Klout: What Is It and How Does It Work?

How would I describe Klout? In my opinion, Klout is comparable to a credit score. Credit scores increase if you’re on time with paying a credit card bill and decrease if you missed a mortgage payment. Klout is the social media version of this system, per se. Klout monitors your engagement, posts and other metrics to determine a score. The higher the score, the more influence you have in the social world. The more you interact, post and engage others on different social media platforms, the higher your Klout score will be. Business professionals have begun looking at this ranking system for hiring social media managers. Is it the perfect way to gauge your social media expertise? Probably not, but it can give good insight into how much you interact with others, and if your content gets shared around the web. That may be a good indicator of how well you will manage their social media campaign.

But digging deeper into Klout, we will look at the different metrics, what they mean and possible ways to increase your overall Klout score.

How to Design Your Social Monitoring Plan

Measuring and recording the analytics of your social media sites is important in providing insights to your overall campaign. Social monitoring goes beyond those numbers inputted for your data records. Measuring is when you use analytical platforms to measure your social progress. Social media monitoring is using a tool to crawl the web and find online users who are mentioning your brand, your products, or your competitors, and then engaging with them.

If you have all of your analytics set up, wonderful! But it’s time to take your social media game up a notch with a monitoring tool. But before we get to speaking about which tools are best for your business, (yes, there are free ones), let’s try to help set up your social monitoring plan.

How to Get Your Brand Ready for Social Media Marketing

Social media has become a main stream way for companies and brands alike to connect with their following. Going further than just engaging their consumer, brands now have several more outlets to market and promote their product and service. What some brands are having trouble with is how to properly get started with social media.

I am particularly aiming this blog towards the small to medium sized businesses. Companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Snickers, and any other name brand company have the funds at their disposal to do whatever they like; they can create a campaign, then completely overhaul it 5 times over if they please. I am dedicating this post to the companies that are up and coming, who are looking to jump on the social media bandwagon and would like to hit the ground running. There is still a large population of companies and businesses that have not yet adopted social media. So how do you get your company geared up for a social media strategy?

How to Plan a Solid Social Media Campaign in Just a Few Minutes

Okay, so the title was a little fabrication to grab your attention. It worked, just like how a properly designed social media campaign should entice your consumer to engage with your brand. Although there is no easy way to design a social media marketing campaign, we will cover some of the steps needed to be taken when considering what you will need for such an initiative. Planning a campaign takes time, patience and a true understanding of where you want to take your brand.

The first step towards designing a social media plan of attack is understanding your target market. Since your company is already up and running, your target market should already be established. If for some reason a target market has not been decided, it is best that you do that now. Right now. Pause reading this, and come back after you have targeted a demographic.

How To Use Social Media Marketing to Join the Conversation About Your Brand

Many businesses of all sizes are still reluctant to jump on the social media bandwagon. Executives may be scared that by creating social media sites, new avenues are built for negative comments and bad reviews about their brand. Unfortunately, this type of mindset is ignorant – people are talking about your brand online regardless if you have a Facebook or not, and not only in a negative way! There are hundreds of review sites, open forums, discussion boards, and personal opinions being shared over the Internet every second. Both positive and negative feedback is being dispersed all over the web, which can have both advantages and disadvantages if not handled properly.

Consumers trust other consumers’ thoughts and opinions more than they trust the company itself. Why wouldn’t you want to join in on what they’re saying? Creating social media accounts for your company gives your customers a space to come and discuss your brand. Having a Facebook or Twitter page lets fans interact with you AND their peers on a daily basis. Through social media sites, you have the ability to create a community around your brand and take lead of the conversation.

Internet Research Made Easy with Google Alerts

What’s better then a tool that gives you the ability to “search” the Internet without physically doing it? A tool that will search for you, email you when new information is found, and doesn’t cost a penny. Google Alerts, somewhat similar to subscribing to an RSS feed, will keep its user constantly updated. The difference is with an RSS feed, you are updated about a specific writer. With Google Alerts you will be notified based on the content, not the author. If you have ever been doing research online and feel that you only see the same content no matter how you search a topic, this tool is for you.

Google Alerts will scower the internet at predetermined frequencies given by the user. Three options are available, once a day, once a week or as-it -happens.

Brand Research… What Are Your Customers Saying About Your Company?

If you have been reading Progressive Media Concept’s previous blog posts, you know how often we stress the importance of engaging your consumers. Sometimes consumers get involved with your product or service and have positive things to write about, which is a great feeling for any businessperson. Social media sites allow your customers to post freely about what they think of your product offerings, customer service, and value. Therefore, it is important for marketing departments to conduct brand research to see what people are saying.

All forms of feedback can be found through your own company’s Facebook and Twitter pages. To conduct further brand research, it is a good idea to Google your company, products, or services. There you will find endless amounts of reviews, mentions, and even blog posts containing detailed consumer opinions.