Clubhouse: How the Platform Plans to Monetize

The fast-growing startup, Clubhouse, is taking its next step to establishing itself as the hottest new social media platform.

The Clubhouse app distinguishes itself from its competitors through its audio-based content and invite-only marketing strategy.

But up until now, it hasn’t had a way to make money off of its popularity.

While the app has been in beta-mode since its 2020 release, Clubhouse is valued at an impressive $100 million because of its elite user base compiled of celebrities and tech moguls.

Despite that, it is only now finding a way to give their users sponsorships through their launching of Clubmarket.

HOW DID IT START?

During a virtual town hall led by Product Hunt CEO, Ryan Hoover, the company was discussing ways to build on the Clubhouse experience. From this collaboration of ideas, Clubmarket was born.

Product Hunt executives saw this as an opportunity to fill in this void and elevate Clubhouse creators along with their ideas.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

As of now, Clubmarket has four different options to monetize: room branding, shoutouts, product giveaways, and executive interviews.

In Clubhouse, users can create chat rooms to discuss particular topics, and others can join the rooms to participate in the conversation. With room branding, a sponsor can buy a room related to the company’s field of expertise. Sometimes, the sponsor can determine what the topic of the chat room will be.

Similar to a sponsored podcast or radio show, hosts can also give shoutouts to businesses and their products.

In the same vein, hosts can give away company products to users to garner more attention.

Another sponsorship method is paying a host to interview an executive.

This can have the dual effect of highlighting the host’s platform by having a successful executive with an already established following become more aware of the host while lending the audience of the host to the executive for them to become more aware of the company. It’s a win-win.

For instance, Elon Musk was interviewed last month by a Clubhouse host, attracting so much attention it pushed the limits of the chat room’s capacity. While it wasn’t a sponsored interview, the host presumably enjoyed the audience a big name like Musk brought.

Clubmarket is currently taking early applications from both brands and hosts.

For hosts, sponsorships are determined by their follower count. Hosts who are in the tech field and can offer an audience of 100 to 250 people can earn about $500. Hosts outside of the technology niche only get $250.

Vice versa, brands can pay $500 for their products to be advertised to an audience of 250 people in a tech chat room. With non-tech-related rooms, they can reach an audience of 500 people for the same price.

While it’s clear Clubmarket is gearing towards Clubhouse’s Silicon Valley-based users, hosts outside the tech world can still have access to the international brands the app partners with, such as Adidas, Nike, GoDaddy, Robinhood, P&G, Adobe, and more.

By setting Clubmarket into motion, Clubhouse is taking a step closer to establishing itself an influential social media platform.