How to use Clubhouse to grow your online presence

Did you know that Clubhouse has 2 million weekly average users?

Many people who use the app spend hours on it — either actively hosting, moderating, or speaking in rooms or passively listening to discussions. It’s this unique balance of many active users and a long average session duration that has a lot of people hopping on the Clubhouse bandwagon.

In this post, we’re taking a close look at this app and how you can leverage it to grow your online presence.

Clubhouse background

Founded in 2020, Clubhouse is an invitation-only social media network that’s solely audio based. It launched in April, right around the same time as the first shelter-in-place orders went into effect, and its popularity has consistently increased since. That’s especially been the case since November 2020, when more celebrities and famous internet entrepreneurs began hosting rooms, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bethenny Frankel, and Paris Hilton.

This is an impressive feat, considering the app is still technically in beta and only available on iOS devices (i.e., iPhones and iPads with cell signals).

Clubhouse is kind of like a hybrid of Twitter, podcasts, and the hallway track at in-person events, where you can enter audio rooms on specific topics and join the discussion. While you can find rooms on everything from Broadway musicals and karaoke to cryptocurrencies and dating, the audience skews heavily toward entrepreneurs and marketers.

7 tips to grow your online presence using Clubhouse

Any time you have a new app, first-mover advantage comes into play. If you join early — and Clubhouse is still in its early days — it can be easier to stand out and grow your online presence. Here are a few tips to help you do just that.

1. Define your goals

Before you dive in, it’s helpful to have an idea of what you want to get out of the app. This allows you to work with the app more intentionally. Maybe you want to raise awareness for a new product line or do something more informal — like connect with smart and interesting people in your industry.

For example, if your goal is to raise awareness for a new product line, you might want to host rooms related to the topic. You don’t want to be too salesy — after all, that can turn people off. However, if you host rooms that demonstrate your expertise on a related topic, you can offer a lot of value to people who might also be interested in your product.

Or if you’re looking to meet and chat with smart people in your field, you might want to steer toward the smaller rooms (think fewer than 30 people) where you can learn and connect with people in real conversations.

2. Curate who you follow

The people, topics, and clubs you follow make up your main feed on Clubhouse, so you should be intentional and thoughtful about who you follow and which rooms you join on the app.

In addition, Clubhouse gives each new member a free invitation — and then additional invitations as you become more active. Be strategic with who you invite since your name will show up on their profile page.

3. Leverage your following on other platforms

One of the fastest ways to grow your presence on Clubhouse is to leverage your audiences on other platforms — such as Twitter and Instagram — or those on your email list.

For example, if you’re going to host a room all about copywriting best practices, you might want to ping your email list one or two times beforehand so they can join and ask questions.

4. Optimize your bio

While your bio on Clubhouse can be much longer than those on your Twitter and Instagram accounts, Clubhouse’s search algorithms heavily weight the first three lines of your profile. You should put the most important information up front.

Another thing that helps with discoverability is connecting your Instagram and Twitter accounts to your profile. Since there is no in-app chat, many people encourage folks to @ or DM them on either Twitter or Instagram.

Another popular way to continue the conversation is to encourage people to sign up for your email list or newsletter. For example, if you use Jotform, you could add your newsletter signup form directly in your bio.

5. Host a room

Of course, one of the best ways to build your online presence is to host rooms on Clubhouse. No matter the topic, there’s probably a room or two about it.

If the thought of hosting your first room is a bit intimidating, team up with a friend or colleague for the first few you do.

6. Get onstage

You can also move yourself up by moderating or simply getting onstage in other rooms.

However, once you’re onstage, don’t hog the mic. It’s way better to be an active listener and just ask one or two really thoughtful questions.

6. Apply to start a club

Finally, if you’re hosting rooms regularly (at least three times), you can apply to start a club on Clubhouse. This gives you more visibility than any of the other methods listed since you can invite members to join and you and/or members can host rooms as part of your club.