Social Media Marketing has finally received the attention it should have received may years ago. Companies and businesses share news, content, advertisements and links in order to grow their audience and increase their influence in the identified categories. However, how does one measure the influence one has among users of social networking sites? Online social influence measurement tool Klout seems to be the answer.
What Is Klout?
Klout is an online tool that lets people (or companies) know where they stand on a scale of 100 in terms of influence. This may be of particular importance to understand the dynamics between businesses and customers and among B2B entities. Social media marketing can be successful when we use tools like Klout in order to monitor our changing influence in a very fickle social sphere.
How Does Klout Measure Your Influence?
The San Francisco based company uses True Reach, Amplification and Network Impact to measure your influence across social networks. True Reach consists of people who are influenced by what you share or say. Amplification refers to the extent to which people are influenced. This is measured by the actions they may take once you share or say something. Network Impact refers to the general impact that your actions on social media may have in a wider perspective. Klout assesses your actions on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your WordPress blogs, Google+ and many other social networking sites.
Social Media Marketing and Klout
The success of you share, say or do on these networks depends on how it is received by your friends and followers, and the larger social media itself. This is what is called influence and when your influence is low your social media marketing campaigns may not work well. If your social media influence is high, your marketing campaigns would easily achieve success. Let us take a look at how Klout can help you achieve success in social media marketing.
Identify Thought Leaders:
Klout has a very interesting way of categorizing people based on their score. Thought leaders usually have a high Klout score and may be able to influence your target audience in a better way. contacting these high score Klout users in your area may help in building your network and amplify your ad campaign.
Categorize People and Companies:
High Klout score individuals and companies who are influencers in your areas of interest may be categorized under various useful lists. Klout lets you form lists of people who may be of help during social media marketing. You can target your marketing communication to these influencers instead of diluting your message across a larger audience, which may not be listening to your message.
Assess Your Social Media Campaign:
Klout score lets you assess your own social media initiatives. For instance, you may be able to identify if sharing, communicating and networking is helping you achieve influence in your area of interest or not. If your Klout score increases, it means that your influence has increased. A higher and increasing Klout score indicates successful marketing campaigns. High Klout scores also lead to more clicks, and purchases.
Rewarding Influencers:
By offering discounts, vouchers, privileged treatment and special attention to high Klout scorers, you would be able to create a positive opinion about your business among people who matter. These high Klout scorers may understand your campaign message, and return your privileged treatment with an important tweet, blog post or a recommendation of your business to their followers.
Product Preview:
Klout may be of immense use to those who prefer testing products before final launches. Topic influencers may be invited to test products or services for free, and you could use their feedback to improve what you offer before it is launched in the market.
Consistency of Ad Campaign:
Klout also helps in making sure that you are consistent in your marketing approach. When you are not networking consistently, your Klout score goes down, prompting you to take your social media marketing campaign more seriously.
Build your Network with +Klout:
Give +Klout to those who you think are genuinely influential in certain areas. This helps them to achieve credibility and influence in an increasingly chaotic social media. Giving +Klout to those who deserve has benefits for you as well. It brings these influencers’ attention to you, which is what you need during a marketing campaign anyway.
Monitor Your Marketing Activities:
Klout allows you to monitor your social media campaign. There are a number of variables that Klout takes into account and if your score goes down it means that you are not doing something right in your ad campaign. Klout can be seen as a reminder that tells you if your campaign is progressing the way it should.
Klout must be incorporated in to your social media marketing efforts so that you can grow your network, connect with influencers, recognize influencers and reward their influence with encouragement, gifts or discounts, make lists of people who matter and finally assess and monitor your own social media marketing campaigns.
