Got Klout? Use It For Marketing

So by now you’re familiar with Klout. If not, take one step back and read my previous post on getting started with Klout, and this post will make more sense.

Whether you like it or not, Klout is being used to develop your online profile, so stay ahead of the curve and use it to your advantage! But do you know to incorporate Klout into your marketing strategy! Here’s 4 quick tips to get you started:

1. If you’ve already registered at Klout, you know you have a Klout Style. You can use this to get a pretty good idea of what you’re chatting about online. Suppose you don’t have Klout in a category that’s your specialty/niche – checking your Klout influence can help you determine what you need to be chatting/sharing on the social networks to develop your overall Klout profile. Even though it’s relatively new, I’ve already heard talk of people checking Klout scores as part of their hiring process. So don’t go calling yourself an expert these days if you don’t have some easily found stats to back up your claim – someone just might do a social background check on you and give preference to someone with more Klout!
2. Much like many social media platforms, you can use the search usernames to find people who share similar interests or prospective clients. With Klout you can get a summary of topics they post about. Suppose you follow someone on Twitter but not Facebook (or vice versa), you may want to connect with them on other platforms as well, thus expanding your reach and exposure. You can also use this for competitor analysis couldn’t you? For example, I could check the Klout score of my competitor and see how our profiles compare. As I stated in the first tip, people are already comparing Klout scores for hiring purposes whether you agree with it or not.
3. #Kloutchat is an interesting tweetchat centered around using Klout. This as excellent marketing research tool to use to learn how other companies are leveraging Klout. You can learn new ideas and adapt them to your own company. I’ve learned quiet a bit just lurking around #Kloutchat.
4. Learn how you influence your followers. Use your Klout Score Analysis to find out why you’re influential. Are your followers retweeting your posts? Are you starting discussions? Are you creating calls to action? Understanding the reasons and methods you’re using to gain influence can help you refine your social media strategy to build your brand. You can figure out what’s working for you and what you need to improve upon.

Klout has other tools you can incorporate into your strategy, and since it’s relatively new there are constant improvements. I can’t say whether Klout is right or wrong. But as a marketer I must learn to navigate social media platforms and figure out how to best utilize them for myself and my clients. If you want to maintain control of your brand, you must learn the tools people are using to make decisions about your brand, and Klout happens to be one of those tools. Any platform that gives a quantifiable measure of your online profile will certainly cause a stir. Whether you think Klout is good, bad, or you’re indifferent, understand Klout and make it work for you!

Ciao,
Miss Kemya

A Beginner’s Guide to Klout

Klout is one of the latest social media platforms quickly gaining in popularity, and it’s useful to determine your online influence. It assigns a numerical score to your sphere of influence and compiles a neat profile of your online persona, including which topics you’re influential about, who influences you, etc. Here’s why Klout is important: you’re on Klout if you’re using social media, even if you never registered at klout.com.  So why not understand your score, range and circle of influence and be in control of it! Manage your Klout score and use it to build your brand!

Since Klout is relatively new for many people, here’s 5 quick tips to help you understand Klout. Consider this your Klout 101:

1. You have Klout in different categories, it just depends on your online conversations. These categories can change depending on what you’ve been online chatting about. For the most part my topics have been pretty accurate. I must admit, every now and then a strange category creeps in – my profile shows me having Klout about the Pittsburgh Penguins – huh?!
2. You can show your appreciation and give influential people some Klout, also known as +K. Haven’t you seen those tweets/Facebook posts that say something like “I just gave so and so +K on social media…”  – now you what they’re talking about. Ever wondered how to do this? On klout.com, go to the ‘Friends’ tab, then perform a search for a person’s username. Where it lists their “influential about”, click “see all” and you’ll view all the categories. Form here you can click a topic to give a +K. Then you can brag about it as a post on Twitter or Facebook, so it’s super easy to let that person know you gave them Klout. Here’s a screenshot to get you started with +K (don’ want you to get lost):
3. You may give Klout (+K) 5 times a day. Most of us do not do this 5 times everyday, but a +K shout out is always nice and appreciated. I try to give +K a few times a week.
4. Klout helps you understand your circle of influence. Your profile includes users who influence you, and you can manually add to this list. You can also see who you influence, which is always interesting. Wouldn’t you like to get a picture of your online circle of influence?
5. You can earn perks for having Klout – I just received a free Spotify account!

As of the date of this post, you can compile a Klout score based on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Foursquare. However, be on the lookout because they will be incorporating additional platforms like Google+, YouTube, and Facebook Fan Pages in the near future.

Now that you’ve learned the Klout basics, there’s no excuse for you not to register! Then visit http://corp.klout.com/kscore to understand the parameters used so you can better understand your Klout profile.

Of course I do have a couple of tips on how to incorporate Klout into your overall marketing strategy, particularly as it relates to your social media activity. But you’ll have to tune in to my next post to find out more!

Ciao,
Miss Kemya