• by Maria Bailey , Columnist, May 4, 2021

Clubhouse is literally the talk of social media.  The term emerging is social talk -- one part podcast, one part verbal chat.

According to the company Social Media Today, the Clubhouse app has over 13 million downloads. Use is by invitation only and currently not available for Androids, but social media early adopters are spending hours every day moderating rooms. 

Full disclosure: I’m a Clubhouse junky.  I love the app and the interaction it offers me with clients, consumers and topical experts. As with every new social media platform, brands are waiting to see if the momentum continues, trying to figure out how to integrate it into their marketing plans.

Recently two early adopter brands found clever ways to leverage Clubhouse to get up close and personal with their customers. They serve as great examples of how Clubhouse can be integrated into a marketing plan.

Big Dot of Happiness, an ecommerce party supply company, promoted its new collection by partnering with The Real Moms Club moderators to host a discussion on “Creating Memories With Your Children.”  The room had over 200 moms in it and offered Big Dot Founder & CEO Sherri Yukel the opportunity to share her passion for party planning with them.  All this while she introduced her product line to the moms in the room in an authentic and genuine manner.  Best of all, the moms were able to ask specific questions about products and party planning and have them answered by the brand. 

I’m sure that every one of those 200 moms left the room feeling like they'd had a personal discussion with the CEO of Big Dot and told at least one other mom about the experience.  Clubhouse created true word-of-mouth marketing for Big Dot, which left with new insights gathered through the comments consumers made during the event.

Do you think it’s impossible to sell toys without allowing customers to touch or see them?  One game maker proved you wrong, when he recently participated in a Clubhouse presentation and toy giveaway. Over 2,000 mom influencers in a room on Clubhouse were able to hear firsthand how he'd designed and created his game. He shared a story about his daughter seeing his game in Target for the first time and answered questioned from the audience. He even gave a few games away via the hand-raising feature on the app.  Influencers attending the Clubhouse event subsequently shared their experience on Instagram and Twitter.

Another toymaker has taken a multipronged approach to the app, not only participating in toy giveaway rooms, but also hosting a weekly toy industry room.  The industry room allows him to interact with potential distributors and retailers while deepening his relationships with toy marketers, makers and media. 

Social talk is the new frontier of social media, with Clubhouse leading the charge.  There’s so many exciting new ways for brands to get up close and personal with customers.    In my eyes (and ears), Clubhouse is the perfect place to start.