Last month, Fast Company ran a piece entitled "Crazy Ways Top Creative Pros Landed Their Dream Jobs". One of the ways mentioned was to "Always Be Selling...Yourself.", the article went on to cite the rather peculiar hiring practices of Jason Peterson, chief creative officer for the Chicago-based branding agency Havas. Peterson hires based on Klout score, an action he defends by stating, "If you can't do it for yourself, you can't do it for my clients." (Greenfield, 2015) To some degree he may have a point, but some of the world's best marketing executives are likely not doing what needs to be done to achieve a high Klout score - they just might a bit too busy to brand themselves - and certainly some of the folks out in Hollywood with ridiculously high Klout scores are in fact achieving those inflated scores by having a team keeping them in the extremely important (to them and their careers) social media spotlight. So, who has "real" Klout? Darren Rovell.
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| Darren Rovell at a Northwestern University basketball game on "social media night" |
Rovell, who technically holds the title of "sports business analyst for ESPN", is a TV/Radio/Online personality with a deep following on and off the air. Over the years he has amassed almost 575,000 followers on Twitter (+Darren Rovell), his preferred form of social media engagement. He routinely breaks stories that interest the public and throws in plenty of Tweets that shock, entertain, humor, and amuse. Hell, the guy even re-tweeted something I once posted about a California beer brewed with organic bacon (that led to a nice little bump in my miniscule Twitter fandom). Like many public personalities that have a big voice in their industries, Rovell has caused controversies through his social media lens. He rarely apologizes when he offends (or happens to not get things "totally" correct in a story) and he's a guy that plenty of people love to hate but he also knows how to carry a following. Rovell posts just the right amount, varies his subject matter, and keep his audience interested. Oh yeah, he also interacts with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment in a weekly basis.
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| Rovell's Tweets cover everything but breaking sports news to the latest sneaker release |
So, what about his Klout score? Well, Darren is doing pretty well if you want to judge a man based on a score that means very little to anyone other than the folks that actually run Klout. Currently, he holds an impressive score of 85. That puts him in the elite 2-3% range when it comes to Klout. Whereas he's no Justin Bieber (and thankfully nobody else is, we only need one), he's holding quite a bit of social media influence cred. As for me? Not quite as much.
I should probably preface the next couple of paragraphs by stating that I am a Klout skeptic. The fact that it only sources your influence through Facebook (your personal page no less) and/or Twitter means it lacks the ability to truly measure you. Also, and this where I really don't see the validity of Klout, if you want to increase your Klout score you'll need to play by their rules and post to their website to help drive traffic their way - which helps earn them money. If Klout allowed you to somehow describe and submit all of your social media presence (and tabulated it through some fancy understandable algorithm) and then simply gave you a number I'd have a but more respect for it. I feel that Klout wants people to think this is how its done...and that's where I'm a skeptic.
That said, I went and checked out my score on Klout. I chose to use the Twitter handle I have for my website (@CraftCans) and the magic number I received was 49. Not bad. I guess people do actually care what I say about canned craft beer. Not content with just that one number and source, I logged out and then used my Facebook account. That magic number? 10. So, I'm left a bit confused as to what it all actually means. For now, I'll continue to personally measure and assess my social media worth and influencing power based on the number of hits on my website, Twitter followers and re-tweets, and Facebook interaction. Oh, and don't worry Jason Peterson, I won't be applying for a job at Havas anytime soon.
Sources:
Greenfield, R. (2015, February 9). Crazy Ways Top Creative Pros Landed Their Dream Jobs. Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://www.fastcompany.com/3041935/how-i-get-it-done/crazy-ways-top-creative-pros-landed-their-dream-jobs
Hi Russ,
ReplyDeleteGreat example of a public figure with a high Klout score. Love him or hate him, Darren Rovell is going to continue to be a social influencer as long as both fans and critics engage with him on social media. This is both impressive and intimidating to those of us trying to build our social media influence.
You have a good Klout score for your business persona as well. Very impressive! I'm curious as to why your score dropped so much when you used your Facebook account. Were you including only your Facebook account, or were you coupling that with your Twitter handle?
All that being said, I second your skepticism of Klout as a valid tool for evaluating social worth. I think all it can truly measure is estimated impressions, not genuine influence. I also shudder at the thought of employers putting so much emphasis on an individual's Klout score. I use my personal social media accounts very differently than I used the accounts to represent the business I worked for as social media manager. This is just personal preference, not inability to build my personal social influence score. I think comments like Jason Peterson's are a bit ignorant, saying things like if a person can't grow influence for themselves, they can't do it for a client. Personally, I think that if a person can grow their personal brand to an influential enough level that people are shocked and awed by their Klout score, they are successful enough with their personal brand not to have to work for another company.
Great post this week!
Brenna
Thanks Brenna! I definitely agree with you that Jason Peterson's comments are a bit ignorant. I think its a bit of a scary glimpse into the a future where people are ranked and that rank alone determines their career opportunities. I don't think we're there yet thankfully and I definitely don't think that Klout is the best way of determining one's ability to be influential.
DeleteHi, Russ.
ReplyDeleteYou have historically offered up great examples for our discussions. This week is no different! When I read about Klout, I was just excited to know something about social media that my 17-year-old nephew didn’t know. It became a game with some friends of mine - who thought I was crazy when I was describing what I read in Mark Schaefer’s Return on Influence. I admit, I’ve asked the question, “and what is your Klout score?” to a handful of people - just to stump them. ☺
I agree that not many employers are taking a look at your Klout score to make a decision on your ability to do your job. I know a lot of highly effective, highly influential people that don’t even have a Twitter account. So, am I worried that my Klout score is only at a 45? No. Am I going to work to improve my Klout score? Yes. But that’s the competitive part of me that just won’t stop until I’m considered “influential” - even if it isn’t applicable in my “real” world (as of today).
Though I may not have a lot of faith in my Klout score landing me a dream job, I agree that it’s important to continually work to build your own brand. Today, that consists of building a brand for your self in both the online and “off” line cocktail parties. If by chance there’s a CEO at one of those parties that wants to hire me for my Klout score, well… that’s perfectly ok with me.
Nice job this week – both educational and entertaining!
Thanks Mandy, I appreciate your comment and your insight. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteHey Russ,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I really appreciate your skepticism about Klout. I am also a bit skeptical of Klout's accuracy regarding influence, and for many of the same reasons you mention. I'm also skeptical of Jason Peterson's hiring methods based on Klout score. Sure, I understand his logic that if you can't do it for yourself, how could you do it for clients. However, some people just aren't all that interesting, and I'm sure clients have more interesting information to offer to the average social media user than an aspiring marketer. After all, it seems to me that most marketers and social media professionals gain notoriety by following each other, and not from marketing themselves and their ideas to the average social media user. This isn't to say they have no influence, but, it kind of becomes a profession that grows on self-gratification. Good stuff. Cheers!
Hi Russ,
ReplyDeleteGreat example! What I thought was most interesting was your questioning the Klout score. There is a part of me that agrees with you, but I have to admit I am beginning to understand how the software works. When you log in to Klout, you only have one handle linked (either Twitter or Facebook). But once you're in, you can link up multiple accounts. I first joined through Twitter (which is actually my least active networking site) and my score was a 16 or something around there. Then I linked my Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Facebook for me isn't where I am most active, it's on Instagram and LinkedIn. On LinkedIn, I have a substantial amount of connections, mostly because I link in with almost everyone I've worked with professionally. When I merged all my accounts together, my score was 50. I think part of the calculation of Klout has to do with the power of influence, but also the reach that you have.
Have you merged your accounts on Klout yet? I'd be interested to see what your score is if you merged all social media accounts.
Thanks for a great post this week!
Allie