As content marketers, it's sometimes hard to measure how well we are doing or how our work has helped a client. For some, the amount of money they make is simply enough. But, for me, that doesn't tell me anything. I like hard numbers that demonstrate how my web content has improved web traffic for a client, or how many leads have been generated from those blog posts I'm contributing. Although I don't have all those numbers, this week's Tech Tool of the Week provides measurement to our social media activities. Meet Klout.
Klout measures your social media influence, based on your ability to drive action. This includes everything from retweets to Facebook comments to blog post shares. Each day, Klout updates your Klout score, which ranges from one to 100. Along with the score are numbers for your network influence, amplification possibility, and true reach.
I grant that it may seem superficial to worry about a number on a daily basis. I also grant that in the long run, no one cares about my Klout score except me. But, one benefit that I have gotten from using Klout is a better sense of how to use social media, and how to use it to broadcast messages effectively. I've got my Klout connected to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blogger. Especially with Twitter, Klout has encouraged me to utilize hashtags, to use the @, and to compose more tweets that do more than just toot my own horn. The Klout score has also added a sense of competition for me, so learning to use social media better isn't just for the sake of skill improvement, but for the satisfaction of having a higher score than my friends (and a score that's growing too). It never hurts to have some friendly, conjured, competition.
I like Klout. I like seeing that my score is improving, that I'm getting better at using social media, that the way I am currently using social media is working. Maybe you will too.
