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 https://kimgarst.com/klout-changes-how-it-measures-your-influence
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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!
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! 🙂
I agree, Edwina! I think it is going to increase in viability as social media continues to expand. Thanks for the comment!
Definitely connect them all! Thanks for the comment!
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!
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.
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.
Great post Kim. I am glad I signed up many moons ago. 🙂
great article and timing Thank you
Wow it looks like I need to get on board! Thanks for sharing!
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 🙂
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.
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.
Peter,
These things will continue to evolve so hang in there, and just keep doing what you are doing. When they add in other factors you will be ahead of the game – Boom Care Squad – Aida