Building Brand, Community, and Expertise: Using Clubhouse to Advance Your Practice

If you own a medical practice, you may be wondering how you can better reach your patients and the community you serve. Many doctors have already learned the importance of using social media.

Social media can be used to show what your practice is currently doing and the ways you are impacting the community. It can also advertise any services or promotions you have running. It is also a fantastic way to share the research you have been working on and to start conversations.

However, many doctors have found more success using Clubhouse recently instead of more mainstream platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

What is Clubhouse?

Clubhouse is an audio-based community. It focuses more on conversations and live audio discussions rather than posting statuses or photos.

You can choose to just listen to others, or you can contribute to the conversation and add your own ideas. It is similar to a podcast but with many contributors and ideas all in one forum.

You can also engage with many different people at one time, similar to video chatting platforms like Zoom. Platforms like Zoom are ill-equipped for managing multiple speakers at once. Someone starts talking, another person chimes in, pretty soon you've four people talking at once but all you hear is a cacophony of unintelligible sound. Clubhouse, on the other hand, is better equipped. 

How is Clubhouse used?

Clubhouse has many features and uses that can help promote yourself and your practice.

Promoting Lectures and Books

Doctors and medical professionals often use Clubhouse to promote a book or educational lecture. This is also a great way to raise awareness of something you are doing within the community.

It also encourages people to take part in your lecture, event, or buy your book or other products.

Discuss Heated Topics

There are always debates going on in the medical world. People love to discuss these topics and hear others' opinions. Many doctors will start a conversation about a heavily debated topic and then listen to how people respond to it.

As a medical professional, it is a good idea to know how other professionals and patients feel about a topic. This will help you to better reach them and decide how you can approach the topic that is in the best interest of everyone.

For example, Clubhouse is a great platform to discuss vaccination protocols, stem cell research, and other topics that patients may be confused about. Getting advice on how other doctors approach these subjects can help you in your practice. 

Join casual conversations

Other doctors will begin a conversation allowing people to ask common questions about their medical specialty. This allows people to get to know you and your practice.

Who can I use Clubhouse to communicate with?

Clubhouse can be used to communicate with both fellow medical professionals and other people within the community.

It is a great way to converse with medical professionals and to see how other people in your field are responding to and dealing with certain issues. For example, you could discuss the best practices for treating dry eye or the debate of vaccination during the COVID pandemic. 

It can also allow you to bounce ideas off one another and seek advice. If a new technology or equipment has been created, Clubhouse can be a good way to see how fellow doctors are using the new technology in their practice.

Talking to non-medical professionals through Clubhouse can also help you increase your reputation. It can allow you to use your profession and knowledge to help people who may not necessarily be your patient.

The Cons of Clubhouse

Clubhouse is generally recognized as a great platform for medical professionals. However, like every social media platform, there are some cons.

Audio only

While this is generally a pro, it can be harder than simply posting photos or statuses depending on your environment. For example, if you have small children or a busy household, it can be hard to find a quiet time to listen to and contribute your voice to live conversations. All the audio is in a live presentation format, so you will need to be available in real-time. 

There aren’t any text features with Clubhouse, so you will need to be fully present when listening. There’s no chat function, so questions need to be physically addressed instead of added to a running presentation list. 

Still Very New

Clubhouse is much newer than other platforms like Instagram or Twitter. It has fewer users and therefore fewer people will be reached if you use this platform. When growing your business or raising awareness about something specific, you might want to consider using Clubhouse in addition to other platforms.

The app is also still working on features and bugs as it grows. The more time it is around and the more users it gets, the better the features will get.

Privacy issues

As a medical professional, you will need to be hyperaware of the topics you are discussing. Make sure not to mention patient specifics or sensitive information.

Keep in mind that all voice recordings can be extracted and cataloged for future use. Basically, anything you say can be accessed later. This is true of all social media though.

Key Takeaways

By joining Clubhouse now, you will be one of the original users. This will show your patients and the medical community that you are involved on platforms and are willing to learn new social media apps.

The audio-only feature is also great if you are not keen on posting constant pictures. Allowing people to hear your voice also lets them see you as a real person, not just someone in a white coat. Clubhouse also makes it easy for a doctor to create a personal brand by attracting new patients and continuing their professional development. All these factors make Clubhouse a worthwhile investment.