A week ago Klout (an online tool that measures one’s influence on social media) inspired a lot of dialogue when it announced a partnership with American Airlines. Image may be NSFW.
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Traditionally, Klout has rewarded social media superstars with “perks” – benefits you receive solely based on your “social capital,” or Klout score. The more active you are online, the higher your score and the more perks you can access.
So what’s changed? At its core, Klout perks haven’t blown anyone away. But last week’s announcement potentially legitimized Klout offerings. Previously a perk would be a discount to a trendy store, but now it’s VIP access to highly-coveted hangouts such as the American Airlines Admirals Club; a benefit of approximately $100 counting the fee to enter, free drinks, free Wi-Fi, and other amenities. That’s arguably better than a discount where you’re required to buy to gain the benefits – although Gloria could maximize that perk well above the Admirals Club fee in short order.
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Klout also announced a new feature called Klout Experts, designed to drive additional engagement and an increased score for Klout users when they provide answers whenever someone posts a general question on the site. According to Joe Fernandez and The Official Klout Blog, “With Klout Experts, our goal is to enable every person to share their passions and expertise with the world. Klout Experts will create a path to not only increasing your Klout Score, but also to helping others by sharing your insights and opinions.”
While both of these announcements prompted a lot of attention, there is an equal amount of argument on what these changes mean for the long-term value of Klout and its impact on social media. Our office is no different – Gloria & Doug each have their own take:
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Gloria: Although, I may not fully agree with Klout’s Experts expansion, I do think Klout is on to something big. With 1.2 billion people on Facebook and 500 million on Twitter, it’s smart to capitalize on the gross absorption of social media (just look at the audiences on Twitter and Facebook alone).
I’m on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram daily. Why wouldn’t I want free perks for doing something that is second nature? Although I would never pay $100 outright for access to American Airlines Admirals Club, I will send out a few tweets and Facebook posts to access that for free. If Klout continues to partner with reputable companies and offers these great perks, you can bet I’ll be paying a lot more attention to my Klout score than ever before – exactly what Klout wants.
I liken the situation to my morning coffee routine. Every morning, I stop in the coffee shop across the street and purchase a nice hot Hazelnut drip coffee with cream. After nine coffees, I get one for free. You bet I’m motivated to get my free coffee. Since its something I do every day anyway, being rewarded for something so routine is a no brainer.
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Doug: While I’m certainly not above letting American Airlines access my Klout score for a lounge pass, the service is struggling to remain relevant. Personally, I don’t believe they ever held much weight in the first place. The only people I’ve ever heard care remotely about their score were the same ones that self-defined themselves as “social media gurus” in their Twitter bios. To paraphrase the Iron Lady, if you have to say you are, you aren’t.
Now, with the addition of Experts, people can receive answers from experts, not just their immediate network. The problem here is that the actual experts probably aren’t sitting around waiting to answer questions on Klout. Mimicking Quora isn’t going drive people to your site. Convincing brands to provide perks that people actually care about, like the AA lounge pass? That may work. Regardless, unless they find some way to make people care about their level of influence, the company will continue to have little of their own.
So what do you think? Has Klout increased its relevance to you? Will you be more mindful of your score? Or is this the latest shiny object for the social media egos? Share your take in the comments section!