So a few months ago, I discovered Klout. Klout is an online tool to measure your influence across 3 social platforms–Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. In fact, Sunday’s New York Times had an interesting article on Klout. While I don’t think Klout is an end-all be-all measurement tool, I think that understanding how it works and how you can maximize your score is helpful to monitor the influence of your profile and message across the social network.
5 Ways to Increase Klout
1. Complete Your Profile. This is a pet peeve of mine, especially on Twitter. Fill out your information, because if you don’t, people may dismiss your credibility and not follow you because they don’t know who you are. Unfortunately, I have a somewhat common name. There is a Sarah Manley, who writes for Wikipedia, there is a British actress with my name, there are athletes and mommy bloggers with my name, as well. But I am the only one who talks about social media, small businesses and marketing in MN and you can find out that information in my profile.
2. Connect all of your profiles on Klout. Klout recently added LinkedIn to measure social influence and that shot my score up significantly. Make sure all of your profiles are connected. You can set up your security settings on Facebook, so you don’t send something too personal out to everyone. A better rule of thumb is to watch what you say and what groups you join, as mentioned in this news report from Houston.
3. Get involved with a Twitter Chat. If you find a Seminar/Event, you can not attend, you can still participate. Comment or Retweet thoughts that emerge from the event, using the hashtag. You will be able to pick up more industry leaders to follow you. For a more indepth hashtag article, check out Beth’s post from April.
4. Get Connected with Industry Influencers. Follow the thought leaders. If they say something thought provoking, retweet or mention it. If they retweet or mention you in a comment, thank them. Those connections might become a sales lead or a mentor, too. It is especially fun when you “know someone” online and then get an opportunity to meet them IRL (In Real Life).
5. Have conversations about various interests online. A Happy Monday or Finally Friday shoutout to the world can get things going. It doesn’t have to be about work all the time. I typically post/tweet about small business, marketing and social media. When I tweet about something else, like the MN Twins, I diversify my base to make me more influential overall.
Delivering good, frequent, relevant content, with a human touch is a key to raise this score higher.
Remember the social part of social media. If you need some help, contact Vivid Image, our team is here to help with online strategy.
PS – Don’t forget to give out Klout+ scores to your influencers, it is a nice way to reward the people who influence you and may get them to give you a reciprocal K+.
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