Gaining Clout on Klout

If I know anything about Ryan Adams, it's that he probably could not care less about what his Klout score is (it's an 86), but, I'm sure record companies take interest in that sort of thing. There are probably marketers and social media professionals that would kill for a Klout score that high, whereas Mr. Adams took the rockstar route to get there. However, just because someone is a professional musician, that does not necessarily mean they will receive high marks for social media influence. Sure, being a successful musician (or author, or athlete, or celebrity, etc.) can help, but if an account is inactive, it is not likely to have a very good Klout score. Ryan Adams, however, seems to enjoy interacting on social media. He retweets photos that fans post of his concerts, he tweets his curiosity about outer space and the universe, and of course, he tweets about cats. After all, what credible internet user doesn't post something about cats every once in a while?

By retweeting and replying to fans, and sharing his random thoughts on space travel and cats, followers get to form a relationship with this artist on a level that would be highly unlikely if it weren't for social media. As Mark Schaefer constantly alludes to in his book Return on Influence, effective marketing on social media is all about building relationships (Schaefer, 2012). By interacting on social media, brands - whether that brand is a corporation or a rockstar - can have an added human element, and seem more connected to the consumer.

From a business perspective, I imagine this could only help Ryan Adams' cause. Interacting on Twitter keeps him in the consumer's mind when he's not touring or promoting a new album, and gives him the ability to easily update his followers on when he does start touring or recording a new album. Followers can also get perks from these social media relationships as well. I once won a pair of tickets to see Ryan perform Live on Letterman  - separate from the Late Show with David Letterman - it was an hour-plus long performance in the intimate Late Show studio. Ryan Adams' official Facebook account posted an e-mail address and said the first x-number of fans to e-mail the account would receive free tickets to the performance. It's things like this that attract new fans (consumers) and keeps the old ones around, and hoping for more.

Looking at all of this made me curious as to what my Klout score would be. It's a much less impressive 24. However, that is when it is linked to my new Twitter account created for the Marist Social Media Strategies and Tactics course. I think that score could improve dramatically if I were to link it to my personal Twitter account, which has been active for several years, has about six-times as many followers, and about 2,500 more tweets under its belt. But, for now, I would believe that a score of 24 is accurate. In order to improve on that, I'll have to start building the right relationships...and maybe tweeting more about cats.

UPDATE - 3/7/15: After incorporating my personal Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts into my Klout score, it is now a 51.27 - not too shabby!

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Source

Schaefer, M. (2012). Return on influence: The revolutionary power of Klout, social scoring, and influence marketing. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.