As I have constantly said, having a high Klout score is important especially for entrepreneurs, those in the marketing and social media field, as well as job seekers for those fields in particular because it is an “attention getter”. It is an indicator that you have a strong social presence which is extremely important to have. However, what is more important is how you are building that score, and what you are sharing through your social media profiles on every platform. And if you are increasing your score by sharing inappropriate content, then it is meaningless.
The fact of the matter is, Klout is a tool and if you misuse any tool, it is not going to serve you in anyway. That being said, I know a lot of people who have been working on building up a high Klout score for the wrong reasons and that on its own misrepresents not just Klout however, the benefits of social media. I will list the 2 top motivations for people who are building up their Klout score for reasons that are wrong.
Ego Boosting
As I have stated many times previously, your Klout score is not meant to measure your ego or worth or anything of that nature. Unfortunately a lot of people misuse Klout by building a high score just for that reason. They are not interested in sharing worth-while content, as they either share poor quality content or attempt to game the system (which does not work so easily anymore as Klout is catching on to those who are blatantly doing that).
For anyone who is building their Klout score just to boost their egos, then they need to stop doing what they are doing and do some serious soul searching. For some people, especially if they have no real reason to build a strong social presence (and yes in some instances having a strong social presence is not necessary even though it is the exception and not the rule) you don’t need to pay attention to your Klout score. The only exception to this is if you want to get perks which many stay at home moms enjoy doing. However, if you want a high score because you believe it measures your worth, you cannot be more wrong! That is not Klout’s intention, nor was it ever, nor will it ever be!
Competition
This actually ties in with building up a high score to inflate egos. If you are competitive by nature, then that again is ego related. I have seen people work hard at building their scores up (even if they are sharing content that is of high quality) just for the sake of attaining a higher score than someone they know (and usually don’t like). Again that is not Klout’s intention and that should not be anyone’s intention for using the tool.
Klout is not a game. Just remember it is a tool! If you have a good motivation to build your online presence and to utilize social media the right way, which most of us in this day and age should- then learn how to do it correctly and once you do, your score will increase and you will reap benefits as a result.
The term “klout” is something that has intrigued me for sometime. Admittedly, I never had the time to dig into it further. It was a pleasant surprise to open the link and read this. I hope it will be alright to ask: (1) Who are what determines the Klout? and (2) Does Google factor this in their algorithm as well? I realize you may have previous posts that deals with this, I’d appreciate if you can sort of show me the way to those if ever. Thank you. 🙂
Hey Luchie, thanks for commenting and I have great news! Everything about Klout is in this category https://miriamRachel.com/category/klout-news-and-facts and you will quickly learn about this phenomenon 🙂
I rarely go onto Klout but have seen this done. I think it is ashamed to do this. You really don’t gain anything by doing it.
You are right Erica.
Couldn’t agree more. When I first signed up for Klout I checked in frequently, hoping my score would rise. It did, but I realized over time that it was in many ways meaningless. Now I pop in from time to time, and view it as a measurement for my engagement, and worry about other benchmark numbers I can control. Great post!
Thanks Loralee for commenting. Having a high Klout score IS important if there is a real objective career wise you have, or if you want to stand out in a particular niche. That being said, social media on your part must be done correctly. It is all about using social media with integrity and if you want to be seen as interactive and engaging in general, and want to keep expanding your network, it is a good idea to keep it up and your score will take care of itself.
Hi – stopping by from Facebook and the UBC.
I confess that I have not taken the time yet to figure out anything about Klout. I keep getting emails about how something I wrote raised my score or I have a new follower or something, but I just haven’t looked into it enough to understand what’s going on!
Thanks for your post explaining it – guess I better figure out how to use this tool to my advantage!
Thanks for commenting K Lee, to learn more about Klout I have some some other posts on it, and it is all in this category https://miriamRachel.com/category/klout-news-and-facts.
I am pretty new to social media marketing, and it’ll be key as I take my business to mostly online delivery. So I appreciate learning about this – I was not familiar with the Klout score, and awareness is step one!
Thanks for commenting Joyce. I have a lot of great info on my blog 🙂 You will want to check more of it out since you are not familiar with social media marketing.
Miriam, I’ve tapped into my Klout score every now and again without giving it much importance. I had no idea others were spending time to boost it! Which brings me to the question, what is Klout intended for? I appreciate it’s a # that gauges your online influence. Is there anything else we should know about this score and why it’s important?
Cathy, all of the info is in my Klout News and Facts Category!
I need to set aside some time to study this whole Klout score thing from your blog! For what I’ve understood so far is that it’s more reliable than just staring at the numbers of the followers, is that correct?
Exactly 🙂
Great post!
Thanks
Well, Klout is something completely new for me too. For now I’ll just make a note, live it to your expertise and learn from your insights. I trust you on this one 🙂
thanks Ervin
I just recently heard about Klout, once again here is another social media tool that is ‘relative’ based on what your intentions are as you stated in your article.
I just try to be myself and if that builds a high klout score fine, but if not it won’t stop me from doing what I do 🙂
Good attitude Nadine, thanks for stopping by
I see Klout and Alexa rankings as gauges of whether I am staying constant in my efforts to expand my potential target audience. It’s not the ranking per se, but it does indicate if I’m being efficient in those efforts.
Exactly Sharon and thanks for commenting.
I have a Klout account but I honestly, don’t even look at it. I totally forgot about it until I read your post. I know what I am doing is working because I see an increase in my business. I don’t need Klout to tell me how I am doing. I hope that doesn’t sound snobby but all I need is my clients telling me they love what I do for them and their business.
No that does not sound snobby at all. And I am happy that your business is doing well. However, people are starting to pay attention, that is all I am saying. Thanks for the comment.