Thursday, April 19, 2012

You don't like Klout, you don't understand Klout, or you have been living under a rock.

Get over it. It's time to put on our big girl panties and realize that what Klout scores you on will exist whether it's there to do the math for you or not. So lets start with the basics.

The score (or in this case mine). I will admit, it needs improving. Before Klout changed (yes, it used to score you differently!) my score was 12 points higher! I never really got over it.

You are scored on a Scale from 1-100 but you need to get that school grading system out of your mind because the only people who get A's are the people like Justin Bieber.

Even Amanda Hocking, who we all secretly want to be when we grow up, wouldn't get a passing grade if we use that old way of thinking.

And you can't even think of 50 as being the average, or the median. The average Klout score is actually 20, so I guess I'm not so run of the mill after all.

The good news is, the lower your Klout score, the easier it is to improve it. So lets talk deets. Where does this number come from? Remember in my last post Social Media: A Seven Days a Week Kind of Job I described what Klout does as this; "It measures how much of a difference you make in your social media bubble." And here is how. Klout scores you in the following categories.

True Reach

What is it, and why is it important? Well it is a more accurate representation of the people you influence. I say accurate, because if you see my True Reach is only 1k. When in fact, I have more than 3k Twitter Followers, and Facebook people, blog followers etc. The sad truth is, not everyone that follows us gives a damn about us. Your job is to change that, by providing awesome content. The more people you interact with, the higher this number is likely to be.


Like speakers. Like enormous speakers the size of the internets. Sure, you could shout your message from the top of the tallest mountain you could find. BUT NO ONE WOULD HEAR YOU. Amplification is all about spreading your content, and about how much people are influenced by it.

Network Impact:

The one time it's alright for all your friends to be cooler than you are. Network Impact is based on how important the people you interact with are. Great news, their coolest rubs off.

Did you know, I dig when people talk about me behind my back? Why? Because Klout also keeps track of how many mentions you get, how many retweets, how many followers, comments, etc. Witness:

So see, it was all there whether you were looking at the big picture or not. The question is, how can you use this information? Now I will admit, sometimes it makes me a little crazy. I see church moms, and Scentsy sales reps with higher Klout scores than me--because they gossip with their lady friends all day every day while the kids are at school. Maybe one day we will get a conversational impact score ;)

I also recently disconnected my Google+ account from Klout--because as much as Google would like me to be, I just am not that into it. It did increase my score, though only a little.

Now, I have told you all of this because I actually have spent a few months formulating a plan to increase my Klout score. I just don't have time to implement it until the fall because hey, I have to have a baby before then. The higher your Klout score is, the harder it is to increase but you should still be able to bring it up by improving your content. Timing is also important too. When you attempt to spread the content. I love sharing random facts and blog post a 3am as much as the next insomniac writer--but it's better if you share when there are more people on. I'll get into that later.


Jenn said...

I really don't get how Klout measures everything. I have 150 blog followers, most of whom never comment on my posts, 20 twitter followers, and yet I have a score of 45, I think because I'm on Facebook so much and have a lot of FB friends. But my Facebook account is personal, and I don't share links to my blog or anything on it. I think if I understood how Klout works a little better I'd get more out of it...

Thanks for posting!

Angela Kulig said...

Yes, Facebook is very important. I use mine mostly for family and real life friends yet Klout often thinks I do most of my infleuncing there. It doesn't matter that I am chatting about Disney on Ice and sharing pictures of my kids with the grandparents--it all looks the same to Klout and I think that is the biggest drawback!

M.J. Fifield said...

I haven't interacted with Klout very much (I think my score is holding steady in the twenties) but according to them, I am influential on the subject of cookies.

Thanks for this post.

Paige Kellerman said...

Oh Klout, that ficklest of cyber boyfriends. Does he like me? Does he not? I'm working to build my score, but, you're right, it is frustrating to try and figure out what's working to buld your score and what's not. I wish it didn't matter, but the fact of the matter is that publishers and agents are really starting to care about it. So my crusade to become more interesting continues!

Angela Kulig said...

Paige you are absolutely right. It is important to important people, because it is the quickest way to get a snapshot of you on the internet. We all know that agents often go on about how they don't have time for anything (except possibly complaining about how they don't have enough time via Twitter). It's more of a popularity contest than people realize these days.

Denise Young said...

Great post! I'll be teaching a workshop about brand in a few weeks, and I'll be sure to refer anyone who has Klout-related questions.

Rhonda Hopkins said...

Great post! Thanks for the info on Klout. :-)

Maggie K. said...

I am so glad I came across this post. I was talking (complaining) to my husband last night about how Klout works. I was telling him that If they actually measure my influence based on my Tweets & followers, Facebook interaction and feedback, as well as my blog posts and comments then I should have a higher score. My score just went down 1 point from 47 to 46. I am not sure I will ever understand how it works, I am not sure I will keep working towards a higher number either. At this point in am in a whatever mode. Thanks for posting this!

Jodi Lea Stewart said...

I love Klout. It IS a hard taskmaster, and fickle beyond words. What better tool, however, for measuring our social media platform? As Angela Kulig said, it's an important way to give a snapshot of our Internet savvy and involvement to agents, editors, publishers, reviewers, etc.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this on Klout. I learned that I am influential in teaching and writing and dogs and cats. That's pretty impressive. Yes? Well, actually, nothing to write home about.

Cheerie! said...

I would like to give Klout a damn good clout. The we could all stop worrying about it and go back to obsessing over something more meaningful. Like our Amazon rankings... :0(

Angela Kulig said...

LOL, well to each their own ;)


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