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Archive for June, 2012

Klout for Good: AIDS Walk SF

Friday, June 29th, 2012


Klout believes everyone has influence, and influence comes with responsibility. Klout for Good aims to help leverage your influence to make the world a better place for everyone.

Every year in July, people from around the San Francisco Bay Area gather at Golden Gate Park for the annual AIDS Walk San Francisco to help raise greatly needed funds for HIV/AIDS programs and services throughout the Bay Area. In 2011, more than 25,000 people from all over the Bay area participated in the AIDS Walk San Francisco and raised $3 million dollars.

This year, Klout is proud to be one of the first tech startups to officially walk the 10K course and raise funds to help support the local community, but we need your help. Support Team Klout and the AIDS Walk SF by donating your influence on Klout for Good. Each Tweet will push the Klout team 2.5 meters towards the finish line of its digital race, and closer to ending AIDS as we know it.

Also, stay tuned as we’ll be giving you live event updates and photos on our Twitter and Facebook page on July 15th, so you can take part of the experience with Team Klout. We thank you for your support!

Posted in Klout for good | 4 Comments »

Klout Squad: When You Receive +K, How Do You Respond?

Wednesday, June 20th, 2012


The Klout Squad is an invite-only group of individuals who are passionate about social media, technology and Klout. The Klout Squad brings a unique perspective of views from Mom bloggers to social media gurus. Read their expertise on specific issues and questions. Click on their images to check out their Klout profiles.

How do you respond when you get a +K from someone?

Posted in other | 17 Comments »

Klout Perks: A Healthy Two Years

Monday, June 18th, 2012

Two years ago, when Klout was a scrappy startup in Twitter’s basement*, we created a little program called Klout Perks. The thinking went something like this: we’re building a product that will lead to a meaningful understanding of the world’s influence; we’ve taken the first steps at shedding light on each user’s influence by giving them daily analysis of their online engagement, including a Klout Score; now it’s time to recognize influencers with tangible benefits.

Brands had already lined up to do business with us, but we wanted to find a way to put influencers’ needs first while giving brands a new way to engage with this powerful audience. That’s how we came up with Perks – exclusive products or services that are awarded to users based on their influence.

Looking at the data two years later, it appears to have worked. Since July 2010, we have delivered almost 700,000 Perks across 350 campaigns. Perks caught on way faster than we anticipated – within a year, the number of Perks we’d delivered had spiked 80 percent. Over 300 brands, including Disney, Microsoft, HBO, American Express, Chili’s, Chevy, Spotify and Gilt (to name a wee few) have offered Perks in over 30 categories, running the gamut from fashion, health, travel, technology, entertainment and sports. And, this month will be the first time in Klout history that we’ve offered a different Perk for 30 consecutive days.

Growth metrics tell a nice story, but our user ratings are pretty awesome as well – Perks average a customer satisfaction rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

Our recent launch of Klout Brand Squads is an expansion on the idea of empowering and recognizing influencers. We’ve now launched squads with Red Bull, Turner’s Falling Skies and Dallas, and HBO’s True Blood. More brands are launching squads in the months ahead.

All this, and yet we’ve just barely scratched the surface. The momentum we’ve achieved with Perks has inspired us to find more ways to recognize your influence. In the meantime, we are fast-tracking improvements on every aspect of Perks, including rolling out product updates that will better target Perks to influencers, and setting higher quality standards for the Perks our partners offer.

*AKA, the first floor of Twitter’s former office building.

Posted in announcements, Perks | 34 Comments »

Klout for iPhone: A Big Update

Wednesday, June 13th, 2012

Just a few weeks ago we launched the first version of Klout for iPhone. Our app gives you instant updates about your online influence, no matter where you are. The response has been really positive and a huge number of our users are now interacting with Klout through their iPhone.

But we know that we’ve only scratched the surface. And we’ve heard from a number of you that there are features from our website that you really miss using on your iPhone.

So today we’re taking another step forward by releasing v1.5 of Klout for iPhone. It’s a big update that includes a number of things that users like you have requested, including:

  • Swipe to +K: You can now endorse anyone’s influence by swiping your finger across one of their Topics. It’s as easy as unlocking your iPhone.
  • Search: Enter any Twitter handle and quickly find that user’s Klout Score.
  • Switching between accounts: We’ve added a “Logout” button that makes it easier to switch between multiple Klout profiles (such as your personal and professional identities).


We have a lot more coming in the very near future, including the ability to connect more of your social networks to your Klout profile using your iPhone.

Please give this new version a try and let us know what you think – there’s a Feedback link right inside the app.







Posted in announcements | 20 Comments »

Who Influences You? An Interview with Ben Parr at SXSW

Thursday, June 7th, 2012


At Klout, we’re fascinated by the discussion around influence – what it is, how it works, how it manifests today in the online space, and more. We’re always interested in hearing different perspectives, so we set up shop at SXSW and asked people a simple question: who influences you?

Ben Parr, co-founder of The Peep Project and former Editor-at-Large at Mashable, took some time to sit and chat with us at the Klout Krib party. Check out his response in the video below.


Videographer: Mark Likosky

Who influences you?

Posted in other | 7 Comments »

Kitchit Brings Social Culinary Adventures to Influencers’ Homes

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012


We believe that everyone has influence. That’s why we’ve been working hard to create opportunities for a wide range of Klout users. For example, our Perk with Gilt Groupe allowed people to get savings off of their Gilt.com purchase whether their Score was 1 or 100.

Today we’re announcing a similar partnership with Kitchit, the website that connects consumers directly with top professional chefs who create everything from world-class gastronomic adventures to casual dinner parties. Klout users who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, love to socialize and covet well-prepared food will want to take advantage of this offer to get up to $500 savings on a dinner party or cooking lesson with a top flight chef in their home. The amount of savings for each user correlates with their Klout Score, so whether it’s 21 or 99, they can take advantage of this offer.

Here is how Klout Scores equate to Kitchit savings:
21 to 40 = $20 off
41 to 60 = $50 off
61 to 80 = $100 off
81 to 99 = $500 off

Kitchit’s mission is to create experiences that are effortless, memorable and personalized. Their talented, hand-picked chefs will take care of everything from shopping to clean up, and the Kitchit team will take care of logistics.

Get access to this offer on our Perks page. More information about Kitchit is at kitchit.com, and you can follow Kitchit on Twitter at @kitchit.

Posted in Perks | 2 Comments »

Klout for Good: (RED)RUSH TO ZERO with (RED) and Klout

Friday, June 1st, 2012


Klout believes everyone has influence, and influence comes with responsibility. Klout for Good aims to help you leverage your influence to help make the world more a better place for everyone.

Since launching in 2006, (RED) and its many partners, such as Apple, Starbucks and Coca-Cola have committed to help AIDS in Africa. To date, (RED) partners and events have raised $190 million with 100% of that money going to work on the ground – no overhead is taken. On World AIDS Day last year, Klout worked with (RED) and ONE as a media partner for their 2015(QUILT) campaign. We’re excited to announce our next partnership with (RED) for its (RED)RUSH TO ZERO campaign that begins today!

Every day, 1,000 babies are born with HIV. By 2015, that number can be close to zero. Every generation is known for something. Let’s be the one that delivers an AIDS FREE GENERATION. (RED)RUSH TO ZERO runs from June 1st – 10th. 10 days with 10 different ways you can fight AIDS. If you’re a gamer, take part in The (RED)RUSH Games. If you’re a music fanatic, check out (RED)ROWS for concerts from some of the hottest artists that will benefit (RED) through ticket sales. If you’re a social media pro (which we know you are!) check-in on foursquare at participating (RED) partners like Starbucks and you’ll trigger a $1 donation.

On Klout, please spread the word about the #REDRUSH campaign through our Klout for Good program on your social networks and learn more about how to get involved with (RED)RUSH TO ZERO in your community at redrush.com.

Log in your Klout account today and get active!

Posted in Klout for good | 6 Comments »

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