I’ve been talking to you about the 6th marketing fundamental you need to succeed in 2021. I told you that it’s your offer. I went on to reveal these things about creating a powerful offer:
- The 9 Elements You Need to Create a Powerful Offer
- 3 Important Lessons from McDonald’s on How to Create Attractive Offers
- Why You Need to Make Your Offer So Great They’d Have to Be Crazy to Refuse to Buy
Well, today I what to show you how the extremely popular new app called Clubhouse harnessed one of the elements of a powerful offer to create a company that’s now valued at $1 billion.
But first, I need to make sure that you know what Clubhouse is.
What is Clubhouse?
Well, this is what Clubhouse is according to Wikipedia…
“Clubhouse is an invitation-only audio-chat iPhone app launched in April 2020 by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth of Alpha Exploration Co. that offers room for discussions between two or more speakers. In May 2020, the social networking app was valued at nearly $100 million. On January 21, 2021, the valuation reached $1 billion.”
Clubhouse (app) – Wikipedia
How Clubhouse Describes Their App in the Apple App Store
Clubhouse is a space for casual, drop-in audio conversations—with friends and other interesting people around the world.
Go online anytime to chat with the people you follow, or hop in as a listener and hear what others are talking about.
Clubhouse Description in App Store
The most interesting thing about this popular social media app is that it didn’t become popular by accident or by using some new high-tech tool or technique.
It became popular by using an old-school direct response method for creating powerful offers.
Which One of the 9 Elements of a Powerful Offer Did Clubhouse Use?
The element they used was one of the most powerful elements of an irresistible offer: the power of scarcity.
How did they use scarcity? They used it really strategically. Watch what I mean…
1. When the Clubhouse founders, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth, first provided the beta version of the app, they only allowed 1500 people in, many of these being high-profile venture capitalists and celebrities.
These people included people like MC Hammer, Van Jones, Shaka Senghor, and venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.
Did you catch that? They not only used scarcity, but they also harnessed the power of exclusivity by bringing in people that people want access to.
Do you want to know how effective this strategy was? They launched the app in April 2020. By May 20, 2020, they were already valued at $100 million.
2. When they opened it to a wider audience, they didn’t open it to everyone. They limited it to only iPhone users.
This was a smart move because there are 1 billion iPhone users compared to 2.5 million Android users. This helped limit the users to a much smaller pool than if they opened it up to both phone platforms.
But they didn’t stop there. They made the Clubhouse app even more scarce.
3. They made access to it by invite only.
Instead of opening it up to all iPhone users, they made it only available to people who had an invite. This was ingenious. Because by limiting it, it made the app even more desirable to people.
This also made any user who got access to Clubhouse WANT to use their invite because it gave them social clout with their friends, colleagues, and followers.
Basically, they took the basic the old school direct response technique of limiting the number of people who can have your product and they 3Xed it by:
- First making it only available to a limited number of celebrities and high-profile venture capitalists
- Making it only accessible to iPhone users
- Making only obtainable to iPhone users with an invite
Look, I don’t want to discount the fact that the creators of Clubhouse were very smart in making sure that their app had a really unique selling proposition (the 4th marketing fundamental).
That definitely helped give them an edge in the crowded field of companies trying to come up with the next hot social media app.
But it was the fact that they took this U.S.P and paired it with a 3Xed scarcity offer that made it gain such attention so quickly and made it desirable by so many.
My Clubhouse Confession
By the way, I need to admit something before you leave. I need you to know that I’ve never used Clubhouse. Why? Because I have an Android phone. 🙂
But guess what? As soon as they make it available to Android users, and as soon as I get an invite, I’m joining Clubhouse right away.
Their use of exclusivity and scarcity has made their app extremely desirable to me. You see, even though I understand the technique they used, I still can’t resist it. Haha.
The 7th Marketing Fundamental Might Be Delayed
This week and the next are going to be really busy weeks for me. For that reason, I’m not sure when I will be able to write my next article on the 7th marketing fundamental.
I’ll do my best to get the first article written as soon as I can. But it might take a little longer than usual.
Source for Information on Clubhouse: CNBC.com and TheGuardian.com
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