What is Klout?

Klout is a tool (actually company) that has been around since 2008 that measures your social media influence based on your activity and engagement on the major social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn and Four Square through an algorithm. You are given a score from 0-100 based on how active and how much response you get from your friends on these social media sites. Obviously the higher your score, the better, or the more influential you are in the social media world. In fact the average individual who uses his or her social media sites only to communicate with family and friends a few times a week will have a Klout score in the 20’s or 30’s. Entrepreneurs will want to have a score of over 40 at least as a score of over 40 is an indicator that you are influencing someone out there in some topic. A score of 50 and above is considered elite and only 5{a0065375a7e2d1c093abc1aba7894b1ad713a40df7f413d8a34d916c8e570350} of social media users have a Klout score that is over 50. Some people will not really care about having a high Klout score and besides not everyone really needs it anyway. However if you are in any field that involves marketing, politics, art, music, etc and if you are a renown expert in any field, it will pay to have a high Klout score. I will talk more about why in a bit.

But, I am quite active on Facebook and Twitter especially. I am less active on LinkedIn Foursquare and Google Plus and as of right now I have a score of 73. Definitely not too shabby but I am always striving for it to be higher.

What is the Point in Having a High Klout Score Anyway?

Like I said, for the “everyday” kind of guy or gal, who works a 9-5, not an entrepreneur, does not give a crap about being influential in any topic does not need to have a high Klout score unless he or she wants to get some cool perks that Klout offers for anyone with a score of over 40. But if you are a business owner, an expert in a field who is wanting to constantly give out information and answer questions that people have, a musician, politician, author, you get the idea- you will want to not just have a Klout score of over 40 but of over 50.

The fact of the matter is, more people will naturally follow/friend you and interact with you on these social media sites. They will listen to what you have to say and want to learn from you. You will have an easier time getting a job if you have a high Klout score especially in any form of marketing field.

There was actually a case where a man was applying for a VP job at a marketing agency in Toronto. He was turned down during the interview because he had a Klout score of 34 where as another applicant who had a Klout score of 67 got the job in a heartbeat. Sounds nuts I know but your Klout score is taken very seriously.

Having a high Klout score will also land you a lot of invitations to speak at seminars, which will help you sky rocket your business if you are a business owner. You will get a lot of freebies and perks such as free flights and hotel stays, free meals at restaurants, gift cards, etc. What is the point of that? Well, people will listen to your testimonials about them if you have a high Klout score. I have even heard that your Klout score will help you get better customer service. It all sounds ridiculous I know. But the fact of the matter is, social media is huge now and if you are influential in an area, that can only benefit you. Lenders will not only approve you of receiving a loan but with little interest if you have a high credit score. Klout is the same thing when it comes to social media which also affects a lot of aspects of your life like your credit score does. Klout gives you topics of influence (and you can choose them as well) and other Klout users can give you +K’s which are votes on Klout. The more +K’s you receive from other Klout users, the more influential you are in a particular topic.

So How do you Get a High Klout Score Anyway?

Well, I talk about that here a bit on my post about Klout in my business blog. But the best advice I will give you is to just be active on your social media sites! The ones that I told you that have the most influence on Klout. You will get responses, retweets, likes or whatever if you are active. I am also creating a course about Klout which I hope to release in the fall. But hey, I would absolutely appreciate getting a +K in one of my topics on my Klout profile. I will return the favor and give you a +K.