There’s a New Social “Clubhouse” in Town!

You’ve got your tweets, your likes, your shares, your double taps, your swipe-ups…and the list  keeps expanding as new social platforms emerge and evolve.

Without a doubt, the social media landscape can be a loud, crowded, and challenging place to navigate, break through, and get your voice heard—especially if you’re starting from scratch.

With all eyes on social media’s newest darling, Clubhouse, there’s no time to waste—if you can grab an invitation and beat your competitors to the front of the line.

Once you’ve been summoned to join—from content to engagement to advertising, there are strategies you can put into place to help you solidify your place on the social platform everyone is talking about. (It’s one of the things we are best at #humblebrag.)

So, instead of winging it, start preparing with a little help from our social media pros. So when your time comes, you will be on target to become a premium member of the Clubhouse

Say Hello to Clubhouse: The New Social Media Kid on the Block

Now, before you roll your eyes, thinking that this is just another cyberplace to post pictures, memes, and more short-form videos—think again. Clubhouse is (surprisingly) something different.

Our current social landscape is saturated with never-ending visual content.

Clubhouse, on the other hand, drew outside the lines and onto the airwaves, focusing on audio only. Yep. It’s a 100% audio-based social media platform—which is kind of brilliant.

At this point, you are likely well aware of the popularity podcasts have been gaining over the past several years, and the minds behind Clubhouse seem to have taken notice.

The app combines the best parts of podcasting with the types of “groups” we’re used to seeing on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Clubhouse users can create “rooms” in which they talk about particular subjects, and other users can join these rooms to be part of the audio-only format discussions. Commenting, engagement, and participation are all done via voice while you are “on stage” in the Clubhouse.

As is the case with other social networks, you can still create your personal bio, username, and connect with those you know who are already on the platform—plus, a whole lot more.

Because it’s still in the early stages of release, you may not find a lot of your connections on Clubhouse just yet, for a number of reasons.

First, people tend to be weary of new social apps. As many have come and gone in the blink of an eye over the years, some may be waiting to see if Clubhouse is here to stay before jumping on the audio bandwagon.

Second, not everyone is going to be enamored by the idea of using a platform they need to actually lend their voice to in order to be part of the conversation.

Lastly, (for the time being) Clubhouse is “invite-only.”

Yep, access to the latest social network that Elon Musk, GaryVee, and Kevin Hart are using requires an invitation by someone who is already in the Clubhouse.

Oh, we almost forgot, are you an Android user? Well, you are out of luck, too. At the moment, Clubhouse is only available for the lucky iPhone user—even though Android may hold over 70% of the worldwide market…

To be fair, having a limited rollout is nothing new, and Clubhouse has shared that one reason for this is that their current infrastructure isn’t built for LA traffic—more like, Greensboro, North Carolina traffic.

Robinhood, who is in the news for other reasons, similarly introduced their app with a limited rollout. Soft opens or user beta versions are, again, common so kinks can be worked out and streamlined before a full release on all devices.

Regardless of limited access issues and early rollouts, let’s check out some of the things that makes Clubhouse an interesting platform:

1. Audio-only. Ok, we may have said this once or twice already, but it’s worth repeating (again). The idea of allowing one’s actual voice to be at the center of both content and engagement is a welcome change from endless pictures, videos, and doom scrolling.

2. Active users and engagement. Unlike other platforms, you can’t passively scroll through Clubhouse and let your eyes do the heavy lifting. If you want to hear the thoughts of other users, you need to actively click and listen. So, Clubhouse invitation holders are likely to be more active users rather than passive “viewers.”

3. Businesses and professionals. Early reports share that because there is an active engagement component to the platform, there are a lot of business-minded and entrepreneurial types using Clubhouse. This could indicate a threat for LinkedIn as the once-business-focused platform has attracted far more users that prefer to post non-business-related content over recent years.

4. High-profile users. Having high-profile users is not necessary a “buy signal,” but it doesn’t hurt. Recently, Elon Musk tweeted about being on Clubhouse, posting his live sessions, and Gary Vaynerchuk has also been active, which is no surprise.

5. It’s actually new. For over a decade, social media platforms have been pretty much followed some variation of a profile, a feed, posting, vanity metrics, etc. Clubhouse may have come at the perfect time as the thirst for audio content has never been greater.

“Clubhouse” of the Future?

For the time being, we are going to be optimistic about the future of Clubhouse and what it could become. However, a couple things seem to happen when a new social network starts gaining some street cred—they are either acquired or their concept is blatantly copied by Facebook…er, we mean…some other social network.

Let’s hope that Clubhouse holds the line and grows on its own solid userbase—we think it’s about time for something fresh!

So the real question is—when your invitation arrives—will you want to be part of the Clubhouse?