Measuring the impact
of a company and its social media can be complex. There are many companies that
have created ways to review your own business, or that of a competitor.
Three
companies focus on capturing your impact online by looking at your outputs
(tweets, posts, updates) and the impact of the content (number of shares, likes
and comments).
Each of these social measurement companies provides free
access via a social login (such as Twitter or Facebook) and ranks you based on
its own formula which is a blend of outputs x impact + something else. The scores
are a numerical value; Klout and PeerIndex grade you out of 100, and Kred out
of 1,000.
Within Klout the ‘something else’ is being rewarded with a K
for your knowledge in an area. And Klout defines the areas you talk about most.
When you’ve developed your profile, you can refine the ‘expert areas’.
Klout is the best known of these social measurement tools
and whilst the average score is said to be around 35 – and that’s very
respectable – there are ways to increase the score, without buying likes. It’s
not ideal but if you need a higher score in a hurry, say for a job interview,
this can work.
- Add in all your social networks. If you’re on Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram, connect them all to Klout.
- Play tag with a friend. We’re fairly sure the well-know
Twitterati get their PRs to give them +1, likes and Ks etc, so be your own PR and get
a friend to like your content and you can like theirs.
- If you’re a student or very active on Facebook, that’s the
easiest way for your score to increase. But be aware that your recent Facebook
posts may be visible on Klout!
And this works. In a recent class on Digital and Social
Media, I asked my students to check out their Klout scores, some started at 19,
before they connected all their networks, but today one student emailed to say
her score was 57! Another student scored 61! Both much higher than my score!
The downside is maintaining your high score. Whilst you’re
in a shared house and your friends like all your updates, it’s easy. When you
start adding relevant updates it can take longer.
For companies it’s a quick way to understand who listening
to your conversations and who’s taking part. It’s a useful way to look at your competitors
too and see where you all score.
What’s your klout score? Share the love and tweet me @annmariehanlon
Labels: klout, kred, peerindex, social media, social media measurement tools
