Kickstart Your Marketing on Clubhouse
Social media is a critical channel for all brands and organizations. Not only is it a low-cost channel, but it also has the potential to reach a large audience outside of your existing customers. Social media is also always changing. It can feel exhausting to stay updated on every new feature or social media app, but it will be important for you to evaluate which social media channels and activities fit best into your marketing plan. When a new social media platform comes on the scene, it might make sense for you to watch and wait a bit before jumping in. However, don’t wait too long as you may miss out on opportunities to grow your business or increase your brand’s following.
We recently discussed new social media platforms and new ways to market, including ways to determine which of the social media channels should be your primary focus vs. which channels are secondary channels. We also included a quick introduction to many of the newer social media channels available. Let’s dig a little deeper into one of the newer platforms called Clubhouse and look at a few ways to market yourself or your business using Clubhouse.
Clubhouse is a new mobile app, initially launched on iOS, but recently released on Android. The tagline is “Drop-in Audio” highlighting how very different this social media channel is right from the start. The focus is completely on audio-only chats rather than what we have come to expect of social media which is more visually driven by video, images, and text. This audio-first platform is hoping to provide a more intimate connection than other social media platforms, plus the user access is more limited to start too. Right now Clubhouse is invite-only, so you will need to get access from someone else on Clubhouse. This is becoming a bit easier as Clubhouse gains popularity. In February 2021, Clubhouse reported over 10 million active users on the platform. Clubhouse may not be a household name yet, it’s still the perfect time to establish your own profile and Clubhouse presence.
Getting started on Clubhouse
First, you need a Clubhouse invite. Check in with friends and colleagues for an invite. Anyone you know who might be an early adopter of all things tech? Text, email or slack a few people to see who might already be a user. Everyone on Clubhouse gets at least 2 invites, so it might take a few connections. Eventually, you should be able to score the invite.
Ok, so you got your Clubhouse invite, it’s time to download the app and sign up! The first few times you log in to Clubhouse, plan to spend your time exploring the app. Browse the “Hallway” which will list all of the current “Rooms” with audio events taking place, explore and read descriptions on the various “Clubs” and “Rooms” which have themes or topics tied to them. Start to join the ”Rooms” to experience the listening events and even spend time learning more about the speakers, moderators, and audience. Visit their bios. Follow anyone who is in your industry, shares a similar interest — whether personal or professional, people you admire, those that offer expertise in areas you hope to develop, plus others in your network.
Sharpen your bio
While exploring Clubhouse you will notice how some users have spent time developing extensive bios. Consider setting up your bio as one of the first actions you can take to focus on Clubhouse as a marketing channel for yourself. Use the space available in the bio to add a description about yourself, your company, your interests, your expertise, and more. Make use of emojis, include your LinkedIn profile URL, plus add your websites, and eventually, you can include your Clubhouse activities in your bio too. Make sure to link your Twitter and Instagram accounts as well. In a social media platform without newsfeeds or constant story updates, spending time on your bio section will help you increase your number of followers and develop a stronger presence on the app.
Participate
There are many ways you can use the Clubhouse app. Consider whether you want to be a more passive participant by listening to various audio events, perhaps you are interested in speaking in “Rooms” or even creating your own audio events. Depending on the level that makes the most sense for you, it will be important to participate!
Participation really is key. If you're planning on using Clubhouse to market your business, becoming an active member of the Clubhouse community is paramount. This social media app offers the chance to develop strong connections with others in your industry, which ultimately adds to your network. Plus you can also establish yourself as an expert in your industry or in a certain subject matter. Engaging more actively in Clubhouse beyond simply listening to audio events will definitely take more work but should be equally rewarding.
Start out by finding upcoming “Rooms” to join, raise your hand to speak if given the chance, and start following any of the moderators or speakers from the event. There is no messaging within Clubhouse, but you can connect directly with people on Clubhouse by DM’ing them on Twitter or Instagram. To hone your own speaking and moderating skills, create your own private “Closed” rooms and invite colleagues or friends to join in. Get used to speaking on Clubhouse, moderating, adding speakers, and taking questions. Once you are comfortable running your own audio event, you will have the full power of Clubhouse at your fingertips.
Meaningful marketing opportunities
Building up your Clubhouse credibility may not happen overnight. If you are working towards becoming a moderator or a regular speaker at industry-specific events or an expert in a certain subject matter, consider creating your own events at the onset. Need to find content or topics that interest Clubhouse users? Consider your existing content such as eBooks, white papers, research, or blog posts and how you can repurpose content for a Clubhouse event. Repurposing content is a useful content marketing hack, why re-invent the wheel when you don't have to?
Another idea is to tap into other marketing activities that you might already be working on and add a Clubhouse event into the marketing campaign. If you are launching a new product or service, invite users to join you on Clubhouse to learn about the new item. Want to demonstrate your customer service savvy? Offer a Q&A session for your company with customers. As you develop a record on Clubhouse for hosting events, you should expect to increase your number of followers. The more events you participate in or host will also demonstrate your expertise in the industry and this will likely create new Clubhouse opportunities that go beyond launches or customer service.
Whether the event on Clubhouse is big or small, you can promote it through all of your typical channels. Post it to your social media accounts. Feature the event in your Newsletter and once the event is over, if you have recorded it, you can share the recording with anyone, whether they are on Clubhouse yet or not.
Clubhouse creates connections
Clubhouse is another awesome opportunity to create content — live and audio content in this case — that will support your marketing and business goals. Content creates connections and Clubhouse is exploring the power of the connections that are built upon conversations and aural engagement.
For more content marketing tools, tricks and resources read more on the Issuu Blog. Ready to publish beautiful digital content that connects even more people to your business?