In only the last few years many ways to measure influence have emerged. Influencer marketing more important than ever and easier to measure because social relations are becoming an online phenomenon. Here are the positives and negatives of some of the existing rating standards that are attempting to measure social influence.

Klout is the currently the market leader. It has been around the longest and is the most widely known. Klout is good for these reasons: One score, Reaches many people, Facility of use Klout is bad for these reasons: Not transparent, can be manipulated, not specific enough.

Kred: The Kred standard was launched this year by PeopleBrowsr, a social data mining company. They provide two scores: Influence: The ability to inspire others. This is generally similar to the Klout score in that it assesses new followers, retweets and replies. Outreach: This measures the degree you retweet and reply to others. Kred primarily relies on data from Twitter but also looks at Facebook and Google + activity. With its two-part score Kred goes beyond measuring action and also looks at interaction. It also tries to determine a user’s influence within a specific community by reviewing information in a user’s bio. Like +K, this has shortcomings and is easy to manipulate. Kred relies heavily on transparency to differentiate itself from Klout. Benefits: Includes outreach, Transparency Detriments: Topical influence can be manipulated, Includes few social networks

Peer Index: PeerIndex is also a relative newcomer that measures three factors: Audience and Resonance: Number of people reached and impacted Authority: Reliance by others on your recommendations Activity: How much you do related to your topic This standard mines data from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora, and blogs to determine a person’s influence PeerIndex recognizes that popularity does not mean authority. In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell identified three types of people that create influence: connectors, mavens and salespeople. Connectors are those that have reach and impact and would have a high Audience score whereas Mavens are people who would have a high Authority and Activity score. PeerIndex places more emphasis on influence in specific topics and overall influence. This provides more accurate information to marketers but also makes it more difficult to navigate. Benefits: Includes Authority as well as Reach, Topical Detriments: Complexity

ProSkore ProSkore’s management recognizes that Klout has a different objective than itself. Klout measures social influence whereas ProSkore measures professional influence and Klout is a tool for marketers whereas ProSkore is a tool for business networkers. The ProSkore rating combines two elements: Social Influence: This is similar to a Klout score Professional Resume: This looks at your skills and competencies. ProSkore requires the user to actively build a profile. The upside of ProSkore is that it is much more subject-matter specific and region-specific. Positive: Measures professional influence, Topical and regional Negative: Complexity to create an account

Twitalyzer is a tool that looks at influence within Twitter. Twitalyzer is good because it is simple and transparent. Twitalyzer is bad because it only uses Twitter.

These are all competitors but they are also different in their unique ways and can co-exist. After a few year we will know which will be the leader. Over time they will refine their methodologies and provide more value. We are still in the early days and the right formula will take time. Just as Google came on the scene with a better algorithm for search, it is possible that a brand new company will emerge with a new and better algorithm for measuring social influence.

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