A Klout score was a number between 1 and 100 that measured a person’s influence across social media platforms. Launched in 2008, Klout became famous for quantifying how much impact someone had online, based on their activity and engagement. The higher the score, the more influential the user was considered to be.
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Klout Meaning and Definition
Klout is a term that refers to the measurement of social influence. The Klout score was designed to answer the question: “How influential are you online?”. It wasn’t just about how many followers you had, but how much your content was shared, liked, and commented on. Klout used data from platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more to calculate this score.
How Klout Score Was Calculated?
Klout’s algorithm was complex and proprietary, but it considered several factors:
- Engagement: Likes, comments, shares, retweets, and other interactions with your content.
- Network Influence: The influence of the people who interacted with you. If influential users engaged with your posts, your score increased.
- Content Quality: The relevance and quality of your posts mattered. Klout looked at how much your content sparked conversations.
- Frequency: Regular activity and consistent engagement boosted your score.
- Reach: The size of your network and how far your content spread.
Klout processed billions of interactions daily, using machine learning to weigh these signals and assign a score. The system normalized scores so that a score of 40 was average, 50 was good, and 70+ was exceptional.
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Why Was Klout Score Important?
Benchmarking Social Media Influence
Before Klout, measuring social media influence was subjective. Klout gave brands, creators, and marketers a single metric to compare performance. It helped answer questions like: “Who is the most influential person in this niche?” or “Which influencer should we partner with?”.
Streamlining Influencer Marketing
Klout made it easier for brands to find and connect with influencers. Marketers could sort thousands of profiles by score and quickly identify the right voices for campaigns. This streamlined outreach and helped allocate budgets to partnerships backed by measurable reach.
Career and Partnership Opportunities
A high Klout score could open doors to new job opportunities, partnerships, and exclusive events. Influencers with high scores were often invited to product launches, given early access to new services, or offered freebies through Klout’s Perks program.
Also Read: Balanced Scorecard
Klout App and Perks
App Features
Klout was available as a website and mobile app. Users could link their social media accounts to see their score and track their influence over time. The app provided insights into which platforms and topics contributed most to their score.
Klout Perks Program
Klout’s Perks program was one of its most popular features. Companies partnered with Klout to offer free products, services, or exclusive experiences to users with high scores. Rewards ranged from invites to exclusive events, early access to new products, and even test drives of new cars. While the Perks program was discontinued in 2015, it was a major draw for influencers during its peak.
Klout Score: The Rise and Fall
The Golden Age of Klout
Klout’s heyday was between 2010 and 2015. During this time, it was widely used by brands, marketers, and influencers to measure and leverage social media influence. Klout scores were often cited in media and used as a badge of honor for social media stars.
The Decline and Retirement
Klout faced criticism for its opaque algorithm and the accuracy of its scores. In 2018, Klout was officially retired, and the website and app were shut down. While Klout is gone, the idea of a unified influence metric lives on in modern influencer platforms and social analytics tools.
Klout Score Alternatives
Modern Influence Metrics
Today, there are several tools that offer similar functionality to Klout. Platforms like BuzzSumo, Brandwatch, and Empire.Kred help brands identify top-performing content and influencers based on real engagement data. These tools provide insights that go beyond a personal influence score, offering real-time data on what resonates with audiences.
Content Discovery and Engagement
Modern tools focus on content discovery, engagement-based growth, and data tracking. Users can complete missions, track their influence over time, and compare their performance against others. These platforms offer a more comprehensive view of social media influence than Klout ever did.
Also Read: Z-score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a Klout score?
A Klout score was a number between 1 and 100 that measured a person’s influence across social media platforms.
How is a Klout score calculated?
Klout used a proprietary algorithm to analyze engagement, network influence, content quality, frequency, and reach across multiple social media platforms.
What is a good Klout score?
A score of 40 was average, 50 was good, and 70+ was exceptional.
What was Klout used for?
Klout was used to measure social media influence, streamline influencer marketing, and identify top performers for partnerships and campaigns.
What happened to Klout?
Klout was retired in 2018, but its legacy lives on in modern influencer platforms and social analytics tools.
What are Klout perks?
Klout perks were free products, services, or exclusive experiences offered to users with high scores through partnerships with brands.
Is Klout still active?
No, Klout was officially retired in 2018.
Final Words
The Klout score was a groundbreaking metric that changed how we measure social media influence. While Klout is no longer active, its impact on influencer marketing and social analytics is undeniable. Today, modern tools continue to build on Klout’s legacy, offering more comprehensive and transparent ways to measure and leverage online influence.
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