Got Klout? Klout Scores and Social Media Scoring…What's the Big Deal?
Have you heard of Klout? What is "KLOUT?" In it's simplest form, it is a measurement of your social media influence. Do you know your Klout score? Klout is fast becoming a force that cannot be ignored.
What's the big deal about Klout? Why should you care about your Klout score, or any kind of social scoring measurements for that matter? The deal is this … businesses and big brands are using it. Those seeking to do business with you care about it.
Big brands are using it. Giving Klout perks with it. Deciding who is worthy to follow, friend, or do business with based on it. Klout, as in many things when it comes to social media, you pay attention to what the leaders are doing and what they care about.
Klout is the standard for influence. Top brands such as Disney, Audi, and Turner use Klout Perks to reach and engage influencers. Over 3,000 applications and partners use Klout data to display Klout Scores, prioritize based on Score or topics, and segment users.–From Klout FAQ Page
Whether you love it or hate it, Klout and other social scoring sites are being taken seriously by big business. If you are using social media to promote your own brand or business or blog, then you need to understand the significance of paying attention to what the bigger brands are doing.
What does the Klout Score actually measure?
Klout says that their score is "based on your ability to drive action." So they don't score you based on your mere appearance on a given social network, but your interaction and reactions of others to you within those social networks.
They use hundreds of different measurements to put together the main three types of social influence to measure, and they use data from the social media accounts you are most engaged in before factoring in others.
Social Scoring with Klout measures:
True Reach - which is how many people you actually influence and not just the number of friends or followers you have.
Amplification - How much you actually influence your network, based on how often the share or RT your status updates and how many folks you engage with, among other factors.
Network Impact - is based on how often those with influence within your network engage with you and share your content.
How does Klout's social scoring work?
Klout, formed in 2008, has gained momentum among social scoring sites because of its popularity, and because of the number of social media sites you can actually connect to make your score more accurate. While they have jealously guarded their algorithms, essentially they look at your level of engagement across different social networks.
Until recently, these only included Twitter and Facebook, but more recently, Klout has worked to add other networks to their scoring algorithm, including:
- Facebook fanpages
- Google+
- Linked In
- Foursquare
- YouTube
- Tumblr
- Blogger
- WordPress.com
- Last.Fm
- Flickr
According to their FAQs, while adding more networks allows your score to be more accurate, adding a network will "never decrease your score." So connecting any account that you are active on is a good idea if you want your score to more accurately reflect your level of influence.
Real world example…
You could be a CEO of a fairly large company but someone may see that you have a Klout score of 19 and think that your level of influence is not what they are looking for in a prospective joint venture. Even people who don't understand the value can be swayed when presented with the numbers. It is a measurement tool that is sticking and carrying more and more influence every day.
Alright, I'm in, what do I do?
If you have a Twitter account (and your tweets are public), you are already on Klout. Why? Because they use any of your publicly available information to score you, starting with your Twitter account. You will want to start by officially connecting your Twitter account, which will claim your Klout account and allow you to sign in and give +K to others. There is a current limit of 10 klouts a day that you can give to others within your circle of influence to help raise their Klout visability.
From there, decide what other accounts you will want to connect. If you have multiple accounts (perhaps one for your blog and one for your personal use) you can connect them both individually if you want, or merge them together.
You might also like http://kimgarst.com/klout-changes-how-it-measures-your-influence
About Kim
Thanks for explaining this, Kim. There are always new things coming and going, and at times it’s hard to know what to focus on. Lots of “here today and gone tomorrow.” So what you’re saying is that Klout is worth paying attention to … BTW, is the concept similar to where Google is headed with its content/influence rank rather than the old link-based rank?
Great thoughts here, Kim. I just did some Klout testing tonight, and decided to drastically play with the algorithm. I took off every social network from my Klout account (connections) except for Twitter. I dropped from 77 to 67 in just seconds. Interesting to see the worth of your extra connected accounts too. So, be sure to connect them all!
Thanks for sharing.
Christian
Definitely connect them all! Thanks for the comment!
Excellent article by Kim Garst. I am fairly new to Klout, but this article has just convinced me to become more active on the Klout platform, definitely a strong contender….. Thank you Kim!
Thanks for the comment, Richard!
Hi, Kim. I love Klout. I don’t worry about the number of the score but it really helps me to see what days and what types of content engages my followers just by watching what the score does from day to day. It’s an incredible tool.
I agree, Edwina! I think it is going to increase in viability as social media continues to expand. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for the info Kim. I was just wondering about this whole ‘Klout’ thing this week. Your post is well timed for me
Thanks Kim, again your article makes so much sense! It is useful to know, going to bookmark this, and I’ll share it to others asap!
Great explanation Kim!! I thought Kout only allowed 5 but have noticed it is now 10/day. What did I miss? When did that happen?
Thanks for the great explanation Kim! You’ve cleared up a lot of questions that I had about Klout…even though I use it but didn’t know exactly how it worked.
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Another informative article, Kim! Helped me understand what Klout is all about and the need for me to learn more and begin using this tool. Thanks for this great post!
Great post, Kim! To be honest, Klout just feels like one more social network I have to keep up with, so thanks for pointing out how important it is.
Great over-view. I think I’m understanding Klout a bit more now–lol! It’s fun, nice to know it also has a decent reputation. Thanks for laying it our for us!
Hi Kim. Thanks for the explanation about Klout. It is one of those “new” things I have yet to grasp – just been going through the motions. Your posts will serve as a good guide for when I am ready to wrap my brain around it
Thanks so much for clarifying the entire Klout thing!:) You always know exactly how to explain things to make it clearer and understandable. Thanks for a great article:)
I just recently discovered klout a couple of weeks ago and found that I’m just over 60. I think that’s good! Excited to improve from there.
Thanks Kim, never heard of Klout online before!
Thanks for another great post, Kim. I have to admit for some strange reason I like watching my Klout score climb (until today when it dropped hugely!).
I guess I care about Klout because I see other influencers in my niche caring about it, but really, it doesn’t seem to be a very reliable service to me. I wonder, with all their bugs, inaccuracies and changes, how did they get to be so influential??
I’ve decided to just keep serving my market, and eventually my score will (hopefully!) accurately reflect that.
I think the only reason that klout.com should be even a fleeting thought in our minds is because others are looking to klout.com as a measurement stick. It’s just a number and as long as we keep engaging and doing what works for us and our businesses, klout will be irrelevant anyway. Keep up the good work!
With all of the hullabaloo surrounding Klout today, it’s good to revisit the basics and decrease the panic. Thanks for this post, Kim.
This is a great explanation of Klout.com and the way the scoring system works. I’m still on the fence as to how influential Klout scores will be, but for now, I’m using it to my advantage in my market to squash the fly by night competitors that are popping up. If a potential client tells me they are talking with someone else about social media management, I ask what that person’s Klout score is. Granted, mine isn’t all that high, but it is always higher than my competitors around here. Keep up the good work Kim, we hang on your every word.
Thanks for the lesson in Klout 101. Have been using it for sometime, but it was helpful to learn more about it!
Hi Kim, I have been hearing Klout all day today. Their algorithm change really got people talking, I am happy that I only took a 4 point drop from 64 to 60. Klout did say that their new algorithm is more accurate, so if that is truly the case I am all for the change even if my score is less. I wanted to mention that some people tell me “I am not on Klout” and when I tell them that they have a score regardless, they are shocked. I am with you, people should join Klout so that they can have control of this metric which people apparently think is valuable.
This is good to know. I hadn’t added G+ yet because I’m not interacting regularly yet. Thanks as always for making things clear!
I am sure I commented on this post before Kim…perhaps not
Klout has shaken things up again today, I knew something was coming but this was big….I think change is good…it makes us grow, learn and take action. Good post!
Great post Kim. I am glad I signed up many moons ago.
This is an awesome site! What is your Klout?
I am connected on all, but Last.fm. What is that?
great article and timing Thank you
Wow it looks like I need to get on board! Thanks for sharing!
Great information as always, Kim. Thanks. Learned a lot~x0x
Norma Doiron @ the LEARNED Preneur ╰☆╮
This is a great post as I was wondering the same thing…what is the big deal about Klout. With so many Social Media tools, it's hard to keep up with them all! Thanks for sharing this informative article! Many blessings to you my friend!
Thank you, Kim! I now understand Klout much better. I appreciate you taking the time to explain all of this
Thanks for this suggestion, Kim! I gave it a try, then did some hunting & gathering on Twitter. To my surprise, I've got double the followers to than yesterday! I think the Klout score really did something. Thanks!
Hey Kim,
I was just dabbling with Klout when your tweet came up about this post. I am in love with Klout, actually. It tells me where I stand, what the big brands and the Social media super stars are up to. It tells me about who they follow and why. At a glance, it shows me what others mainly talk about. Finally, it's a rush to see how I am performing on Social media.
Lovely concept, really. I just began my journey. Let's see where I go
Ash
And you are rocking it out on @klout too!
Keep up the awesome work (if you want to call it <em>work</em>)!
Thanks Richard
The thing that doesn't make sense with me, is that it takes a computer to decide how engaging we are with our audiences.
Good point!
I think the Klout score is very much overrated. Certainly brands offer perks to people with higher scores, and I get perk offers from time to time, but they fall into two categories. Either I have no interest or relevance to me. I received a McDonald's perk yesterday. I haven't been in a McDonalds in 20 years. Or, it's a great perk but is unavailable in 30 seconds.
It's just another way for people to get free stuff and I have seen no data that suggests it increases purchase intent, awareness, or recommend to a friend. If you've got that data, I'd love to see it.
How will brands track and attribute sales or loyalty to the hard costs of offering perks? If they cannot do that, then interest will fall. It will move from test to success (only if it produces believable results) or it will simply die.
Thanks for reading.
Steve, I agree about Klout but some definitely tune into what people’s scores are. I don’t believe that Klout is a true measure of one’s influence for sure.