.Global, , , , , , , — June 6, 2012 17:23 — 11 Comments

Social Media Influence Scores: The What, Why & How

Social Media Influence Score

What is online influence and why is it important to brands?

Online Influence Scores are a method of ranking the influence individuals their Social Media networks. Big brands have known for decades that influential people can help increase brand or product credibility and influence purchase decisions. Traditionally these influencers have been celebrities that charge large fees for their endorsement. With the prolific rise of Social Media things have changed. Celebrities still play a role but the real opportunities to connect your brand with targeted and highly engaged audiences is with the new breed of influencers.

This new breed of influencers are members of the public who have embraced social media and become trusted publishers, building up large and highly engaged audiences who trust their recommendations. They are mums who shares their knowledge of child raising via a blog or Twitter. They travel enthusiasts who share photos of their travels on Flickr and voice their opinions about hotels on Tripadvisor. They are marketing directors with an interest in new technology that curate and share articles about the latest news on Facebook and Twitter. They are your customers and they can make or break your brand online.

How can brands quickly and easily measure online influence?

Many brands are thinking about influencer strategies to help maintain a positive image online or tap into new audiences. So how do you measure your customers influence? There are many approaches to influence scoring and the method your choose really does depend on your objectives.

For the purpose of this article I’m going to introduce you to three of the most popular services that automate the process for you by using algorithms. Each have their own pros and cons so I’ll let you review the information below, test them and decide which will work best for you.

 

Kred

Self description

Kred measures influence and outreach in all your online communities in real time. Fully transparent scoring.

The Video

Find them on Twitter here @Kred

 

Klout

Self description

Klout is the Standard for Influence. Join Klout to discover your influence and compare with others you may know.

The Video

Find them on Twitter here @klout

 

PeerIndex

Self description

As the social web grows more and more prevalent in the world, we’ve made it our priority to give individuals the right to own their data and the social capital that comes from it.

The Video

Find them on Twitter here @peerindex

 

There is much debate around whether or not influence scoring is a new “online class system” and that is something I’m not going to delve into. This article is to simply introduce you to the concept and the tools.

If you’ve had experience with one of these or another influence scoring tool I’d very much like to hear your opinion so please do leave your comment below.

 

About the author

Kohlben Vodden has written 71 articles for WhatWorksWhere.com

Head of Social Media & Content Strategy @ #Ogilvy London + Editor of @whatworkswhere - Social Media Blog. Connect on LinkedIn: http://goo.gl/6Qv4b

11 Comments

  1. Susan Connor says:
    July 21, 2012 at 10:28 am

    Thank you Kohlben. The videos were just the right touch. Thankfully not to in depth as my knowledge is not that extensive. However my curiosity really needed feeding. That said I am still going to be using all three of the above as I enjoy all three of them for different reasons.

    • Kohlben Vodden says:
      July 21, 2012 at 12:42 pm

      Hi Susan, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the article. Do you use these social influence tools for marketing purposes?

      • Constantin says:
        August 10, 2012 at 2:24 am

        I just wrote a very similar post. I can’t oebsss over the number in the computer screen. Those aren’t the ones that matter. My family and my children’s happiness come first.Great post, Nicole!

      • Rizzky says:
        August 11, 2012 at 10:11 pm

        The plan,strategy,execution, analysis and etoauaviln are critical aspects in every campaign. A continuous cycle to monitor because as you say social media is never static comes handy as to meet and define your current status into your goal. Indeed online social medium could make or break you social media strategy but with those said in this post, one could never go wrong.

      • Kai says:
        August 11, 2012 at 11:44 pm

        Excellent arcitle. It certainly gives one pause for thought. Love the concept of “value per visitor.” Social media is ever evolving and we have to keep up if we want to be relevant. Thanks for including us in your arcitle. Best wishes,Trish (@dayngr)Community Manager at Radian6

    • Lynn says:
      August 9, 2012 at 4:44 pm

      I never understood why some made such a big deal over klout. Not that it’s whiuott its merits, but it has a LOT of flaws, too.When I switched my Facebook from personal to fan page, my Klout dropped 6 points immediately. I couldn’t care less.

    • Amjad says:
      August 9, 2012 at 8:40 pm

      Love it! I like Klout, but not to the detriment of my falimy. They need to be more understanding of the lives we lead offline and factor that in to their scores. Weekends, holidays, illnesses life happens and it’s not a factor to them, but to us, it can be everything!

  2. Johnjohn says:
    August 10, 2012 at 1:23 am

    Superb information here, ol’e chap; keep burning the midnight oil.

  3. Kohlben Vodden says:
    July 28, 2012 at 9:08 am

    Hi Nicholas, always happy to trial new vendors. I’ll review your site and be in touch.

  4. Laura says:
    August 9, 2012 at 10:29 pm

    I know, when i turned it on and saw my Klout had flalen, i was devastated (well, not really) but then had to laugh since there was not one person close by that would even know what i was talking about it if I mentioned it

  5. Aleksander says:
    August 11, 2012 at 9:10 pm

    Most small businesses are aware that they can use Social Media for cagmaipning & branding their company. Using social medianetworks like Twitter,LinkedIn or Facebook can actually allow us to do that. Each time that we engage a potential customer onone of these social media networks we’re exposing our small business to thousands of other possible connections through thefriends and or followers of the person we engage.One social media network that can be beneficial to small businesses isFacebook.We can share product information, company information, and any specials we may be running currently. The informationbeing provided will allow the customers to create a great connection with our small business’ brand.Thus,Social mediaprovides potential access to an audience of millions at the touch of a button.

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