How’s Your Klout?

Have you ever wondered how much “social currency” you have? There’s an online service called Klout that will let you know how much your posts on social media impact others. The Klout score is based on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the most influential. Klout uses data from your social networks in order to measure how many people you influence, how much you influence them, and how influential they are. My Klout score is currently at 45. According to Klout, I am a networker: I know how to connect to the right people and share what’s important to my audience.

But back to that social currency thing…did you know that you can leverage your social influence to get free things?

Until recently, I didn’t really care about Klout. I’d read people tweeting about it and I would kind of filter it out. I have had an account for months, but I rarely signed in. Then I heard about @KloutPerks– which are exclusive products or experiences that you earn based on your influence. In the past, influencers have earned perks like laptops and airline tickets. Suddenly, I have been checking my score a lot more often, hoping I can get my hands on some of these perks.

When I found out about the Klout Perk with Chevy, I was instantly jealous of those influencers that redeemed it! A Klout user redeemed a perk to get a free Chevy Volt for a weekend. He tweeted to his followers asking them what he should do with his free car for the weekend- definitely influencing others to talk about the Volt. Check out the Wall Street Journal’s video about this Klout user. What a great move! Brands should definitely take advantage of Klout- people trust their peers and influencers.

What do you think about Klout? What’s your score?