With the rise of a new social media platform comes new opportunities for brands to ramp up their PR strategies. Clubhouse is a new social media app which is rooted in voice and audio communication. Unlike its visual or textual counterparts, all interaction on Clubhouse is voice-based and there are no written comments or messages involved.
The invite-only app has experienced a surge in popularity since the beginning of 2021. It allows users to listen to conversations, interviews and discussions much like a live podcast experience. Users can simply listen in to discussions, or they can raise their hand to ask questions and contribute themselves.
As with any platform with millions of users, Clubhouse presents a great opportunity for businesses to get the word out about their brands. Clubhouse should be a new string on brands’ voice strategy bows, along with podcasting.
What is Clubhouse?
When users open Clubhouse, they find themselves in the ‘hallway’, which is a curated space based on the users’ likes and who they are following, much like Instagram’s explore page. From the hallway, users can scroll through and select to enter ‘rooms’.
Rooms are the primary function of Clubhouse. Users can join rooms as a muted audience member to listen to the conversation happening in that room, podcast-style. If the user wants to contribute, they can raise their hand to be brought onto the ‘stage’, from where they can participate in the discussion.
Among Clubhouse users are several celebrities, including Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Jared Leto and Kevin Hart, who host rooms but also make appearances in other users’ rooms.
How can you use it to promote your brand or business?
Rooms on Clubhouse cover all kinds of conversations, from three US city mayors talking about why their cities are good bases for tech companies to long conversations about a kettle. Clubhouse covers every topic you can think of and the conversation is 24/7, creating a great chance to get your brand or spokesperson in front of the right crowd.
This can be achieved by being pre-invited to be a speaker in someone else’s room, by raising your hand and joining in, or by hosting a room of your own. When those speaking provide value or insight, they can really get noticed, which can serve both the business and your own personal brand.
By using Clubhouse in collaboration with influencers and being invited to join their virtual panels, brands can put themselves in front of large, engaged audiences.
As part of our client, mthree’s, work surrounding diversity and inclusion in the workplace, we placed director, Becs Roycroft, as a speaker in Dragon Den’s Piers Linney’s Clubhouse room. Piers talks about employment equality and Becs’ involvement in the event will allow her to introduce herself and her company to Piers’ audience of almost 3,000 followers.
Putting business leaders on the Clubhouse stage will help boost corporate profiles and help to build authentic relationships. Through these relationships, leadership becomes more connected with customers and moves away from control and towards influence, engaging customers and employees alike.
As well as putting your brand on the platform, Clubhouse is incredibly useful for the more behind the scenes elements of PR, such as creating a network with people in your industry or researching what topics in the field are currently popular or causing controversy.
Social media is evolving and growing at an exceptionally rapid rate. When a platform such as Clubhouse, which has already been declared a Unicorn, crop up, it is wise to get involved. Clubhouse is quickly becoming a den for well-connected people making it a fantastic tool for businesses and entrepreneurs to use to gain popularity, get noticed and have rich conversations.
We are on hand to help you tie Clubhouse into your current PR and social media strategy. To find out more, call us on:
- Manchester: 0161 871 9140
- London: 0203 092 1446
