Today our guest blogger is Mark W. Schaefer, Author of Return On Influence.
This question might seem like an odd one to have on the Klout blog! Does Klout make a difference?
And yet, I think this is a question on a lot of people’s minds. Is Klout really a measure of influence? Is it making a difference to brands and people’s lives? Or, is the whole social influence thing a noisy fad?
So that’s what I attempted to figure out when I started to research and write my new book “Return On Influence.” This was a very unusual project because when I proposed it to the publisher (McGraw-Hill), I told them that I really didn’t know what the book would ultimately be about! I had to let the research take me on this journey and let it the conclusions flow freely. They agreed to give me the chance to explore this topic thoroughly without even an accurate outline of a finished product.
Over the course of a year, I interviewed about 70 experts, ranging from people you probably recognize like tech blogger Robert Scoble and acclaimed author Dr. Robert Cialdini, to mommy bloggers and folks who were just out to game the system. I spent a lot of time with Klout CEO Joe Fernandez, his competitors, and even Klout’s customers.
After all this work, I came to several important conclusions which run counter to much of the thinking on the social web today:
- 1) There are vast differences between “online” influence and offline influence. One big difference is our ability to create and distribute content on the web. Influence has been rapidly democratized by our ability to publish.
- 2) Can you measure our content moving through the Internet? Yes. Can you measure how people react to it through clicks, tweets, and comments? Yes. So to the extent that you can measure the sharing of content — and responses to that content — couldn’t you measure influence … at least one small part of it? That is what Klout is trying to do.
- 3) Wouldn’t marketers like to connect online conversations to offline buying behavior? It’s already happening, and fast! Now that makes it really interesting, doesn’t it?
- 4) Brands are already integrating social scoring into traditional marketing programs in amazing ways. In fact, I document more than a dozen eye-popping new case studies in the book.
So yes. Klout and the social scoring trend is making a difference. A big difference. The ability to identify and nurture these new “Citizen Influencers” quickly, inexpensively, and on a mass scale is historically important. This capability has established nothing short of an entirely new marketing channel.
But is it making a difference to you? I think in small ways it can. While many companies like Google and Facebook are already “grading us,” Klout is one of the only companies to actually tell us about it and reward us for it!
The primary strategy for increasing your Klout score – sharing great content, building an engaged network, and active participation -– is good advice for anyone trying to be successful on the social media channel. To the extent that we can learn from our Klout score, I do believe that in some cases, it can be one possible measure of effectiveness on the social web.
So in ways both large and small, I do think Klout can make a difference. What do you think?
Mark Schaefer teaches marketing at Rutgers University, blogs at {grow}, and is the author of the new book, Return On Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring and Influence Marketing.
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