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Klout vs. Clout: Both are important to your business

December 4, 2011 by Kimberly Nasief — President, Measure Consumer Perspectives

I'd like to tell you a story about a friend of mine — and a business that did her wrong.

My friend — we'll call her Mabel — is a mother, and her children are very important to her. So she entrusted a large national chain of daycare centers with the care of her children. And her experience with them was just terrible.

Mabel wasn't likely to keep quiet about a transgression like that; her experience was bad enough that she knew it might negatively affect other moms' future experiences, too. So she sent an email to 40 of her closest friends explaining what had happened, all of whom were also moms.

And, of course, those 40 moms passed the word along to people they knew...and it all went downhill from there. For the business, that is: The mothers had learned a valuable lesson from one very socially connected mother and would be taking their business elsewhere.

And there was more bad news for the business. Mabel, in addition to being a mom with a lot of friends, also is an ad buyer for a large regional grocery store chain. Moms spend a lot of money in grocery stores, and you can bet that this childcare provider isn't going to get much love from her in the future.

Mabel is so very connected, and incredibly influential. But her influence wouldn't be evident in quantitative terms: Twitter followers, Facebook friends, or even that elusive Klout score we've been hearing so much about lately. (Not familiar with Klout? It's a number assigned to a user based on how influential they can be in getting people to take certain actions online.) All those numbers can be misleading; the kind of influence my friend has — the solid, real-world kind — is irrefutable.

If you read any business publications, or work with a consultant, you're likely being told to pay special attention to reaching your market's "influencers." For many businesses, this means throwing special events for bloggers, sending gifts and offering discounts to people who might help spread a good word throughout their networks, things like that. But don't forget about those offline influencers.

You can have a lot of clout without having Klout, and it can certainly go the other way, too. (And, of course, there are that lucky few who have both Klout and clout!) I guess what I'm saying is never to underestimate how powerful someone can be when they're really motivated to spread the word to their network, no matter what some website tells you about how effective they'll be.

Because the results might surprise you.

About Kimberly Nasief

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