Clubhouse app: use your voice to become your own promoter!

Like out of nowhere a new social app, voice-based only. So what makes the Clubhouse app one of today’s most wanted apps? and how to use that as a marketing tool?

Unlike any other social network, mostly based on text or visual content – In the Clubhouse app, it’s only audio. No text, no pictures, no videos – only conversation rooms for people with common interests having voice conversations. Experienced marketers that already tried the application say it’s very addictive.

What is all the noise about?

At first, it’s important to notice that at the moment Clubhouse app is an invitation-only club.

It is possible to use the Clubhouse app only from an invitation sent to you and only on Ipad and iPhone.

There is no doubt that exclusivity is part of the magic that causes the big buzz around the Clubhouse app. There are even Facebook groups where you can get chat room references and maybe even an invitation to the application itself.

In this context, it is important to note that at the moment the Clubhouse app is using its users to market itself. People that have a lot of contacts on their iPhone, can easily approve many of their friends that signed up for the app without getting any invitation. Each user can add 3 more users, the more active the user is the more people he can invite.

Active or passive? Your choice!

In Clubhouse you can take active participation or you can just listen to other people talk. Who makes the rules and who decides who speaks? The moderator, the person that opened the room and invited the people. Everyone can open their conversation rooms, if the room’s subject fits other users’ definition for the app the room will pop up on their feed so they can enter. The moderator can grant management permissions, and also prevent someone from speaking when something inappropriate is being said.

No record!

A very important thing to remember is that any conversation on Clubhouse is not saved or recorded but instead disappears forever in the end. The fear of missing out stands strong in the app’s center, especially if considering the fact you can talk to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla however you will have no proof of the conversation.

With that being said, let’s not be naive – even though it is forbidden to record conversations without the moderator’s permission, there have been cases where conversations in Clubhouse were leaked. Here is an example of a conversation leaking out about “is Kevin Hart funny”.

This is another great feature in Clubhouse – “regular people” can debate, talk and even argue with celebrities, famous company managers, etc…

An article made on INC’s website discovered that in the terms of use for Clubhouse’s app it clearly states that all calls are recorded for safety issues (in case of someone reporting on problematic content). If no one reports anything and the conversation ends, the automatic record is deleted. Beyond that there is pixel tracking, deleting a profile isn’t immediate, and other privacy issues.

How to use the Clubhouse app

The clubhouse app was launched in April 2020 by two entrepreneurs, that established Alpha Exploration. In May 2020 the app was worth almost $100M, as to January 21st, 2021 it is worth around $1B, and yet it is important to say that they weren’t the first to think about that. In 2014 two Israeli entrepreneurs established Hear Me Out that also based on audio, however somehow didn’t succeed, and in 2018 disappeared completely.

The Clubhouse app is not a podcast!

To all wonderers, Clubhouse is not a podcast. In Clubhouse everything is temporary when a podcast is a pre-recorded product from the start to the end and allows us to hear every part over and over again whenever we want to. Clubhouse app is based on exclusivity and temporality, that is what makes Clubhouse draw so much attention.

As already stated, you have to be the owner of an Apple device and also get an invitation from someone that already is a member of the app. After receiving an invitation you open a simple profile with a picture, add some text description about yourself and your interests, and start looking for people and rooms. It is highly recommended to follow a lot of people, famous and those who are relevant for your conversation’s topic. The more people you follow, the higher your activity level will go and your feed will know what to recommend to you.

Invitations to chat rooms are two-way streets

Only if two users in Clubhouse start following each other, they can invite each other to their rooms. If only one user is following the other the app will not allow room invitations. Once you are in a room, you can listen to what happens and to other people (it is recommended to understand what the room is about and how things are working inside).

How is the conversation conducted?

If you want to talk, you need to press the “lift the hand” icon on the bottom right corner – which means a request for permission to speak. If the moderator approves your request, you will be able to start talking and continue the conversation. You can receive a request to join the conversation without asking for permission to speak, mostly by moderators interested in what you have to say.

How to conduct a conversation with tens and hundreds of people in one room, when all seem to want to speak?

Very simple: mutual respect. When someone is speaking, everyone else silences their microphone until he is done talking. Even though not everything works smoothly, and many times users interrupt other users’ speech and create an unbearable cacophony.

Clubhouse app is The-place to meet real people, with real opinions on any subject. On the other hand – this happens enough on other social media like Facebook and Twitter, even problematic contact such as hate, racism, etc. Clubhouse already has complaints about racist content, antisemitism, and other subjects of that sort- and that is happening since the room’s subject is decided by its moderator. The creators of Clubhouse do not intend to get involved in its content, and not remove any fake news or any hate content. In Clubhouse the users are the owners, which makes it easy to see things can go sideways.

Marketing on the Clubhouse app – personal branding is the name of the game

Since everything on Clubhouse is all-around people, the real marketing here is personal branding.

Since you can’t send personal messages to other users, everything is concentrated around the conversation you create in different rooms in real-time. If you made the connection to your Twitter or Instagram, you can direct people from Clubhouse to those profiles so they can contact you personally.

1) The personal branding starts from the profile

Add a memorable photo in good quality, add a text description (it can be very long, you should use it). You can and should use attractive emojis. Connect the profile to Twitter or your Instagram (no other options available at the moment). Unlike other social networks that lean almost completely on how you look ( including Facebook), In Clubhouse it is all about your conversational skills on the subjects selected. Just like in content marketing, in Clubhouse it is about your content. The more you are involved, the more conversations you participate in, the better you behave the kinder you are, and how you wait for your turn – this is how you will brand yourself as a professional in your field.

Btw, it looks like Facebook and Twitter started developing audio-based features like in Clubhouse, in an attempt to ride their wave of success. Sometimes Android users will be able to also participate in Clubhouse which will probably bring the next step of its evolution.

2) Look for people, rooms, and clubs to join

To get and create an effective Clubhouse experience, you need to be focused on the people, the rooms, and the clubs. If you follow everyone too randomly, you may end up with an endless overload of topics on your feed. When entering the application you enter the “corridor”, where you can see the list of rooms. The rooms will be based both on the people and clubs you follow, But you can also see trending rooms. If you are completely new Clubhouse will recommend people for you to follow based on the most active contacts on your mobile phone. The room size is variable from “small classrooms” with only several people in them up to huge rooms like a “lecture hall”. The more rooms you enter, the higher the chance to find someone new and interesting to follow. That might change the room suggestion list in the “corridor”.

The more you roam in the app the chances for you to find public rooms that were opened by a certain club. Clicking on the green home icon will provide club information, you will be able to look at the member’s list, and assist you to decide if you want to join or not. Look who is also following the people you follow you may find new options.

3) How to increase the number of followers

Increasing the number of followers can affect your business greatly. If you are interested to put yourself in the position of a professional and drawing followers, you will need to be an active member of the app and appear in many rooms. Don’t overcompensate by entering big rooms, since the chances of you being noticed among 5,000 or 10,000 people aren’t great. Start small with rooms of up to 20 people.

Make sure the rooms you enter are relevant for your professional niche and know the regular visitors in every room. The more active you are the more you draw the moderator’s attention, which may choose to put you on the front of the stage, where people in the crowd can see you. The more you are on stage, the more time you have to draw people.

You are at the front of the stage? Don’t start talking about yourself and what it is you are doing. Focus on creating value for the room. Ask a question or answer a question clearly and extensively. Once you have provided real value, people will click on your profile to learn about you and eventually to follow you as well. At that step, every time you open a room or go on stage, your followers will receive a notification you are life. A great way to increase your audience.

Make sure your profile is properly presented as suggested in the previous section of the article.

4) Hosting rooms in the Clubhouse app.

Once you create a room you automatically become the moderator. As already explained, you determine who speaks, who to silence, and who gets a moderator’s position by your side. As the host, your job is to maintain order and predict your crowd’s necessities

For example, you can take initiated breaks of several minutes and ask all the participants in the room to follow a certain individual. When everyone returns from their break, you can ask people in the room to invite people they know to join the room. Make sure to keep it versatile and give access to people all over the world, not just from your state. It is most important to allow different opinions while keeping basic rules such as avoiding violence, racism, etc.

5) Use clubs

Remember the “corridor”? That’s where the room list is presented, where you make conversations, and the event board presents preserved rooms. Clubs are what allow to collect a group of people in advance, for rooms or certain events – private or public.

You can create private rooms allowing the users to make conversations with each other, or some allowing you to provide unique content with exclusive access you don’t want to share publicly. Any club can have several admins, which means you don’t have to create and manage every room by yourself. Allow your managers to open more rooms in the name of the club.

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Clubhouse app: use your voice to become your own promoter!