social media | Chirology

Do you have Klout? And no, I’m not referring to that meeting where you went 6 rounds with a particularly difficult CEO. As regular readers of this blog will know, the 21st century Interim has a good grasp of all things social media. So, once you’ve mastered the basics of Twitter, Linked-In and Facebook, it’s time to get really serious about your online presence.

Founded in 2008, KLOUT is a website and mobile app that uses social media analytics to rank it’s users according to their online social influence. Eh? Social Media Analytics? Yes people, that’s the technical term for the practice of gathering and analyzing the data from those clever algorithms which power search engines like Google. It’s most commonly used by brands to identify customer preference, in order to find out what they like, and then sell more stuff!

Klout uses analytics to measure the size of a user’s social media network. A social ‘aggregator’, it works by correlating the content created and measuring how other users interact with that content. In other words, how influential you are online. Your ‘Klout Score’ is a number from 1 to 100. In case you think this isn’t really important, here are some other numbers:

Over 200,000 businesses use Klout across the globe
Each day Klout analyses around 12 billion social signals
There are over 620 million ‘scored’ users. That’s the population of China’s top 15 cities!

Klout is rapidly becoming the global standard by which both brands and individuals measure their social influence. So how does this relate to being an interim? Well, every time you post on Linked-In, enter a search term in Google or tweet, you are creating social media content. So far, so Google+…However, it’s not just your contribution to social media that matters – increasingly your influence – i.e. your Klout Score – is an important factor in your job search. Creating and sharing content is a means of marketing your brand as an interim. But, by providing useful content you are effectively increasing your visibility and establishing thought leadership. And engaging with your online network can put you front of the queue when opportunity comes knocking!

For example, my Klout scores indicate that I am in the top 1.0% of people talking about Consulting, the top 0.2% of people mentioning Management, and the top 1.2% of people whose topic du jour is Leadership. As an interim specializing in Transformation, it’s important that I’m seen as an expert in the fields that matter. The app also lets me see which of my tweets and blogs have garnered the most interactions, so I can keep track of the content that is genuinely connecting with people in my network.

Savvy companies are also actively using social media as a means to vet potential candidates. Yes, now really is the time to unfriend your former client on Facebook and restrict all professional connections to Linked-In! Of course, an arbitrary number isn’t necessarily going to indicate whether you are worthier than another person with similar skills and background, but it can give you the edge. In life and in business, we all want to know whether the people we interact with (and their digital persona) are credible and can be trusted.

As with all internet based tools, the decision whether to use Klout is entirely up to you. I find it useful, but I’d love to know what you think? Comments on the blog, please.

Apparently the optimum number of Facebook friends is around 150. This research is based on an anthropological study that suggests outside of a core group of 5 ‘insiders’, you are unable to maintain a high level of personal contact with the other 1,145 people you play Farmville with!

So, is Facebook relevant for today’s modern interim? Well, the answer really depends on what type of interim you do for a living. Ever since Facebook started advertising, many corporations have jumped on the ‘friend-me’ bandwagon – seeing this social network as a way to engage customers and build brand loyalty by connecting with them in their leisure time. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to be BFFs with my broadband provider or energy supplier. I just want the 24 MB speed I’ve been promised and a tariff that reduces my monthly utility bills!

That’s not to say that Facebook isn’t a useful medium. It’s informality and ‘like’ features mean that FMCG brands like Marmite and Innocent can build a huge following. They can also use the information about their followers to shape future marketing campaigns and identify consumer trends, so… exercise some care when you press that ‘like’ button. Global consulting firms such as Deloitte and KPMG also have presence on Facebook – they do it because it connects them with a talent pool they might not otherwise reach. Again, there is a brand building element here – targeting the Gen Y workforce of the future means you must catch them where they play.

This is all good stuff, but does that mean you should do it? I’ll go back to the first question. It depends. Personally, I don’t and won’t have a Facebook page that represents my business. Why? Well, I have a web-site, business blog and twitter feed (@lisa_bondesio) for that purpose. I raise my profile by being a guest writer on the Interim Hub. I keep my personal life extremely separate from my professional one for good reason – and I’m not talking about the photos from my last summer holiday here – but you get the point. This is also the reason that I don’t ‘friend’ my clients – I connect via an appropriate business channel such as Linked-in.

I’m not an FMCG brand and I am not in the business of recruiting graduates from top tier universities. I’ve made a conscious decision not to use Facebook, instead of blindly following the herd. I am definitely not a fan of ‘Me-too’ Marketing! I have colleagues who have taken a different tack, but they are photographers, designers, therapists, coaches – what they do is an intimate part of who they are, and therefore Facebook is appropriate as a way of marketing their business. It’s also a great place to post pictures of your work, so can be a boon to those of you who earn a creative living.

Still, like any online medium, consistency and content are key dimensions. If you are going to utilise Facebook, then be sure that you are updating your page regularly, and that any content is relevant. Also, don’t bombard your real friends (you do have those, don’t you?) with requests to become fans of your business page, or to ‘like’ your content. It’s a sure fire way to become Billy-no-mates overnight. My advice, keep your friends close and your clients elsewhere.

Lisa Bondesio is the founder of Chiridion Consulting. She provides common sense to corporate clients in times of transition and specialises in business change, strategy and stakeholder engagement. She does post her holiday snaps on Facebook, but only the flattering ones!

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