Klout is a weird one. I think it can be kind of fun if you don’t take it too seriously.
While not a social media platform itself, it measures your influence across other social media platforms.
If you haven’t used Klout before, here is a link to my profile if you want to see how it looks.
Getting Started
When you first join Klout, you are asked which of your social media platforms you would like to link up.
To get a true reflection of your reach and influence, link up social media accounts you use regularly. For me that’s Twitter, Facebook (note for Facebook you can only have a page or a profile, not both) and Instagram.
I also linked my blog up. You don’t seem to get any credit for interaction on your blog, but it does display a summary of some of your recent posts to anyone who views your profile, and you never know when someone might click on one and become a new reader.
You will also be asked to choose some topics from a list that you are an expert on. Don’t worry too much about the term expert. If you are a blogger, just choose the topics you blog about. All these really serve to do is give visitors a choice of areas to give you +K (more on that later) in.
Why It’s Useful
As a blogger, I think your Klout score can have a huge effect, a high score can make PRs more interested in working with you, as it shows that you have an engaged social media following, meaning their product/brand is more likely to be seen if you promote it.
A lot of bloggers display their score on their blog. It’s a great way of letting PRs see it without them having to go digging around for it. I am planning on linking mine up, but I’m waiting until I move now. If you want to link your score up, Franca from A Moment With Franca wrote a fantastic post about how to do it without slowing down your site. You can read it here.
I have also seen a lot of people saying that having a good score can help your employment prospects too. Unless you work in social media or online marketing/PR, I find this hard to believe.
Imagine going for a job interview at Asda, for example.
Interviewer: Why should we give you this job?
You: Well I have a Klout score of 83.
It just doesn’t ring true somehow does it?
What Do The Scores Mean?
The Klout score ranges from 1 to 100. 40+ is seen to be a good score for bloggers, but obviously the higher it is, the better.
As a guide for scores:
Barrack Obama has a Klout score of 99. I actually find it a bit worrying that the president of the United States feels the need to be on Klout.
Victoria Beckham has 86, as does Cheryl.
Robert Plant has 65.
More worrying still, Katie Hopkins has 79, which in essence says she is more influential than Robert Plant. Not only is this worrying, its also hard to believe.
Which leads to my next point:
Klout Isn’t Always Reflective of Being Liked
Klout gives a certain score to the interactions per tweet, Facebook status, photo on Instagram etc. So someone like Katie Hopkins posts her usual attention seeking tweet that she knows will anger perhaps 85% of the people who see it.
These people then reply, mostly in a negative way, but Klout doesn’t take the context into consideration, only the fact there was an interaction. So while not many people are swayed in their beliefs by her, her score goes up because people interact with her.
So in essence, Klout is pretty easy to manipulate. If you are happy to get negative responses, post inflammatory statements and watch you score fly up.
Disclaimer: I am not advising anyone to do this, just merely pointing out its an option.
How The Scoring System works
Once your score starts going up, it becomes harder to reach the next number, and much easier for your score to drop. You have to post regularly across all the media you have linked up and you have to consistently get high interaction.
I removed my LinkedIn account, because it was just dragging my score down, as I very rarely actually post anything.
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| You can see here what a Klout profile looks like. The search box at the top can be used to find specific accounts. The list under my name is the topics I am an “expert” in and the social media icons are the sites I have linked up. |
+K
You can also give and receive something called +K, which is like an endorsement. You are saying that person is good at whichever topic you +K them on.
Getting these also helps boost your Klout score.
Hand them out, people generally return the favour, but in truth, you should be giving them out because you genuinely believe the person is good in a particular area, not just to get them back.
To give +K, type the person’s name into the search bar, choose a topic and click +K. You get ten a day to give away.
You can then choose to tweet them to let them know you gave +K. I tend to tweet them out as it seems to be the done thing, but after a discussion with a fellow blogger, we decided we weren’t going to tweet each other them any more as we both felt they kind of annoy other people when your Twitter feed is full of them.
Overall
I like Klout, there is something very addictive about it, about watching your score go up and trying to get it higher. I try not to let it affect what I tweet or post, because ultimately, its secondary to the accounts themselves.
I’m not an expert in Klout, but this is my understanding of it, and some of the things I wish I had known sooner.
If anyone is interested, my Klout score is 62 (I told you that as I didn’t want it be like a dirty little secret). My aim for the end of the year is 70, but I really think that might be a bit too ambitious and I’ll be more that happy with 65+.
Do you have any other little tips or tricks to add to help improve your Klout score? Share them in the comments 🙂
Fab post and I think you clarified it all really well. I think the best part is not changing what you do or how you tweet. It's keeps you real rather than changing to suit a score. That being said with a little tweaking from the certain areas you definitely can climb it.
Thanks for featuring my post too. I really appreciate it.
Thank you 🙂 I think the only thing I changed was when my linky goes live instead of tweeting everyone individually I added half a dozen per tweet so the interaction rate goes up, but other than that I haven't really changed anything. You're welcome, it's a fab post 🙂
Thanks for this, I have to admit Klout really confuses me for some reason #justanotherlinky
It did me at first, took me quite a while to get to grips with it 🙂
Such an informative post. I keep hearing about out and getting to grips with it is definitely on my to do list. I may well just take the plunge now you have explained it so well! Thank you #justanotherlinky
Glad you found it helpful, good luck in your Klout journey! 🙂
Thank you – I was aware of Klout but didn't really know how it worked and I was totally mystified by the K+ messages in my Twitter feed! I'm quite new to blogging and social media so I'll maybe sign up but not publish it until I have a decent score!
Glad it helped 🙂 Most brands want at least a score of 25 so I would wait until you have at least that before posting your score 🙂
Great post Debbie!! Klout is definitely an addiction to me too. I keep checking that dam score every day and sometimes when it goes down a little bit and I haven't done anything different I start worrying a lot. I added Linkedin last week but the interaction is just 1% so after reading your post not sure if maybe it should be better to remove it for now. I will have a look. When I have a new post I tend to use Klout to share it to my twitter. It helps a lot. Thanks for mentioning my post! As I said before I hope people can find it useful too. 🙂 xx
http://www.amomentwithfranca.com/
Thank you 🙂 It can be worrying when your score goes down! I find LinkedIn isn't social enough to get enough interactions for Klout, when I removed LinkedIn my score went up. I've never used Klout to share my own stuff, I'll give that a try thanks 🙂 x
Just found this post and I am also fascinated by my Klout score. I don’t think I could be like Katie Hopkins, all those negative comments. I didn’t know about using Klout to share my blog posts I’m definitely going to try that.
Being like Katie Hopkins isn’t my thing either, but it is a good way to boost your Klout score if you’re happy to get massively hated on lol! Good luck with your Klout 🙂
Lovely guide Debbie & full of great tips! Your Klout score is higher everytime I see it! #JustAnotherLinky
Thank you 🙂 It's going up, but it feels so slow lol!
It's gone up so much Debbie from when you started! The higher the number you have, the harder it is to go higher. thanks so much for hosting #AnythingGoes x
I think I'm just impatient lol 🙂 You're welcome, thanks for linking up! x
Brilliant guide thank you. I'm totally new at all this and haven't quite ventured into the realms of klout yet, but I shall now be fully armed when I do! :0) #justanotherlinky x
Thank you 🙂 I hope this helps you when you do! It does take a bit of getting used to but once you do its not so bad! x
Good overview of Klout. I have a score of 72, but have never done anything in order to try and inflate that, it's just got to that point organically. My advice would be to just not worry about it – crack on with interacting with people and sharing interesting content on social media, then the score will go up as a result!
Thank you 🙂 I totally agree, that's a much more honest reflection of your influence too!
Thanks for a great informative post! 🙂 I'm on Klout but I have very little knowledge of how it works…hmmm
It doesn't seem to put in my blog feed and I don't know how to change that. It does put in random stuff at odd times though lol… my Instagram seems to be the thing that mostly go on there when I am looking.
Thank you 🙂 Yeah it is quite random haha! If you look above where you can see your Instagram feed there is a tab saying "content" that's where your blog posts are 🙂
Great overview – I've no clue on klout so maybe it's something I should look at. #sundaystars xx
Thank you 🙂 Its worth looking into! x
I did not realize that the accounts you don't use regularly can drop your score. I will have to drop my linked in account from my Klout too because I don't go on there much. My klout score was higher than I expected when I first signed up and has gotten higher since then but now that I know about the accounts, hopefully I can get it even higher. It can be addicting and fun! Visiting from #anythinggoes
Yes, if you don't use it, take it off, it counts as a low interaction and brings your score down. I wasn't sure it would make a difference but I removed mine and went up quite a lot in score. Totally addictive!
Thanks for sharing. I am linked up my google plus to klout but never use it! Maybe I should drop it! 🙂 Thanks for the info!
I would, it just drags your score down for no reason! Thank you 🙂
I'm with Michelle! I had no idea that accounts that aren't used frequently drop your score. I think I may ditch Google+. Oh, and I love that you included our little chat about not tweeting! As I read, I said aloud "that's me!" Lol! I do think more and more bloggers are choosing not to tweet, but it's all in preference! 🙂
I removed LinkedIn, which I very rarely go on and my score went up quite a bit so definitely worth doing! Lol, I had to include it 🙂 Yeah, I don't see anywhere near as many +K tweets as I used to 🙂
Very thorough write up. Thank you for the information. I have no idea what Klout is and this is a very good read to know about it. 🙂 #AnythingGoes
Thank you 🙂 Glad to help!
Good, clear information about how klout works and its benefits. I'm still very unsure on klout. I can see that it might help, but I don't like it and I don't agree it on principle, so not that keen to support it. #anythinggoes
Thank you 🙂 What is it about it you disagree with if you don't mind me asking?
Great post Debbie, I have found Klout hard to get my head around! You have made it sound simple 😀 #justanotherlinky
Thank you 🙂 I struggled with it at first but its ok once you have a play about with it!
Thank you for explaining as it is very weird. I know loads about digital TV apparently … Loads! #anythinggoes
Lol, some of the suggestions are a bit weird! It keeps suggesting Betty White to me and I have no idea who that is lol 🙂
Lol, you made me laugh with your disclaimer…I'm glad you wrote this piece…I've seen the klout logo on a few sites and have been wondering if it's a good idea and what it's all about. Depending on my score, I may put it up otherwise I'll post a few inflammatory posts and check in a couple of weeks;-) #AnythingGoes
Haha, you can't be too careful! Good luck with your score, whichever method you might choose lol 🙂
I used to be into Klout loads and have gone off the boil again!! Lol. This post is a bit of a reminder to look into again and display my score on my new blog. I have a blog day when I'm off work soon. Great post and gave more of an insight. Thanks for hosting xx
I'm going through an addicted phase at the minute but I go on and off it too. Thank you and thanks for linking up 🙂 x
Thanks for this! I've been wondering what all this +K on Twitter is about and now I know. Very informative.
#AnythingGoes
That's how I found about it, I asked someone about the +Ks lol 🙂
Great roundup of Klout. I never paid much attention to it but lately I've been sent a few Klout rewards/ perks from brands, which has been very nice!! Thanks for linking up to #SundayStars x
Thank you 🙂 Always nice to get a little bonus! Thanks for hosting 🙂 x
Thank you for this its really helpful. I only joined klout last week and still getting to grips with it!
Thank you, glad you found it useful 🙂 Good luck with your Klout!
Good summary of Klout! I keep being offered perks, must start saying yes to them 🙂 Thanks for hosting x
Thank you 🙂 Say yes, a little bonus is good! Thanks for linking up 🙂 x
Hi Debbie, coming back from "AnythingGoes". Great post as I already mention before and thanks again for the mention. 🙂 x
http://www.amomentwithfranca.com/
Thanks for linking up, and you're very welcome 🙂 x
Hi Debbie, thank you for such an informative post! I have never heard of Klout but will definitely check it out now. Thanks for linking up a useful post to all bloggers at #AnythingGoes
Have a look, it's a great way to measure how effective your social media is 🙂 Thank you and thanks for hosting 🙂
Wow! I had no idea about this. I have so much to learn about blogging. I will definitely check it out and thank you so much for the resourceful information! It is much appreciated! #AnythingGoes
Glad it has helped you 🙂 Blogging is definitely a learning curve!
Klout is really odd. I'm not sure why; it just seems so mysterious, and i never really understood what was the point of it, or what I was meant to do with it, but I'm going to get stuck in a bit more. I've also lapsed a little bit (was on holiday last week), so everything has slipped a bit and it made me sad to see that my score has dropped although I'm not surprised that it had.
I know what you mean. It's kind of pointless yet so addictive at the same time! It'll soon come back up once you get back into the swing of things 🙂
Not sure I'm convinced about yet another metric! But who knows, maybe I'll sign up at some point! #AnythingGoes
I think it appeals to the numbers geek in me lol 🙂
This is a great post, I have been a member of Klout for a month or so but didn't fully understand what it was all about, so thanks for this post 🙂
#SundayStars
Thank you 🙂 I hope this helped you!
Finally!! I've been seeing this elusive K+ on my twitter feed and had no idea what it is. Thank you, I get it now.
I checked it now and I even have a score ! Who would have thought !
I shall walk into Asda tomorrow and announce I have the same Klout as Anna Wintour
That's how I first discovered it, all the Ks on my feed!
Haha, I really think you should do that 🙂
Popping back from #justanotherlinky. Thanks for joining us xx
Thank you for hosting 🙂 x
(This managed to delete itself, I don't know why!)
I've heard of Klout but never gave it much thought until now. Your post has inspired me though and I'm signing up as we speak! #anythinggoes x
I swear this blog has a mind of its own!
Good luck on your Klout journey 🙂 x
Interesting and informative post, thanks. Klout seems to have changed quite a lot since I first heard about it. Funnily enough I'm already on there personally (with a Klout score of 40!), so maybe I should go ahead and add my blog!
#AnythingGoes
You might as well, it can't hurt!
Oh this post is really helpful! I have a score of 51 and don't understand it one bit haha! Thanks for sharing this with us at #justanotherlinky
Thank you 🙂 51 is good so you've been doing it right, even if you didn't know you were lol! Thanks for hosting 🙂