BzzAgents' Klout Marketing Manual helps companies run word of mouth marketing campaigns based on Klout’s influencer analysis. Klout can be an important marketing tool, but it is only one component of an influencer marketing strategy. As with any direct marketing list source, an effective campaign requires the right messages, monitoring and measurement to be successful. The best practices summarized in this document will help marketers turn a list of highly influential people into an active community of persuasive product advocates.

1. The Klout Marketing Manual:
Using Twitter Influencers to
Generate Word of Mouth
As online social networking sites like Twitter continue to
attract users of all ages and demographic backgrounds,
marketers must continue to explore new ways to incorporate
Twitter-based word of mouth in their marketing strategy. With
over a hundred million registered users and 300,000 new
people joining every day, it can be difficult for marketers to
identify the right people to reach. A new breed of analytic
tools like Klout apply a sophisticated “human algorithm” that
looks far beyond the number of followers a person has to
quantify how effective they are at influencing others.
Marketers have begun to notice Klout.com. Ad Age and
Forrester recently covered the company, and it has
been enthusiastically profiled by a number of prominent
bloggers. The attention stems in part from the uniqueness
of Klout’s algorithm, but it also comes from some innovative
marketing programs the company has run for clients like
Starbucks, Virgin America, and Danone.
Twitter is an essential tool for generating word of mouth
about products and Klout is the best tool for identifying
the most influential people in your category. But like any
direct marketing list source, an effective campaign requires
© 2010, BzzAgent, Inc.

2. The Klout Marketing Manual: Using Twitter Influencers to Generate Word of Mouth
the right messages, monitoring and measurement to be mentions, and clicks to measure the impact each Twitter
successful. BzzAgent has partnered with Klout to manage user has on all other Twitter users.
60% of their influence marketing campaigns to date. We’ve
outlined our insights from these programs in this document The profile uses some basic game mechanics to
to provide you with the following 7 best practices for a encourage repeat use: “achievements” indicate progress
successful Twitter-based word of mouth initiative. in establishing influence, and “classes” describe qualitative
behavior characteristics. The profile also highlights other
Twitter users influential to the analyzed account, or who are
influenced by it. Based on the content of their posts, the
profile outlines the specific topic areas where the user has
demonstrated a level of authority.
“BzzAgent has
partnered with
Klout to manage
60% of their
influence marketing
campaigns to date”
How Klout Works
People use Twitter to share their insights and to expand
their personal networks. Many of them visit the Klout
website to gain a better understanding of how they are
influencing their followers. Are they starting conversation
trends? Are people clicking on the links they provide? How
often are others “re-tweeting” their posts or forwarding
their comments to others? Klout staff frequently mention
“ego” as a key driver when discussing the site’s popularity
among Twitter users. Klout.com looks beyond basic
follower counts to provide users with a simple and very
sophisticated measurement of their influence profile.
The Klout website is easy to use. Users simply enter a
Twitter account name into the site, and it generates a
succinct profile that describes that account. (See Figure
1.) The profile features the user’s “Klout score”: a single
number that summarizes that account’s online influence.
The score is based on more than simply follower count –
it also factors performance indicators such as retweets,
© 2010, BzzAgent, Inc. 2

3. The Klout Marketing Manual: Using Twitter Influencers to Generate Word of Mouth
7 Best Practices for Klout Marketing Success 2. Use Klout’s Permission to Recruit Influencers
BzzAgent has identified seven best practices for getting the When we first partnered with Klout, we tested two
most out of a Klout influencer marketing program. messages: one that invited Klout users to join the BzzAgent
community in order to test a free product, and another that
1. Engage Influencers with Real Product Experiences made no mention of BzzAgent, positioning the product test
2. Use Klout’s Permission to Recruit Influencers directly from Klout. The second version outperformed the
3. Programs Require Active Management first, as Klout members are familiar with the brand and trust
4. Not All Brands are Talkable it. The downside for marketers is that many of the tweets
5. Train Participants to Be FTC Compliant generated by Klout programs are about Klout itself, and
6. Discussions Start Quickly, But Need Support to Sustain sometimes make no mention of the client brand itself.
7. Track Discussions Across Multiple Channels
Sending participants an educational welcome kit at the start
of the program will clarify the roles of the brands involved in
1. Engage Influencers with Real the program. This builds credibility and makes it clear what
Product Experiences actions we are asking them to take with their followers.
Klout has the potential to solve one of marketing’s most
enduring challenges: a repeatable way to influence the 3. Programs Require Active Management
influencers. Tactically this is accomplished through two
steps: identifying influencers and then taking action to Starting off with the right list of individuals is important,
engage and persuade them. but to get them to review your product and engage with
their followers, you need to give them the right tools.
The first part is simple. Klout has created a hierarchy BzzAgent had an advantage when running these early
of millions of Twitter users across thousands of topics Klout programs. We designed them to follow our core
– enough targeting and scale to be relevant to most BzzCampaign process, which includes similar steps of
marketers. In BzzAgent’s experience we were easily able targeting, opt-in engagement, and activation through
to identify Twitter users influential about topics including product experience. We also had in-house solutions for
coffee, fitness, and cosmetics. We were also able to layer shipping product, measuring impact, and monitoring for
additional parameters to further qualify the audience by potential FTC violations.
applying filters like geography, gender, and recency of
tweets on a relevant topic. Klout’s specialty is its methodology to build your target
audience list. It is not a marketing services firm, so
The second part requires more work. We sent invitations to companies will need to develop the right strategies and
targeted Klout users offering free product samples in return execution to run a successful program. Marketers will also
for honest tweets about the product. Those Klout members want a clear measurement plan and toolset established
who clicked on the invitation were taken to an “offer” page in advance, as Klout’s in-house analytics for campaign
where they learned the details of the campaign and could measurement are minimal.
choose to opt in. Those who accepted the offer received a
kit in the mail that included the product sample(s), and links
to additional resources and communications to get them 4. Not All Brands are Talkable
excited about sharing their experiences with others.
Klout users can be cautious to embrace these programs
and fickle about the brands they will endorse. Starbucks
and Virgin America are popular brands and inherently
© 2010, BzzAgent, Inc. 3

4. The Klout Marketing Manual: Using Twitter Influencers to Generate Word of Mouth
talkable – it’s not surprising their Klout programs generated within minutes of launching their program. The downside is
significant buzz. But other brands have generated very few the buzz dies down very quickly. Unlike standard BzzAgent
tweets from Klout participants. BzzCampaigns which sustain product word of mouth
over an eight-week period, tweets tied to Klout programs
Compounding this problem is audience size. Even though typically end within a week or two (see Figure 2). Marketers
Klout monitors north of ten million Twitter accounts, adding should consider adding additional program tactics
targeting parameters can quickly reduce the pool past the (messaging, contests) if they want to sustain program buzz.
point of usefulness. When BzzAgent searched the Klout
membership for fitness enthusiasts in Toronto, we had had For example, BzzAgent’s BzzCampaigns have a dedicated
trouble finding enough influencers to join the program. web page with all the details of each program. Weekly
email updates keep the program top of mind and provide
participates with updates on product news and relevant
5. Train Participants to Be FTC Compliant events. This results in a level of discussion that sustains
over a much longer period of time.
An important part of any word of mouth program is the
training your participants receive about their online
conduct. The FTC has revised their Endorsement Guide
for reviews posted in social media to ensure that claims are
accurate and any affiliation with a company is disclosed.
BzzAgent takes several steps to ensure transparency
and authenticity. All our agents receive training on our
“code of conduct” which requires that they are unpaid,
unscripted and disclosure their affiliation with the
company. A staff of 100 moderators reviews all posts for
accuracy and proper disclosure.
6. Discussions Start Quickly, But Need
Support to Sustain
We saw a “two bump” pattern emerge in the programs we
ran through Klout. (See Figure 2) The first bump in tweet 7. Track Discussions Across Multiple Channels
volume comes as soon as Klout users are contacted with
program invitations. These tweets include descriptions of The reach of Klout programs extends beyond Twitter.
the program invitation, speculation of who else has been Influential people tend to share their thoughts in multiple
invited, and sometimes positive mentions of the sponsor channels online and offline. Many of the influencers
brand. The second bump comes when Klout members reached through Klout also maintain blogs, have large
receive their product samples. These tweets include links followings in Facebook, and post reviews frequently on
to product reviews, praise for the product, and gratitude sites like Amazon.
to Klout for sending the products. This second bump lasts
three to four days, depending on shipping patterns. We’ve seen participants update each of these channels in
the course of our programs so marketers should be prepared
The benefit of this pattern is speed: marketers can to track these additional channels for compliance with FTC
generate thousands of influential peer-to-peer impressions guidelines around disclosure and accuracy of product claims.
© 2010, BzzAgent, Inc. 4

5. The Klout Marketing Manual: Using Twitter Influencers to Generate Word of Mouth
As effective as the social web is for work of mouth, most About BzzAgent
discussion happens offline. BzzAgent specializes in
providing the structure and the tools to capture these BzzAgent is an international word-of-mouth (WOM) media
discussions so you can gain a comprehensive view of network powered by more than 700,000 people. We create
the word of mouth a program can generate and a better a deep connection between consumers and brands to
understanding of the impact on product sales. accelerate word of mouth across social and offline media.
BzzAgent’s proven process and media network allows
marketers to activate and measure millions of conversations
Summary and understand their impact on product sales.
Klout has the potential to be an important marketing tool, but BzzAgent has been at the vanguard of WOM marketing since
it is only a part of the solution. As with any direct marketing 2001. We have conducted over 1,000 programs for major
list source, an effective campaign requires a comprehensive marketers including P&G, Wrigley, L’Oréal, Michelin, Johnson
strategy to drive action. The best practices summarized & Johnson, Burt’s Bees and Logitech.
in this document will help marketers design an effective
program that can turn a list of highly influential people into For more information visit: http://about.bzzagent.com
an active community of persuasive product advocates.
500 Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA 02118
617.451.2280
sales@bzzagent.com
© 2010, BzzAgent, Inc. 5