Just when you thought you had all your social media platforms figured out, the tech world drops yet another social media app for the public to get across.
You may have heard people talking about Clubhouse recently – a new social media app that’s taken the world by storm. Although still in beta, the app has drawn in thousands of users including some famous faces – Oprah, MC Hammer, Drake, Kevin Hart, Jared Leto and Ashton Kutcher have all jumped aboard the Clubhouse bandwagon.
But what is Clubhouse? Who created it? And how is it beneficial to my business? Read on to find out everything you need to know about the new audio-based social media app.
What is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is the first of its kind – an audio-based social media app.
The app allows you to join chats and record your messages to be part of the conversation. The audio clips within the chat are deleted once the chat ends.
Who created Clubhouse?
Clubhouse was created by Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth and it was funded by Andreessen Horowitz, who put $12 million into the app. Paul Davidson is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Rohan Seth is an ex-Google employee.
How does it work?
Clubhouse aims to enhance community and connectivity.
With a focus on good old fashioned conversation, the Clubhouse founders hope to create meaningful connections between people across the globe. A place for topics to be discussed, with tone – something you can’t always get from text alone.
There are various chat rooms on Clubhouse, all for different topics. The chat rooms use only audio and the audio disappears once the chat has finished. Moderators open the chat rooms and can invite people ‘speakers’ and ‘listeners’ to join the chat.
Moderators can extend the chat to all users, or keep it private.
Drawing on the success of Podcast listening, you can have Clubhouse playing in the background to listen to the conversation while you go about your business.
The main objective of Clubhouse is creating connection. It’s intended to be more personal and also protects people by deleting recordings once the chat has ended. The audio can’t be recorded from conversations, which protects users and creates space where people feel comfortable that their recordings won’t come back to haunt them.
What are the benefits of Clubhouse for businesses?
Have you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall to listen in on your customers’ conversations? Now you can. You can use Clubhouse to listen to people’s conversations and learn about their pain points. Pain points that your product or service might solve. If you can offer up free advice that sparks the listeners’ interest, you may receive a private message via Instagram or Twitter (as there is currently no DM function in Clubhouse) requesting more information.
How can I get on Clubhouse?
Since Clubhouse is still in the beta stages, you can only get access to Clubhouse if you have been invited to join. This means that only people who have been invited by a pre-existing user of the app can download it. The app is also only available to iPhone users at the moment. Once all the bugs are fixed, you can expect Clubhouse to be released to the wider public.
Although you won’t be able to do anything on the app right now, download it from your iPhone and get your username secured. We all know how disappointing it feels when your favourite username is unavailable! If one of your phone connections is already a member, they will be notified that you are on the waitlist and be offered the option to move you to the front of the queue.
At the start of December 2020, Clubhouse had only 3500 members. But now it has over 600,000. It’s dubbed to be the next big thing in the social media world – so don’t get left behind.
Learn how to create a user or follow Clubhouse on Twitter.
What do we think about Clubhouse?
We love the app’s mission around creating more meaningful conversations. From a business perspective, it’s a great way to connect with your target audience and the opportunity to listen to people’s conversations is marketing gold. But we’ve all seen how arguments can ensue in the comments section of a Facebook post. Our only concern would be nasty and heated debates that cause more harm than good.
About Focus SME
Based in Sydney, Australia, Focus SME works with businesses to amplify their social media presence and increase leads through the power of Facebook Advertising. We specialise in B2B and service-based businesses, assisting them to get the most out of their social media through clever strategies and creative campaign executions. Joining Clubhouse? Follow our founder Jade @focussme.