Have you been asking yourself, should I or shouldn’t I add Klout to my social media schedule?
Maybe you are already maxed out on time just using Facebook and Twitter or spend most of your social media time on LinkedIn. New social media platforms are popping up every day and it is quite easy to get overwhelmed. Some people are early adopters and love to dive right in and some people have a wait and see attitude but whichever one fits you I suggest that before you begin any new social media platform that you think about strategy. Yes, the “s” word that a lot of business owners hate to hear. You wouldn’t start a branding or marketing campaign without a strategy would you? Or would you?
Klout measures your influence on your social networks.
But what does that really mean and more importantly why should we use it? First, let’s understand their goal.
“We believe everyone has influence. Our goal is to help you understand and leverage that influence.” – Klout
Therefore, Klout is a tool to help you measure and leverage your influence.
How does Klout measure that influence?
Klout measures influence online using data from your social networks. Anywhere you have an online presence, you have the opportunity to influence people by creating or sharing content that inspires actions such as likes, retweets, comments and more. The more engagement your posts receive, the more influential you are. Klout uses this information to provide you a Klout Score that measures your overall influence.
So back to strategy… Just like Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media platforms Klout is a great way to find people to connect too. Since we link our social media accounts to Klout so they can use them to give us a Klout score one of my favorite strategies is when I see someone that I value their opinion give +k to someone and it shows up in my Twitter stream or Facebook news feed. When someone chooses to post that they have given or received +k the post provides a link to that persons Klout account where you will be able to see all their social media links to their accounts, who they consider to be influential, what lists they have and who they choose to be a part of those lists etc. A virtual gold mine of information…
What is +k and what is the strategy of using it?
When a Klout user gives +k to another they are giving them 3rd party credibility on topics that Klout says you are influential about OR topics that you choose to have. So if you are a speaker, author, coach or are an authority on topics such as marketing, sales or social media can you see the benefit of having others give you +k and having the ability to post it to your Twitter and Facebook accounts? And having them post to theirs that they gave the +k to you? Similar to Follow Friday on Twitter but much more powerful since you have control of the topics. When people give you +k you can use the +k points to “purchase” topics of your choice. This is my favorite strategy because I believe in the principle of giving first so by giving +k to others this helps you to acquire +k points you can use to purchase the topics you want so others can give you +k in the topics you choose. Brilliant isn’t it?
If you have not explored Klout yet, I hope you will decide to check it out and I would love to connect with you at www.klout.com/pattyfarmer, if you are already using Klout what is your favorite strategy.
Shut the front door! There are more posts like this? Yes!
About Patty Farmer
Patty, thank you for your post about Klout. As I think about Twitter, there is a list of unwritten rules about what not to do: don’t spam, don’t promote yourself constantly, etc. I’m wondering, are there any things we should avoid doing on Klout?