An Interview with Klout
September 27, 2011
Topics: Blog, Blogging Tips
Of all the mediums of measuring Social Media Influence, Klout is quickly on the rise. However, since it is relatively new, there are still many questions regarding the how and why’s that go into determining your influence.
I recently had a chance to interview a group of Klout developers and here are some answers straight from Klout to you.
Why was Klout developed?
Increasingly our conversations and opinions have moved online so, for the first time in history, the influence we have on our friends and connections is measurable. Klout was born to help people understand and leverage their influence.
What exactly goes into configuring how much Klout you have?
The Klout Score measures influence on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the most influential. Klout uses data from more than 10 social networks in order to measure:
- How many people you influence; (True Reach)
- How much you influence them; and (Amplification)
- How influential they are (Network Score)
How do you feel this will help the Small Businesses or Small Business Owner? Bloggers? Media?
The Klout Score allows businesses, bloggers and media like to measure and benchmark the effectiveness of their social media programs. Our influential topics and topic pages also help you find the topics that resonate with your audience as well as the most influential people in any given topic.
Why is “giving Klout” so important? Does it actually change your score? If so, then why not actively measure all profiles linked and go up/down from there?
+K allows you to vouch for someone who has influenced you in a given topic. If someone gave me advice on what bike to buy, I’d want to give them +K as a way to validate their influence and thank them. +K does not currently affect the Score, it is about your topical influence instead.
How do you calculate what a person is most influential about (ex: I posted about a Chili’s Giveaway once, and since then, it says I am influential but I post about Fashion every week and I’m not influential there)?
Klout generates your most influential topics based, not just on what you talk about the most, but what you are most influential on — i.e. the posts that get the most engagement from other influencers.
Will you be developing a way to incorporate blog comments as influence?
We may add that in the future.
Why can we only choose one FB profile–either personal or fan page? Why not both? And for the few that can have both, why does their score dip?
We want to accurately assign the influence to the right entity. If you have a fan page for a brand that should get added into a brand’s influence, not your personal influence. If your fan page is for yourself, then you should choose to connect the one that gets the most engagement.
How do you hope Klout will change mainstream media or how do you feel it already has?
Increasingly, we look to our friends and trusted influencers to help us decide what movie to see, what camera to buy and what to read. We’re giving credit to these everyday influencers and recognizing their power.
Why give Klout Perks if Klout is only to measure influence, isn’t it like bribing people to join?
If you are a top influencer on mountain bikes, a mountain biking company would want you to try their bike first. Your audience would love the change to hear what you think about the bike before it is out in the market. We believe in creating win/win situations where we give influencers early access to products and experiences that fit with their influence.
In short, Klout is about Influence, not about numbers. You could have 10,000 fans on a Social Media platform, but if you aren’t there engaging or people aren’t responding/re-tweeting/commenting on your posts, you will not be influential on those topics. The topics that you are influential about are the ones that got the most engagement from your readers, and how influential you are depends on how many people are listening and spreading your message.
Share: How is Klout changing your blogging? Do you have a better understanding of Klout? Is there anything else you want to know?
Special Thanks to Beth Cook and Megan Berry from Klout for granting me this interview.
Yolanda is the owner/writer of Sassy Mama in L.A. Her blog is dedicated to lifestyle features including beauty, plus size fashions, product reviews and giveaways, Los Angeles Events, and chronicling her journeys through life as she raises a daughter (…and a husband), while also working, going to school and blogging. She’s a little crazy, a lot of fun, very tired, and probably, the most honest person you will ever meet. You can also find her at Facebook and Twitter.
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