Last week I posted a discussion about Klout scores on several LinkedIn groups. From those who responded it quickly became clear that business owners in general have little-to-no knowledge about what a Klout score is or what their Klout score should be.
If you haven’t heard/learned by now, social media is a powerful tool for proving your expertise in the industry you work in. Whether posting short posts on Twitter, Facebook or Google+, sharing presentations on Slideshare or writing articles on your company’s blog, any (intelligent) activity on social media can help you secure your next client.
Your Klout score is basically your social media grade. In other words, Klout looks at your participation and engagement across various social media networks and then assigns a score based upon your performance.
So what does your Klout score say about you? Here’s a general breakdown:
0-39: A Klout score of up to 39 means you are pretty casual about the say you handle your social media. Your participation is limited to one or two social media platforms (ie Facebook and Twitter), and in general you’re not producing a lot of engaging content. Remember: You want your fans and followers to be liking, sharing and/or commenting on your posts.
40-54: I have to admit – as of today, this is the range Sutton Creative Studios is in. A four month pause in regular posting caused a sharp decline in our score, and now we are working to take our score back up to the 55-70 range. When we resumed our posting, however, our score was in the low 30’s. Since then we have had weekly blog articles, regular posts on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, and an assortment of posts on Pinterest and YouTube. I’m not going to share our score as of this morning, as I honestly don’t agree with the three point drop we experienced this weekend. (Cough cough – I don’t always agree with our Klout score.)
55-70: As a small business owner, this should be your ultimate goal Klout score range. Yes, I know you’d probably like to have a Klout score of 100, however realistically, most of us will fall in this range at our peak. How do you get here? Engage and be engaging. Post regularly and use hashtags.
71+: You know your stuff and you’re hitting it out of the ballpark. Seriously… I should be hiring YOU for help in social media.
Want to know what your Klout score is? Visit www.Klout.com and set up your FREE account.
To find out what is (or isn’t) working in your social media/Klout score strategy, track your daily/weekly social media activity on a Google Doc spreadsheet. Be sure to include your Klout score, #of clicks on your website (or # of visitors), and # of posts on each individual platform. For your convenience, I created a template version of our tracking spreadsheet which you may request a FREE copy of HERE.
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Kim Sutton is the Managing Partner and Chief Everything Officer of The Sutton Companies, including Sutton Strategic Solutions and Sutton Creative Studios. She is a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Architecture.
An avid reader and passionate learner, Kim is constantly researching, studying and developing business improvement strategies. When it comes to client work, Kim especially enjoys helping her clients develop innovative marketing strategies and sales funnels, particularly when they are using Infusionsoft to automate all the heavy lifting. To find out how you can further develop your company’s marketing and automation strategies schedule a 1-hour Business Boost Strategy Session by clicking here.
In her free-time, Kim cherishes the time she gets to spend with her husband, Dave (her business partner), and five children. She also enjoys reading, knitting, writing and playing video games.
Get a copy of Kim’s FREE guide, “10 Top Tools for Small Businesses” by clicking here.
Sutton Creative Studios 