13th Way Ohio Political Candidates Can ROCK Their Social Media

In early 2011, I asked the question, “Do Ohio Elected Officials Kick Social Media Butt?” I extended an open invitation to all Ohio political candidates on the ballot for the November 2011 election to submit a guest post to help citizens become aware of their platform. That original post inspired a series of informational posts. This is the thirteenth in the series on how Ohio Political Candidates can ROCK Their Social Media.

For those finding this post first, here are the first twelve ways:

What's the icing on the cupcakes of this bakers' dozen??

13th Way Ohio Political Candidates Can ROCK Their Social Media:

Kick-up your Klout!

Not clout.....Klout.

I may have stated this in a previous post in this series:

Social Media becomes about social influence.

Social influence accrues like interest in a bank - Over time, and with consistent nurturing.

Klout is known as, "The Standard for Influence."

The Klout score measures your overall online influence. Scores range from 1 to 100 -- higher scores represent a wider and stronger sphere of influence. Lady Gaga has a score of 94.

Klout measures the following relative to your personal social interaction:

Nework Influence (the influence level of your engaged audience).
Amplification Probability (likelihood your content will be acted upon).
True Reach (size and scale of your engaged network).

Klout will also show you about what topics you are influential, who you are influenced by, and who you are influencing.

It is mainly geared toward Twitter, but Klout also considers engagement on Facebook, and now LinkedIn.

Why should you care about Klout?

Zachary Sniderman of Mashable put it this way in his recent article:

"Online influence is the golden fleece for politicians. Control of the digital world is becoming just as important as control of the offline world."

That same piece included the YouTube video of Tim Pawlenty's announcement of Presidential bid.

Two important notes:

Fact - Official political announcements via social media are more and more the news!
Video is usually not the first portal tapped for social networking, so some online influence is usually established before reaching for the video cam.

Sniderman's article also discussed President Obama's Klout, and that POTUS just appointed Twitter's CEO to his National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

{The same group that oversees availability and reliability of telecom services in the U.S}

Think we might be hearing a bit more about Twitter and Klout?

There's No Place Like Home

Lets bring it back to Ohio, shall we?

It seemed simplest to explore incumbents that impacted my location as well as the State of Ohio:

Cliff Rosenberger - 86th District Ohio Representative.
David Daniels - District 17 Ohio Senator.
John Kasich - Governor for the State of Ohio.
Mike Turner - 3rd Congressional District of Ohio, US House Representative.
Rob Portman - Ohio US Senator.
Sherrod Brown - Ohio US Senator.
John Boehner - Speaker of the House (from Ohio).
Barack Obama - President of the United States.

What to do with all that?

It would be unfair not to practice what I preach. So I took a look at my Klout score. And the elected officials listed above.

Note: Klout did not recognize Cliff Rosenberger or David Daniels, so I was unable to include information about them.

Below is a comparison of Ohio Incumbent Klout scores and related information:

Above you can see how our elected officials stack up online.

The blue "invite" button seems to imply that individual is not utilizing Klout in their social media strategy, as it was not present on President Obama's analysis.

Take a look:

Notice the score, influencer classification, and what each is influential about.

The latter is important when considering measurement of success of social media campaigns and how a social media manager might adjust their topics of discussion.

For instance, I'd prefer to be known more for marketing than technology, so I might shift my conversation, and those I engage, to marketing topics.

Some Definition

According to Klout...

Celebrity - You can't get any more influential than this. People hang on your every word, and share your content like no other. You're probably famous in real life and your fans simply can't get enough.
Thought Leader - A thought leader in your industry. Your followers rely on you, not only to share the relevant news, but to give your opinion on the issues. People look to you to help them understand the day's developments. You understand what's important and that your audience values that.
Pundit - You don't just share the news, you create the news. As a pundit, your opinions are wide-spread and highly trusted. You're regularly recognized as a leader in your industry. When you speak, people listen.
Specialist - You may not be a celebrity, but within your area of expertise your opinion is second to none. Your content is likely focused around a specific topic or industry with a focused, highly-engaged audience.
Socializer - You are the hub of social scenes and people count on you to find out what's happening. You are quick to connect people and readily share your social savvy. Your followers appreciate your network and generosity.

Other classifications include Conversationalist, Feeder, Broadcaster, Networker, and other.

It's All About Style!

Klout also lets you see how you relate with those who influence you, and those you influence. It's actually quite interesting to see yourself on the chart and compare styles with others in your social network!

The chart below lets you compare Klout style for the Ohioans and Ohio impacters listed above:

Social Media experts agree:

It is not the number of followers that is important, but the reactions created by tweets and posts. The level of engagement created with an audience following. So, a Klout score would be more relevant than the number of followers.

Analytics information is available on Klout - and with other measurement tools - but not mentioned here.

In Conclusion

How do you ROCK your Klout?

By being social with your media. Engage and converse. Create compelling content.

How does a political candidate use the information above?

Get going on social media, log in to Klout and start monitoring and comparing.

If you are watching, and analyzing (with Klout and other measurement tools) you can engage and adjust, and accrue great social influence!

What questions do you have about Klout?

Will you use Klout in your social media strategy?

Please let me know your questions and comments in the box, or share via one of the options below! :)

Klout sweats image credit: sociallyengagedmarketing.com

** This is meant to be the final post in the series. A follow-up summary next week will serve as a collective wrap-up. **