By Rachit Sharma
Change is the only thing that is consistent in our life, and in the long run of life, we crave for it too. We, as humans, have a tendency to always look for something new and different from the mainstream. A few years ago Instagram and Snapchat were that ‘new’ that attracted everyone. They were fun, entertaining, and most importantly different from what we had. While they are still trending, there is a question that has started to rise in recent times: ‘what’s next?’. This question was officially answered in April 2020 with the launch of Clubhouse.
What is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is an audio-based platform where people can have real-time discussions in private rooms, through audio chat only. The simplicity and freshness of this idea is what makes it so likeable. But why only audio? The answer to it is simple- transfer of emotions.
Traditional text messages lack the ability to convey the emotions which one has regarding and thing the conversation is about and can lead to confusion. Audio messages overcome text messages in this ability as they convey the meaning of one’s message in a far more understandable way.
Its diversity and inclusiveness are unquestionable. As it is an audio-only platform, there is less or practically no focus on how you look or what is your lifestyle; things that really matter are your intellect and personality. There is literally a group for anything you want to talk about whether it is social, knowledge-related, or even comic books and if there isn’t one there of your preference, then you have the privilege to create one for anything you want to talk about.
Along with a feed where you can see the discussions happening, there’s also a list of upcoming events which you can even add on your calendar:
All these are curated based on your interests and selections, along with the clubs you follow:
Clubhouse’s Impact
These features had a huge impact on masses which can be seen by the fact that in mid-January 2021, Clubhouse saw 2 million visitors in a single week. According to Backlinko, Clubhouse has 10 million weekly active users, up from 600,000 in December 2020 and is currently ranked #16 in the App Store under the “Social Networking” category. With a $1 billion valuation currently in the market and all this in less than a year and a half.
So if people are here then brands and influencers must grab this opportunity to make a mark on this brand new territory. But what does it have for them?
Advantage to Brands on Clubhouse
In recent times, social media and influencers have played a great role in changing the way of marketing for brands to a great extent. As the masses are on social media sites brands have to be there to connect with them. Clubhouse is a new territory for them to put their banner on, as it comes with a handful of benefits for them.
- Better communication: In clubhouse rooms you have a direct conversation with your consumers listening to their suggestions and complaints, and may even be able to resolve some of their queries.
- Transparency, authenticity and spontaneity: As important it is for every brand to have these qualities as their stepping stones. It is equally important for their consumers to feel the same about their brand. Clubhouse gives brands a fair chance to show their moral qualities along with their product.
- Brand awareness: A detailed study suggests that audio form of information has more impact on the listener than the textual form. At clubhouse brand can utilize its audio-only feature to spread word about them among consumers in an effective and faster manner.
- Target Audience: For Brands, it is important to know their potential customer so that they can cater for their needs efficiently. Rooms feature in Clubhouse allow brands to know and monitor their consumers. This helps them to know their target audience better.
- Feedback: Consumers honest and quick feedback helps a brand to understand their market and launch their product accordingly. At Clubhouse, brands can get the opinions of their customers directly. They can even run pilot studies for a product before its official launch at ease.
Supporting Influencers…
Influencer marketing is booming right now which is attracting hundreds of youngsters to become a social media influencer. But as the reward is high and so is the competition, India has seen a huge surge in the number of influencers since 2020.
A new platform like Clubhouse provides influencers with opportunities to grow, for both new and existing influencers.
- Creator Grant Program: Clubhouse understanding the value of creators/influencers launched this program from 14-31march 2021. In order to provide creators brands, equipment, and financial support.
- Better engagement: Influencers can talk directly to their audience in their public chat rooms. Which help them to have a greater impact on their audience as this is live and candid.
- Discoverability and Growth: Direct conversation with the audience allows influencers to show their personality and social skills to make a loyal fan base. Which helps them to grow and make them discoverable to brands for their influencer marketing campaigns.
- Monetization: While large scale influencers get good deals, small ones struggle to make money out of their content. Clubhouse features like tickets, tipping and subscriptions allow any influencer to make some good bucks for what they serve to their audience.
Is Clubhouse an Alternative
Since the launch and overnight popularity gained by Clubhouse, people have started viewing it as a competition to video and photo-based platforms. Some even claim it is the future of social media. Clubhouse’s uniqueness and benefits are clear and it clearly interprets a bright future for it, but more than a competition it is a tool whose full potential is still not known. According to Sensemakers and Mindsmith, 53% of respondents saw Clubhouse as an alternative to radio stations and Podcasts, and 45% — to online conferences.
However, while the vast majority of the least active audience (64%) considers Clubhouse as an opportunity to distract themselves from their routines. If we listen briefly to experts, the app fans look at the possible areas of using Clubhouse much wider. As the data shows Clubhouse is a platform with much potential but currently more than an alternative it seems to have made a room of its own kind.
Conclusion
Taking on challenges and turning lives around is what entrepreneurs do. They use their innovation and creativity to provide something outside the box. Clubhouse is a result of such an endeavour, its creator has tried to provide its user with something new and different from their daily routine. Although it is not perfect and is still developing. It has shown everyone what power a unique idea holds in itself.
Hobo.Video is a platform having similar innovation and uniqueness at its core; the creative minds behind it have made sure that it caters for the needs of its users without any lack. Their ultimate goal is to provide users with a medium to grow. All you need to do is to register and start your journey with us.
Intrigued by the world of influencers, want to learn more, then you can start by reading about the life of Nano and Micro influencers to begin with.
If you are already an influencer then having knowledge of How to Collaborate With Brands can really get you ahead in the game.
