Watch out Quora; Klout is coming. The popular social influence tool, Klout, is launching a new product that is geared to help provide human answers from the Web's top influencers - 'Klout Experts.' This product will allow users to answer questions in 300 character responses on topics that they are deemed to be influential in. As of today, 15% of Klout users will have access to the Klout Experts questions as they will be rolled out to those influential in travel, movies, music, cooking and technology. Answering questions will have a direct contribution on one's Klout score. A series o [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Klout | Top News

Exciting new changes are hitting Klout today including integration with Bing search and the addition of Instagram data on user Klout scores. While Klout has integrated with Instagram previously (data has never influenced Klout scores), the Bing integration is new and can show directly on the Search Engine Results Pages. Klout + Instagram In 2011 Klout allowed doubled the number of services that users could tie into their account -- including the popular photo-sharing service Instagram. Today, Klout has announced that those filtered photos will have a direct impact on your official Klout scor [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook: Instagram | Klout

Klout is hoping businesses will start to take social influence -- and Klout itself -- more seriously with today's announcement of an analytics dashboard called Klout for Business. Klout describes it as "a set of tools designed to help you unlock the reach and power of your most influential audience members." It's not Klout's first business tool -- the company has grown its Klout Perks offering that gives brands a way to connect with people that Klout considers to be influential consumers by offering them access to products, services and experiences. Klout for Business is separate from th [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Klout | Social Media Marketing | Top News

Klout's mix of influence scoring signals finally includes Facebook Pages. Klout announced today that its users are now able to connect Facebook Pages to their accounts. Facebook Pages are already being factored into Klout scores, and content from those pages will soon start to show up on Klout profiles. For those who care about Klout scores, the company says that mean score increase from connecting a Facebook Page will be about seven points. The scoring algorithm will look at things like how many fans a Page has and how many people are talking about the Page, among other things. Ther [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook: Pages | Klout

Bing's social sidebar is now showing Klout information, but this is happening for more than the typical partnership deal. Microsoft is now an investor in Klout. From Klout's blog post today: To build towards that future, I am proud to announce that Microsoft has made a strategic investment in Klout and that we have signed a multi-year agreement where Bing will become one of Klout’s most significant partners. No terms beyond that are given. Klout recently underwent a redesign to help reposition it as a type of social resume service. I'd say Klout has been struggling with the perceptio [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Klout | Microsoft | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Business Issues | Top News

While social influence scoring services like Klout, Kred and PeerIndex can provide valuable data for marketers, it's important that you understand their limitations as well as their strengths. (Note: This is part 2 of a 2-part series. See part 1 here.) One challenge is the fact that you can't compare scores in an apples-to-apples way when looking at different geographies. Professionals in Germany are more likely to use Xing rather than LinkedIn for their professional networking needs, putting them at a disadvantage as Xing isn't currently used by any of the social capital scoring services. [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Strategy | Klout | Social Media Marketing Column | Twitter | Word Of Mouth Marketing

If you're planning a campaign to stimulate word of mouth discussion of a product or a brand, one question likely keeps arising -- how influential is a particular person online? Is it worth reaching out to them? If you've been pondering how to measure or benchmark social media influence, several companies, including Klout, PeerIndex and Kred, are clamoring to assist you in identifying and connecting with influencers with high social capital ranking scores. Even if connecting with influencers isn't an immediate need, the boss might be asking for explanations of your brand's Klout score, [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Industry | Klout | Marketing Tools: Social Media | Social Media Marketing Column | Statistics: Social Media | Twitter: Marketing | Word Of Mouth Marketing

User influence monitoring service Kred, has created Kred Story, a rich visual experience for viewing one's social stream. Kred has traditionally competed with Klout on influence measurement, the new Kred Story takes a different approach as it aims to find and display influential activity in a visually appealing layout. The layout places more of an emphasis on images pulled from links and social accounts for an appealing newspaper-esque layout. Included with the updates are top influencers, locations, related words and top bloggers around an account or hastag. Listed Tweets show Retw [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Klout | Marketing Tools: Social Media | Social Media Marketing

Is Barack Obama the most influential person on earth? What about The New York Times -- is it the most influential brand in the world? I'm not going to debate those questions one way or another, but President Obama and the Times are the two big winners after Klout changed its influence-scoring algorithm this week. That's according to Fan Page List, the site that tracks brand and celebrity performance on social media sites. Klout Celebrity Scores (via Fan Page List) Fan Page List shows Barack Obama in the number one spot today on its Klout celebrities list with a score of 98.8. Pol [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Features & Analysis | Klout | Social Media Marketing | Top News

Avid Klout users around the world will notice a reconfiguration in numbers today as Klout is undergoing a major overhaul and redesign. All user numbers will change and and selected groups will see a shiny new experience, as Klout aims to become your "social media resume." This means that more social data will be pulled, more items will be tracked, and more reporting will be available. The new score changes will take effect for all users at 10 AM PST today and the redesign will be rolling out to groups throughout the month. Here are the main components that are included in the new versio [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Features & Analysis | Klout | Top News

Klout, the social influence measurement service, has announced its first acquisition: a local/mobile app called Blockboard. Blockboard was formerly known as BlockChalk and, when I wrote about it two years ago, the service then seemed like a cross between Twitter, Foursquare and even Craigslist, focusing heavily on local, even neighborhood-level content and connections. Today, the company's website simply says that Blockboard "is dedicated to reconnecting neighbors and neighborhoods." In its blog post about the acquisition, Blockboard explains how it fits in with what Klout is doing: T [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Klout | Social Media Marketing

On Twitter, they don't understand Klout. They also don't understand Klout on Google+. And they don't understand Klout on Tumblr. That seems to be a common thing: If you're not angry at Klout for changing the scoring model in late October, you might be telling people to stop caring about their Klout scores. And if neither of those fits, you just might not understand what all the fuss is about. Klout is taking steps to remedy the situation, especially the "I don't understand" part. Earlier this week, the company launched a new section of its website called Understanding Klout. It co [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Features & Analysis | Klout | Social Media Marketing | Top News