What does it mean when the “Standard for Influence” company (Klout) makes a change in its algorithm that seems to suggest a change in its standard as many Klout “Online Success Scores” dropped significantly overnight? It means they’re crazy to make the change…or… are they crazy like a fox???
Whether or not you subscribe to the value (and validity) of their scoring system, you need to pay attention to what Klout is doing – both through the way they rank your brand, and what they are doing as a company.
Personally, I’m not sure I really care how Klout ranks me, so I don’t place much weight on my actual score. However, the Klout ranking is definitely on the mind of many, and many of the people who work with us or engage us use the Klout score as a measure… so we can’t simply ignore it. If nothing else, use it as a simplistic way to gauge where you stand in relation to others, but beware of using it as a gauge of where you stand with yourself! If your Klout score dropped significantly and you live in your own little world and concerned only with keeping your score up, you probably panicked. But if you see the score as only holding value in relation to others, you probably noticed that the score of many others in your sphere of influence also dropped… so in totality, nothing really changed!
I am actually glad that Klout’s algorithm change has caused such uproar, because it gives me (and others) a chance to say once again that it is not the numbers that count – it’s the Relationships! When it’s all about the numbers, we run the very real risk of basing multi-million dollar decisions on a surface level popularity contest. High school tactics are not a smart way to run a business. When it’s all about relationships, however, we instead build ongoing connections that over time wisely influence strategy-level change and innovation.
But back to Klout. One thing many are missing is that Klout has done a remarkable job branding themselves and selling through to the corporate/branding world; therefore, if “they” care, we as marketers and influencers need to care. We cannot operate in a vacuum and still expect to be relevant, interesting, or valuable to those in our networks.
Also, notice that this algorithm change has Klout clearly and quite visibly in the media and gaining a huge amount of attention…always a good thing when marketing to corporate America. This attention is tremendous for their brand awareness, and relevance, when it may have been slipping. Just think about all the conversation going on about Klout now and I am sure for a few months to come. It may not be the way all of us choose to draw attention, but in my opinion, we need to give them credit for their level of influence right now. Remember above all else, to survive and create a revenue stream, Klout has evolved as a marketing agency first, a measurement company second.
So, I repeat my initial question: Was Klout crazy to make the change… or crazy like a fox? What do YOU think??
Originally posted at FromBogotawithLove.com
OK, so let me see if I got this straight: You don’t really care how klout ranks you but because “they” care, the marketers and influencers (whatever that is) need to care (so you really should care) but because it’s all about the relationships (there’s that overused to death buzz-phrase again) then we really shouldn’t care but we can’t operate in a vacuum and still expect to be relevant so we really should care…or is it the other way around? Oh, who cares?
At first I thought they were crazy, but now I have started to warm up to the “new” Klout. First I was tweeting like made about how they could drop scores (including mine) to almost half of what they were before the update. Then I saw as I engaged and went to their website it gradually increased.
Although I still think the formula is weighted at least a little with how much you visit their website or mention them in a tweet, there are two main reasons I think the their “New Coke” idea may just work.
Before the update, I was ranked #1 under Skin Care. Even though my score dropped drastically, I was still ranked first on the Skincare List. Also now as before I continue to receive various Klout Perks in my mailbox. Well my mailbox arrivals (Perks) have increased at least 50% and I can see the buy in of advertisers increase from the perk availabilities on the website. The targeting is strategic and well thought out. Even how you are turned down for a perk is working well.
As an Klout “Old Guy” I think I am hooked and going to be cheering for Klout for a long time. Many other ranking sights that I rallied behind have gone by the wayside, but hopefully Klout is here to stay!
Visit me @ http://www.AvaRoxanne.com
Chat soon! Ava Roxanne @MySkinConcierge
Klout made crazy a lot of people. Losts of users lost a lot of Kloutscore: Result? Tons of publicity and people trying to retake their old scores. A good marketing system and I think closer to reality.
I was also stunned when Klout changed their methods! To wake up one day and see a double-digit drop in my score was a shock. I jumped on the #OccupyKlout bandwagon and was mighty pissed (for a while).
With some time, I began to read more moderated blogs and looked at my peer’s scores. The irony is that the “Re-Set” seemed very accurate by my “Common Sense Meter.”
Ultimately, I don’t give a hoot either. It IS all about relationships and I care much more about those. For me, the change was a needed reminder that a Klout score does not make the man (or woman)…it’s who you know and what you’re all about that matters!
When Klout changed their algorithms they dropped my score faster than women clicking past my dating profile. I have a ready-made explanation in case anyone asks why my Klout score is low though: I simply say the people at Klout are closet racist pigs who purposely dock the Klout scores of Italians and New Yorkers for no reason than out of jealous spite.
I’ve never had a problem getting work with brands since then. 😀
Ted, my score dropped and others did too. I’m not sure what changed, but like you said…it’s all about the relationships.
I use to care more about Klout, but the more I watched it, the more I realized that it was like watching a pot of water to boil.
Now I check it a couple times a month to return +K’s and see if anything drastic is going on.
I think it matters, just not on a daily basis.
Thanks for the reminder.
I think they changed things, people created a buzz about it and now Klout is something people are looking at. As soon as that happened I stopped caring, not sure why I even started caring in the first place.
Thanks for this thoughtful post Ted. I’m thinking about dropping Klout. I don’t think it measures much of anything really. Did they shoot themselves in the foot with a change? Yes. Just as people were adopting and following,they changed the rules. For me, it’s not doing much, and I am probably leaving.
I think it was a bad business move for Klout to shift their online influence algorithm so dramatically and here is why…
I didn’t think that my Klout score mattered much before the drop (went from 79 to 63). I saw it as a game and thought it was funny how I was influential on topics like Jesse Jackson and Winston Churchill (NO idea where those came from). I never altered my activity as a way to strategically improve my “score” on Klout. I just thought it was almost like a game… “What’s my score today?”
However, the day that they changed the algorithm, I had a business meeting with a potential client who asked why my Klout score had dropped so significantly. He had used Klout for a campaign. When I told him that the algorithm had changed, he didn’t understand what that meant. He just knew what Klout had told him about influencers… and all of a sudden, I wasn’t as influential in his eyes.
Aside from the fact that Klout doesn’t appear to care how this shift in algorithm has impacted business owners, here’s the BIG mistake in their algorithm… The day that they made the change, a man tweeted, “My klout score went up 25 points today! It’s 57 now!” This man had 33 followers and he was following 77 people. He had tweeted 325 times and his only approved social media network was Twitter. At the same time, I have more followers, more mentions, more conversations, more clients, more “influencers” connecting with me and was getting “awards” for +Ks, but my score consistently has dropped every since the new algorithm.
How could this possibly be an accurate reflection of my online influence and potentially jeopardize my livelihood in the name of a new and “improved” algorithm? It can’t. In fact, I removed my Klout profile today because I believe it has done more damage than good to my online reputation, which matters more to me than my influence.
As a company, you succeed with the ‘know, like and trust’ factor and I have to say in terms of this company, they have failed in every one of these categories for me. So, they may have people buzzing about them on Twitter and in the media, but in the long run… it’s all about karma.
I am an independent startup of handmade goods. I was living in terror when my klout score would drop if I did not maintain the previous day’s standard. I earned every single point of influence. I am completely self taught in every facet of what I do, it’s scary enough out here.
I finally accepted it as a way to measure my own CONSISTENCY across the networks I am active on. It’s helped me to measure the work I have been doing of finding & communicating with my customers and of course my own branding and yes for others to take me seriously.
My score dropped consistently after the new algorithm as well
Klout is not perfect, I am but I do use it to measure my own social media work, not to define it. According to Klout I am an expert on Egypt when I happen to volunteer at the Egyptian theater.
In some ways I have learned how to play the game and have been hashtagging and using my keywords to work the system.
Klout is my biofeedback. It is my feedback for being conscious of what I am doing out there in the socialsphere. I have become clearer in my how I control of my image and brand. When my score dropped and I didn’t have to “explain it to anyone.”
I kept doing what I was doing as it dropped and it just this week back up. 4 points. As a newbie in a small business it has helped to make me more accountable and find my community through topics.
But it is true in the end it’s about business and Klout is just one of many tools for business owners and non profits alike.
Perhaps KLOUT is an equalizer, perhaps it’s the best hype game out here.
I couldn’t resist commenting. Exceptionally well written!