Klout vs Clout. What's the Measure of Influence? How does an online marketer use influence

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This post was written by Vicky Czarniecki, one of our senior market analysts. Another CU alum working at Collective Intellect, she graduated from the best school in the land with a with a degree in Journalism/Advertising. Vicky is a self-proclaimed amateur anthropologist intrigued by digital media's impact on our world and habits.

What Influences Influence?

Influence is very real. Everyday we are influenced by friends, family, coworkers, celebrities and newsmakers. There is a lot of talk these days about measuring online influence but how can we quantify the influence of our day-to-day personal encounters both online and off? Lots of companies will tell you they have the magical solution. Even mainstream media has their lists (i.e. Time’s Person of the Year  or People’s Sexiest Man Alive).  How often do you agree with the chosen few these publications select? Influence is open to interpretation and man-made scales. An Inc. article from 2011 featured panelists who work in various influencer-related fields. In the article, each of the panelists voiced different definitions of what an influencer is. Some even said there were many different definitions for influencers. So then why do we try to place so much weight on a single number (like Klout)? One panelist even went so far as to say we don’t know who has wide influence unless it is a popular figure like President Obama or Lady Gaga. How does online media ranking know if people actually take action after seeing something that a person posts, outside of “Liking” or retweeting it? If no action is taken or no change noted in someone’s beliefs, was that person who had so many eyes on them really influential? When Klout updated their ranking system I began to see my score drop week by week. I also began to see friends who post prolifically on Facebook grow in Klout exponentially. It dawned on me one day when looking at posts from friends (who now had scores of 50+) that the reason my score was falling and their’s growing was that that I don’t post on Facebook. My friends had close networks of equally active social media friends/family who would comment and “Like” their Facebook posts (usually pictures of their new babies) seconds after they were made. Really, how influential is this?  In my eyes, this proves that online influence is limited. The only real way a person is influential is if the people who interact with them are as plugged in as they are. This raises so many questions in my mind. Sure, they may have impact on a small group of friends but how wide does that go? Is impact the same as influence? Furthermore, just because a person “Likes” a picture of baby, is there any way to tell if they would also take advice on what lawn mower they should buy? Shouldn’t influence be more about educating, sharing ideas, and making a difference? How do you put a score on impacting someone’s life? Since there are so many discrepancies around the idea of an influencer, if you are a marketer it is important to pay attention to core fans in order to cast a wide net of positive conversation. Your core fans are really the way to get word-of-mouth buzz to spread. Plus, you don’t need to convince them that you are awesome. They already love you. I know The Tipping Point has been talked into its grave, but it always serves as a good reminder of word-of-mouth growth potential. As a brand, it is worth growing your fan community instead of being insincere looking for others (influencers) to talk you up just because you ask them to. Your idea of an influencer may be different from mine. That is why it is so hard to create a clear- cut way to determine who real influencers are. The best idea is to know your audience, find where and what they talk about and nurture your core fans.