I’ll do to reinforce my goals include:

writing them down to read out during a broadcast
posting them in Family chat
posting reminders on Twitter or in my blog
greeting new viewers with something like, “I say this all the time but…” and then conveying my goals to all my viewers

It’s still difficult to have viewers understand and share my goals, though! Even if I tell them lots of times, it can still go unnoticed by some. So make sure you stay consistent and varied with your communication!

Step 3: Conveying Mutual Benefits

Lastly, more important than sharing the goal itself is sharing how my viewers will directly benefit from reaching these goals.

For example, I’ll create a song as a memento for my fans or portrait goods for my viewers when we reach certain milestones along the journey towards our goals. This helps viewers to feel like it’s OUR goals that we’re achieving, not just MY goals.

To be honest, it’s impossible for everyone’s opinions to be in complete agreement since every viewer is different. Even so, my approach is to tell them everything about the journey, both negative and positive, so that they don’t feel insecure or suspicious about the goals I’ve set. This especially helps to prevent misunderstandings in the long run due to a lack of explanation.

Pococha Team: I really feel your passion for broadcasting! Even now, it sounds like you’re positively obsessed with broadcasting and growing your community however you can. Why do you think that is?

Saayan:

That’s absolutely right! Up until I go to bed and as soon as I wake up, I think about my viewers and about how I want to broadcast. If I have even a bit of free time, I will start up a broadcast. There is always someone who will come and watch, and I enjoy sharing my life with my viewers!

Some people might think that you have to have everything prepared before broadcasting. However, I think of broadcasting as a window into your real life, so my broadcasts are rather casual. That way I can have a more natural atmosphere with my viewers.

Of course, when I want to show something special or put in some more effort, I’ll broadcast more formally or plan ahead. Still, I also show my vulnerable side, and will sometimes hop on and simply say, “I’m broadcasting because I got lonely and missed you all.” It’s good to have a balance between these two types of broadcasts.

To be honest, broadcasting takes up 80% – 90% of my life! Even after my broadcast ends, I’ll often go back and review a recording that myself or one of my viewers has taken. I do this to burn into my mind when I successfully make things exciting for my viewers, and to check if I missed reacting to any Items. Sometimes, I’ll rewatch my recordings just because I think they’re funny (lol!). Like watching a favorite video over and over again, I laugh no matter how many times I reread funny comments from my viewers.

Pococha Team: Thank you so much for that insight! Looking forward, do you have any dreams for the future as a broadcaster?

Saayan:

My top dream right now is to gather my experiences as a broadcaster to publish them in a book!

I am confident that the broadcasting industry will continue to expand, and I’m sure that broadcasting has the potential to advance and grow in scope and influence. I’d love to see that happen. However, I cannot push it forward all by myself!

Just as there are things that I am good at and things that are impossible for me, other broadcasters have their own unique characteristics. I would like to expand the broadcasting industry by working together with other broadcasters, utilizing their strengths while developing my own strengths to take on new challenges and grow this industry together.

At this stage of my life, I feel more proactive, powerful, and confident than I’ve ever been before! It’s thrilling to imagine what the future could hold!

Pococha Team: How exciting — we wish you all the best with your book! Lastly, do you have a message you’d like to give to all your fellow fans, friends, and Pococha users worldwide?

Saayan:

Ideally I want to make broadcasting a proper profession, where when people around the world hear that I’m a broadcaster, they will think, “Wow, how cool!” without questioning the career’s validity. I think being a broadcaster is a dream job, and I want to continue to promote it and watch others give it a try. Doing so is also connected to my personal goals and measures of success, so I want to put my all into making this ideal into a reality.

I hope the world will become a place where people from all walks of life can make use of their talents and be creative. I look forward to broadcasting becoming the go-to platform for those folks, and I hope people casually start broadcasting and others can casually watch broadcasts as part of their daily routine.

In the US, there are still very few people who broadcast as a full-time job. So, it will take a lot of hard work and creativity to bring this opportunity to the masses!

If you’re looking to try broadcasting as a career, know this: although it may be tough, if you challenge yourself to take this road-not-yet-traveled and spearhead this movement into a new era of streaming, I’m sure you’ll be closer to your dreams than you ever thought possible!

In the future, it’d be great if there was an event that brought both broadcasters and viewers together across the world! If that happens, I’d be so happy to meet you. Let’s work together to make broadcasting bigger and better than ever!

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Thank you so much to Saayan for the invaluable experience and advice shared in this interview! We wish her all the best in her continued broadcasting career.