Have you heard people talking about Clubhouse? Are you wondering why they're obsessed with this new social platform and what it could mean for you?
The audio-based, invite-only app has grown exponentially in the last year. In May 2020, it had 1,500 users — now it has a whopping two million (less #exclusive but better than House Party could’ve dreamt of) and is worth a reported US$1B.
How does Clubhouse work?
It's kind of like social podcasting. Clubhouse lets you spontaneously tune into topic-themed ‘rooms,’ where members openly discuss everything from race, to TikTok marketing, to Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift.
It's also filled with celebrities. But instead of just following a blue tick, you listen in on convos ‘moderated’ by celebs. Like rapper 21 Savage, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and actress Tiffany Haddish — and if you're really lucky, Oprah.
Why could Clubhouse become the next major social platform?
While social media platforms come and go and there are celebrities and tech giants on others, Clubhouse is showing all the signs of turning social media marketing as we know it on its head. Here are a few reasons why it could become the next major social channel:
The focus is on high-value conversations rather than produced content
It offers the ability to connect and engage with professionals outside of your industry or niche
The typical social media algorithms that help people create echo chambers on other platforms are replaced with spontaneous rooms filled with real-time chats on a variety of topic
Clubhouse users are already fiercely loyal and protective, so much so that they’ve been very particular about who they invite to join the app with them
Clubhouse’s biggest point of difference though is that it’s bringing audio into social media — something other platforms largely ignore in favour of a focus on visual and written media (video, images, captions).
How does Clubhouse make money?
Clubhouse doesn't make any money (yet). But it might eventually, thanks to its hosts. In addition to flexing its worth recently, Clubhouse also revealed plans to help creators get paid. Think: subscriptions, tipping, and ticket sales for exclusive talks.
It's also using part of its funding to launch a Creator Grant Program, to support emerging hosts and entertainers. Later down the line, it could choose to take a cut of creators’ $$$ — or charge its own subscription.
How to use Clubhouse in your content strategy
Within minutes of joining the app and scrolling around, you’ll be full of ideas for how to use Clubhouse to network, grow your authority, or expand your knowledge.
Community-building: Clubhouse opens up a new way to engage and connect with your community. Additionally, as you network and meet other Clubhouse members, you’ll find they’ll naturally follow you over to your other channels and communities. The main hurdle for this is its current invite-only, private-beta status, but it should go public soon.
Community-building for virtual events: 2020 saw a surge in virtual events and summits, but with it came privacy concerns and expenses trying to get attendees together into a live setting. Clubhouse offers an intimate, exclusive community in the form of a club that can accompany virtual and even in-person events for attendees to connect and engage with each other.
Audience mining: Recording and transcribing conversations in Clubhouse rooms without every participant’s permission is strictly against the platform’s Terms of Use. However, you can start a new room for the purpose of curating content by adding your intentions to the room’s public title and description. Then you can use a room to ask questions, interview other members, grab tidbits and advice on various subjects and put together articles.
Podcast communities: Again, this might be hard to do while Clubhouse remains in private beta, but once the app is public, you can use Clubhouse clubs to build communities related to your podcast without having to add a lot of content creation and overhead to keep your community engaged between episodes.
Networking with experts in other industries: We all know the value of networking and learning from experts within our own industries, but imagine the value of learning from other small business owners, multimillion-dollar CEOs and tech giants. Once we might have only seen them speak on stage, now Clubhouse has built a platform that makes it possible to share a stage with them, ask a direct question, and receive a response in real time.
THE TAKEAWAY
Exclusivity builds buzz, but quality builds loyalty... Cue the Fyre Festival memes. While hype-driven FOMO might drive downloads, people won't stay if the experience falls flat. Investment in creators is key — giving them a reason to stay gives everyone else a reason to stay. That's why Facebook paid TikTok stars to post on Instagram Reels and TikTok created a $200M fund for creators. Let’s hope Clubhouse rolls out red carpet cash incentives for talent.
Looking for more social content ideas? Here are 3 ways you can use Instagram Reels in your content marketing strategy or look to the New York Times' content mix for some inspo