If you spend much time around social media marketers, you’ve ultimately heard about Klout or “Klout scores which are calculated by Klout.com.” The Klout Score is a 1-100 score that is said to represent your influence on the social web. Currently the Klout score comprises Twitter and Facebook with LinkedIn, Youtube and Foursquare in beta.
According to Klout, they measure influence in one’s ability to drive actions but don’t consider:
- Number of followers or friends
- Number of tweets or status updates (exception: when you are too noisy – this will cause your score to drop).
Klout goes on to say, “At its essence the score is calculated by looking at what proportion of the content you create is acted upon and how influential the people are performing the actions. It should also be noted that we calculate Klout Score in the context of specific topics also. We currently use this to target Klout Perks campaigns.”
Those Klout campaigns can include things such as product samples such as the one I received from Axe or special offers.
Why should you care about your Klout Score?
According to Klout, “At the most basic level it is a helpful way to evaluate your effectiveness on social media compared to everyone else. ”
In reality, your Klout score is just a number. What is most important in social media is if it is helping you meet your business or personal goals. I use social media to network with other professionals primarily, but also to learn about what’s happening in my industry, to inform people about my services, get referrals, and to gain new business.
The results can be somewhat subjective – a great new business connection, a new friendship, etc., but can also tie directly to the bottom line, like a new client for example. So what it comes down to is that I while I may look at my Klout score, it’s only one of many factors in determining the success of social media for my business.
Find out your Klout score at Klout.com and share it in the comments below.
