Clubhouse is the social media platform that is receiving the most hype at the moment, says Steven van Belleghem, but how can you make the most of it to enhance your customer experience strategy?
Social media has become such a major part of daily life for most people today that it is now almost a given that brands will include it as part of their customer experience strategy. But while the likes of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are well established, at what point should you consider embracing new, emerging platforms?
Clubhouse is perhaps the social media platform that is receiving the most hype at the moment, and over the last few months I have regularly heard friends around the world say they’re using it to find interesting content and contacts. At the same time though, many of them are scratching their heads over how they could use Clubhouse for their organisation’s customer experience strategy.
So, I wanted to share four customer experience tactics that businesses of all sizes and industries can use to start getting some traction on Clubhouse.
I think the best description of Clubhouse I have seen was in a Guardian article ‘Part talkback radio, part conference call, part house-party, Clubhouse is an audio-chat-based social networking app’. Put simply, users can listen in to conversations, interviews and discussions between interesting people on various topics. Think of it like tuning into a live podcast, but with an added layer of exclusivity that makes it slightly different from most social media platforms.
There are many interesting people on the platform already, the threshold to join in a conversation is very low and the content is quite good. Interestingly, as we have seen when any new social network emerges, the attention span of its users is high so now is a good time to start experimenting with it. Unlike Instagram or Facebook, however, the big downside is that it is a time-consuming platform and you really need to sit down and focus on this one to find the conversations you really value.
I work with brands all around the world on their customer experience strategy, and there are some rules from other channels that that you can use on Clubhouse.
1Share the stage with your customers. When you set up a Clubhouse event, it is a good idea to invite some of your customers onto the stage with you. As well as improving the quality and authenticity of the conversation, it will help also put your customer in the spotlight, and they will appreciate the opportunity to bring in their own expertise, indirectly helping them promote their own company.
2Share expertise on industry hot topics. Your knowledge and expertise can be one the of best ways to offer real value for your customers, so look for the hot topics in your industry. Find the subjects and trends that your customers will be interested in, then plan a room to have a in-depth conversation through a moderator and an expert panel.
These sessions work well when you kick off with some guided questions from your moderator, before opening up the floor to questions from the audience. Remember to invite customers in advance so they can add the session to their calendar, just like they would for a traditional offline event.
3Attend your customers’ Clubhouse events. As well as being a platform for sharing content for customers, Clubhouse presents a fantastic opportunity to learn more about your customers. By joining your customers in one of their rooms it can bring new insights and learnings that may help you optimise how you meet their needs, as well as enhancing your relationship as they will appreciate knowing that you care about their content.
4Organise a ‘premium’ Clubhouse event. Like with all social media, giving away content for free is a great way to get traction, but it can also be a great idea to host ‘premium’ events on Clubhouse. Think of these premium events in the same way you would organise an important physical event in the pre-pandemic world.
Naturally, for a premium event you will need a nice line-up, so you could invite people customers ordinarily wouldn’t be able to access such as your CEO or a high-profile external guest – some of the busiest rooms I have seen had speakers like Elon Musk and Marc Zuckerberg – but the most important rule is to offer real value to the attendees so prepare this session properly to ensure engaging conversation.
5Keep a rhythm. One of the questions I am often asked if how often brands should use Clubhouse. I don’t think there is a ‘right’ answer – you can create ad hoc rooms or create a daily/weekly/monthly shows, and both can work. However, I would always advise that you settle into a steady rhythm to help you build an audience. Customers will start to know when you are live so they can organise their schedules accordingly, and crucially, as with all social media, if you create content regularly the impact is way higher than if you just show up once.
Steven van Belleghem is one of the world’s leading thought-leaders, speakers and authors on customer engagement. His new book, The Offer You Can’t Refuse is out now.
