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The greatest strength of social media marketing is its ability to easily share and spread information. This ease of communication can also be its greatest weakness. The amount of noise created by social media can easily turn to clutter and the line between an industry leader and bandwagon blogger becomes less defined.

As a result, tools and services are emerging that help distinguish between the truthfully influential bloggers and wannabes. The most talked about of these is Klout.

So, what is Klout and why should I care?

In a nutshell …

Klout is a high level screening process that measures online influencers. The higher the number, the more influential they are.

Klout uses 3 measures to create your overall Klout score:

1. How many people you influence.
2. How much you influence people.
3. How influential the people are who you influence.

The Benefits Klout brings to your brand.

So, in addition to using Klout score as a metric to make sure your social media influence is on track, you might also use it to identify influencers and industry experts to engage with.

In an ideal world, brands would be able to engage directly with every social media follower, but for many, the manpower to do so would just be too costly. So Klout offers one way for brands to prioritize their time spent on social media marketing, allowing them to identify, engage and enthuse influencers, those users who will spread the message to their followers.

In a nutshell…

1. Companies have products they would like to promote.
2. Klout allows company’s access to industry experts.
3. Industry experts get products from companies and engage with others about them.

How do I increase my Klout score?

Here are several ways to help increase your Klout score and impressions of your brand:

• Create content worth sharing. Post content that has a high sharability factor.
• Start a discussion. The more action you have on your messages the better.
• Connect other networks. Connect your other social networks (Facebook, Youtube, Twitter) to Klout.
• Build a niche community. Creating a strong community of like-minded people can grow your Klout score and create discussion for your personal brand.  
• Engage with influencers. Participate in conversations and respond to messages.

(Rest assured your personal Klout score is built over time on a 90 day rolling window, so being inactive for a long weekend or taking a short break won’t have a major impact on your overall score.)

And keep in mind that the social web is constantly evolving and Klout will continue to change as well. The best way to continue to have a high Klout score is to simply create engaging content.

Do you think Klout’s a good measurement for social media influence? Let us know in the comments section.