Got Klout?

This guest post is by Elle N. Em of CleverlyChanging.com.

What is Klout?

Klout is similar to what Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines as clout, but Klout comes with a score and seeks to numerically measure your sphere of pull and influence on others within social media.

Why is Klout Important?

I laugh when I think about how many arbitrary numbers actually influence our lives. In school, SAT scores can determine how much money a student receives for school, as well as which college he or she is accepted into. As life progresses, FICA scores are used to determine which apartment, job, or loans a person can qualify for. Now we have an all-new number to consider as well, your Klout score, which measures your social media influence. If you thought no one monitored or cared about how you interact on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc think again, companies and others are not only watching and care about how many friends/followers you have, they want to know how you interact with them; therefore, Klout has developed a “secret” algorithm to compute a score to rate your influence on their metric scale.

Whether or not you have logged into Klout’s system or not, you probably have a score if you use social media. Klout has surprising become the new “it score” to monitor because companies are now using this score to consider whether or not they would like to hire you to work for their company.

I recently read “What Your Klout Score Really Means” by Seth Stevenson who told the story of Sam Fiorella a candidate with 15 years of experience who was turned down for a Vice President position at a Toronto marketing firm because his Klout score was too low. I am amazed that within only 3 years Klout’s company has gained so much notoriety their metrics system is now being used to influence which jobs we receive.

How do you Establish Klout?

After receiving millions of dollars from several large firms Klout appears to be around to stay. Hence, you may want to want to focus on increasing your score if you want to be considered influential in the social-media marketing world. As an incentive, Klout partners with other companies to give its users desirable perks, such as gift cards, free products and services, etc. If you want to indulge Klout a bit, get to know others so your score will accurately reflect the value of your social media presence.

The beauty of social media is it allows non-celebrities and well-known people to dialog and influence the world. The days of only knowing your neighbors are long gone. Through technology the world has literary become our playground and social atmosphere where we can connect and influence each other without ever meeting or stepping foot outside our businesses or homes.

If you want to increase your score here’s how:

1. Communicate with other influential brands and people (your goal is to show up in many people’s profile as their influencer). Try to influence big names & big brands in your niche. Get to know like-minded people and dialog with them.
2. If you’re on Twitter, you want other high scoring people to follow and re-tweet you as well. In fact, have a series of people RT your updates regularly. Sure you may have great tweets but do other people care enough to let their followers know?
3. If someone mentions you, send them a reply.
4. If you’re on Facebook, Youtube, Google+ , or Linkedin your goal is interaction. The more comments you receive on your status or post, the more your score will increase. You want people to click on your links when you send them out. Have you noticed most social media tools have a metrics system that evaluates engagement among their users? The owners of various social media outlets developed these analytics tools to give their sites validity, but also to help you determine your reach and sphere of influence as well.
5. The more influence people in your network gain, the more your score will grow as well.
6. Thus, help others out by giving them a +K. Tell your friends to +K you in areas that you want to have the most influence. (Influential topics automatically appear based on your tweets or Facebook interaction so where you want to be known as influential is what you should talk about on social media outlets.) However, some accounts may take a while to gain influence about any topic.
7. How to give +Ks (Login into your account by going to Klout.com and click on or search for a person/profile. Then on the right side click on the +K under “Influential about _ Topics” to Give a +K to someone who has influenced regarding a certain topic. People are limited to 10 +Ks/day and if they add a influential topic to someone else’s profile that will cost them 5 +Ks. When someone gives you a +K you can in-turn give them one and only then, by receiving +Ks, will you have the ability to give more than 10 +Ks/day)
8.  The key to being influential in social media is get other people to care about what you are talking about. Make your accounts irresistible to your potential clients, brands, or potential employers. Dialog with them and within your niche to get on their radar.

Elle N. Em is a freelance writer, mommy blogger, and owner of the blog, CleverlyChanging.com. Feel free to give her a +K, follow her on twitter @CleverlyChangin, or on Facebook.