What is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is the latest social media app to be making waves in the digital sphere. Unlike other social media apps, Clubhouse leverages good old FoMo (Fear of Missing Out), using an invite-only model to create a buzz around joining. Since January 2021, the platform has gained 4 million users, bringing the current figure to 6million. Not bad for an iPhone only app that doesn’t allow just any Tom, Dick or Harry join.
In May 2021 it was reported that downloads began to decline for the app, pushing Clubhouse to review it’s plan and consider making the app availiable on android.
Clubhouse is an audio based social app. What does this mean?
Where Twitter focuses on words, Instagram on images and TikTok on short video content – Clubhouse is taking ownership of audio. Using it is a bit like overhearing a conversation, but not in a weird illegal way. Users can create their own room and present / chat and members can listen and engage in realtime. That’s the other play on FoMo, unlike Podcasts, Clubhouse is more like a live venue that you attend to listen and chat in that moment. Meaning you have to be on it, in case you miss out on some great content.
Who’s on Clubhouse and how do you get invited?
Amongst the 6 million users, big names have joined in the fun. These include a range of celebrities from Drake, to Jared Leto to Elon Musk and legendary chat host, Oprah. Just like TikTok and Reddit have succeeded in creating spaces for members and creators of every subject area imaginable, Clubhouse is taking its seat at that table.
Nepotism is how you get invited. Well, mostly. You can put your name down on the waiting list and if someone knows you that’s already inside, you can get access. Otherwise you have to be patient to be invited in. Members can invite two friends to the platform, and so it continues.
Why should brands care about Clubhouse?
Ambitious, digitally savvy brands will know that they need to keep up with the latest trends. Clubhouse stands to offer audiences a totally unique social media experience, making it pretty important to have on any marketer’s radar.
Clubhouse is centred around ‘rooms’. What rooms a user sees is based on who they follow and what they have listed as interests. This is great for brands, already the app structure is set out into niches and therefore audiences that are there to engage. Great for brands looking to engage or grow their audience.
Users can search in the members or club directories by keywords to find upcoming events of interest. For brands this is a great place to start to assess audiences. Find your niche and research who is active, where. For brands that don’t hold the same clout as say Nike or Tesla, find smaller rooms where you can reach your niche audience, then grow from there as you start to follow likeminded users.
As the app evolves and grows with its members, there are more opportunities for brands, including sponsoring rooms as well as hosting clubs. Being involved on the platform gives brands the opportunity to:
- Keep up to date with latest trends
- Get closer to audiences
- Increase brand awareness and sentiment value
Is Clubhouse right for your brand?
Nobody knows your business better than you, however understanding what channels and platforms are available and how to leverage them is always going to be beneficial for growing brands. At BBI we have been helping brands reach global audiences with sophisticated content-led performance strategies that harness the full marketing mix since 2011. Contact us today to chat to one of our experts about how we can help accelerate your brand’s growth.