The Truth about your Klout Score

Robyn Miga | @robynmiga When Ellen Degeneres tweeted a selfie from the Oscars with several celebrities, it was retweeted by three million users, resulting in a Twitter lockout. Despite how difficult it is to increase your Klout score when it is as high as Ellen’s – 92.8 on a 100 point scale – this tweet sent her score to a record high of 95.1.

So what is a Klout score anyway, and why does it matter?

The Klout score is a rating that assigns a numerical value to your social media popularity/influence. The scale is 1-100, and the founder is not very open about the exact algorithm that determines your score, but told Entrepreneur that there are about 400 different factors taken into account, along with 12 social metrics.

In order for you to be issued a Klout score, you have to first sign up for the service at www.klout.com. The analysis the site provides issues data taken from your social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, then measures the size of your network, the content created and how other people interact with the content that you post, Mashable said in an article. The more correspondence you have with people with a higher Klout score, the better your number will be. Among the crowd that uses the Klout score to determine your credibility, a number of around 30 is considered reputable, and a number of 50 and above would consider you elite, the article said.

While a Klout score can be a badge of honor, it is not the end-all-be-all of how you measure up on social media. However, if the number haunts you, Mark Schaefer, a Reuters marketing professor offers tips on how to improve your score.

Improving your Score

1. Build a network: Build a targeted, engaged network of people who are actually interested in what you have to offer. Fake followers will not be your friend in improving your Klout score.
2. Meaningful content: Have a strategy to create content that your followers are looking for, and use images and links.
3. Interact: Open dialogue with your followers is essential.
4. Avoid scheming: So while corresponding with high Klout score users can improve your Klout score, you will have better luck actually having a social media strategy and sticking with it. Your followers are the key to your score.
5. Interact with EVERYONE: Do not base your social media strategy around improving your Klout score alone, so don’t be afraid to interact with people with a lower score. Actually, by you interacting with them it helps build their score and in turn makes you more of an influence.
6. Publish: Utilize blogs and any avenue you have to publish material. Become a credible voice in your field and utilize social media platforms to achieve this.
7. Don’t be discouraged: Don’t focus so much on your score than you forget to enjoy your social media experience.

So while we all may never reach @POTUS status of a 99 with our Klout score, or ever measure up to the impact of Ellen’s Oscar selfie; by creating an effective social media strategy that includes proper content to reach your followers, and interacting everyone, you will certainly be on your way to improving your social media effectiveness.