By
Anam Khan
If you’ve been active on social media these past few weeks, you’ve been hearing this one word over and over again: Clubhouse.
Clubhouse is the fast growing, audio-chat platform that allows you to connect with people around the world on different topics in real-time. The invite-only app is currently in it’s beta-version and available on iPhone only, yet it has already raised $100 million from investors, and as of January 2021 valuation of the company hit one billion US dollars.
Clubhouse consists of different rooms where users listen and engage in various topics ranging from world affairs, to tech, to travel, to pop culture, and even local policy issues. If you don’t see the room you’re looking for, create one! The app serves as a great way to gain knowledge from experts and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. While the platform itself is small and exclusive, the communities and conversations on Clubhouse are far reaching. Consultants and digital politicos are always on the lookout for new ways to engage with key voters and influencers, and Clubhouse is slated to become the next biggest social media platform.
Here’s the low-down on Clubhouse:
Clubhouse is an audio-chat platform that is made up of different rooms and groups. Each member can create their own room, public or private, about a specific theme or topic and begin a conversation. Think about it like a live podcast in front of an audience – or a socially acceptable way to eavesdrop on a call.
There are three types of users in each room:
👩🏻⚖️ Moderator: The room moderator controls the room and the conversation. The moderator(s) can invite attendees to the virtual stage to speak, mute people, or kick users out of the room. There can be multiple moderators per room.
🎤 Speaker: Once the moderator allows a user on stage, they become a speaker. This normally happens when the moderator asks a question or the speaker has something to add to the conversation, which is very much encouraged on Clubhouse.
🎧 Audience: When you click into a room, you become a member of the audience, where you will be able to listen in on the conversation that is being led by the moderator and speakers. As an audience member, you have the option to raise your hand and be invited by a moderator to hop on stage and become a speaker. Due to high platform demands, a user can only create a group once they have hosted a public room at least three times.
Make an account
At this time, in order to create a Clubhouse account you must be invited by a user that is already using the platform.
If you’re interested in joining and don’t yet have an invite, you can always join the waitlist by downloading the application on your iPhone. Depending on how many of your contacts are on the platform, they may receive a notification that you have reserved a username and are waiting to be let in to the platform. Your contact may get an option to let you in through this method, however it is not a guarantee.
Once you receive your invitation, create an account.
Make sure you include your real name, a professional picture, and some information about yourself in the biography. This will let users know what industry you are working in, and give them more context about what rooms you plan on joining and the content you will create.
After your account is all set up, you can start using the platform. Search for topics that interest you and connect with individuals that you can network with. Listen in and participate in any rooms that interest you.
Campaigning on Clubhouse
You might be wondering if Clubhouse is a useful method of organic marketing for your campaign. Well, it depends.
If your campaign does not have a big social presence at the moment, we recommend focusing on major platforms like Facebook and Twitter in order to reach more voters. Bigger, mainstream platforms will allow you to connect with a larger audience, a factor not yet present with Clubhouse due to its exclusivity.
If you feel like you are ready to take your digital presence to the next level, Clubhouse is a great place to have real, meaningful discussions with people – which is incredibly important in today’s digital landscape. You can take advantage of the audio-only, conversational nature of the platform and take your digital organizing efforts onto Clubhouse. For instance, host a community town hall or a weekly room covering trends and issues that come up on the campaign trail. Since Clubhouse is a relatively new platform, this is a great opportunity to establish your candidate as a thought leader and increase name ID efforts through new areas of content.
In a time where we have lost much of our ability to connect and communicate with those around us, Clubhouse seems like the perfect solution.
And be sure to join our new series Sidebar, by speakeasy every other Thursday on Clubhouse. Need an invite? Shoot us a note to [email protected].
We are SpeakEasy Political, the leading tool for campaigns and organizations to easily create high-impact digital media and direct mail campaigns. By leveraging innovative media strategies and our brand building experience, our tech powers Democratic candidates and causes up and down the ballot. SpeakEasy’s Consultant Studio was also built to support consultant teams with leading data, strategic targeting, and comprehensive ad tech to serve as your backend media buying operation.
While programmatic advertising (a process of buying digital ad space through real-time bidding and automation) has become a cornerstone for reaching voters, relying solely on this method — or any method — falls short of the maximum reach available to many campaigns. Embracing a multi-channel approach is essential to maximize
This month, our team is exploring the latest social media trends, email security changes (and their impacts for campaigns), and how political ad spending is shaping the advertising industry as a whole in 2024. First look: Meta won’t recommend political content on Threads. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and
In January’’s “What We’re Reading,” the SpeakEasy team is all about content — how to produce it, where folks are consuming it, and which ad formats are successfully shifting audience behavior. Dive in here: Why vertical videos make a difference in your content. With 57% of global video views coming from mobile