Last night I received an email from Klout, the Twitter profile analysis tool and website, asking if I’d like to participate in a new program in which they pair big brands with influential Twitterers; specifically, the program is designed (or claims to be) so that the particular promotion is directed toward – not just Twitterers with a large number of followers or those with many retweets and @mentions – but those whose posted content indicates a some sort of authority or influence or maybe merely an affinity for discussing the topic related to the brand and promotion in question.
Klout - Starbucks eMail
In this case, I apparently tweet often about coffee (guilty), and I assume, to some extent, those tweets incur replies and conversation, enough to warrant an offer for some free Starbucks coffee, anyway.
Take a look at the email and offer signup – [Screenshots included somewhere in this post]. What do you think of this program? I kinda like it – but then again, I’m getting free coffee 🙂
Have you received any offers like this? Starbucks is fairly social media savvy and have been undergoing a rebranding process for a while now – between the unbranded stores in Seattle to taking on the instant coffee market with Via to the successes of @Starbucks & My Starbucks Idea, so I’m not surprised that they’re’ paving the way in this arena. I’ve tried Ad.ly, My Likes, and Sponsored Tweets, but find their models a bit spammy. My gut feeling is that this is the closest we’ve come to a real step forward in a twitter ad/marketing model. The idea follows something I learned at a recent ARF event during social media week. The presentation was about the Science of Social Media, and one of the speakers, a brilliant man from Yahoo Research whose name escapes me at the moment, informed us that research indicated that a user’s influence on twitter couldn’t be predicted by followers or numbers alone. Rather, in order to determine if a tweet will cascade, you’d have to combine those figures with the specific area of expertise that the person has and whether or not the content posted falls within that area of authority. — This certainly seems to fit with that theory…
What do you think?
Klout Offer SIgnup
Legends of Aerocles 
Hey Dave-
I got this email from Klout also and, like you, signed up for the offer! How could I turn down free coffee? 😉 I think this new marketing is a good idea and I am very interested to see how it evolves/how other companies react to it. I especially agree with this point in your post, “…in order to determine if a tweet will cascade, you’d have to combine those figures with the specific area of expertise that the person has and whether or not the content posted falls within that area of authority.” Klout and Starbucks definitely took advantage of that. I wonder if Klout made any other partnerships like that one. We’ll see!
Nice post!
I did not get an invitation to coffee (sad face), but I have noticed Klout creates a lot of Twitter lists. I found myself off and on lists called “Klout Influential New Yorkers” “Klout New York” etc. Seems they’ve been collecting and curating this info after all.
Sometimes this type of marketing can feel like an intrusion. I talk about coffee, so all the coffee makers send me coffee coupons and ask me about my opinions on coffee. I say I have a child, then all the stroller companies, or diaper companies or whatever….
For marketing and advertising, I guess it’s good. We can get more direct with our targeting. We’re more likely to hit the purchase intent of an individual based on what we see their interests are.
Still has a ring of scary to it. Though I think we’re moving away from permissions marketing, which is what Seth Godin coined the 5th p of marketing. You don’t have my permission to hit me up with these offers. We’re in some blurry privacy waters bc of social media. I’m definitely excited about all that’s happening though.
I got it as well. I think it’s a risky proposition for a company that’s mining data to suddenly make offers unsolicited. If Twitter was a message board this would be considered spam; let’s not forget that just because the medium has changed that the message is any different.
[…] Starbucks among the initial adopters of Promoted Tweets, the company is also running an innovative outreach program with influence measurement startup Klout. Klout provides everyday marketers with the ability to […]
[…] Starbucks among the initial adopters of Promoted Tweets, the company is also running an innovative outreach program with influence measurement startup Klout. Klout provides everyday marketers with the ability to […]
[…] Starbucks among the initial adopters of Promoted Tweets, the company is also running an innovative outreach program with influence measurement startup Klout. Klout provides everyday marketers with the ability to […]
[…] Starbucks among the initial adopters of Promoted Tweets, the company is also running an innovative outreach program with influence measurement startup Klout. Klout provides everyday marketers with the ability to […]
[…] as I’ve written about previously, has a unique take on influencer targeting that seems aligned with Yahoo Researcher Duncan […]
The newest company trying Klout’s program is CoverGirl. I received a similar offer from Klout, but it was for CoverGirl products. (I don’t drink coffee LOL)
great post, this article is helping me so much, thx
[…] generally attempting to keep the brand evolving alongside consumers. Be it with unbranded stores, partnering with Klout, the legendary My Starbucks Idea, or being the first major brand to tout a Foursquare Promotion in […]
[…] promotion is similar to one Klout ran with Starbucks in March, in which influencers were offered free samples of Starbucks’s Pike Place Roast. We expect to see similar offers like this in […]
[…] promotion is similar to one Klout ran with Starbucks in March, in which influencers were offered free samples of Starbucks’s Pike Place Roast. We expect to see similar offers like this in […]
[…] promotion is similar to one Klout ran with Starbucks in March, in which influencers were offered free samples of Starbucks’s Pike Place Roast. We expect to see similar offers like this in […]
[…] to work with Klout on such a promotion when they offered the most influential coffee Twitters a free sample of Starbucks’s Pike Place Roast. Now Virgin America is doing it. It will be exciting to see who’s […]
[…] below.The promotion is similar to one Klout ran with Starbucks in March, in which influencers were offered free samples of Starbucks’s Pike Place Roast. We expect to see similar offers like this in […]
[…] task. Tools like this allow users search within their pre-established columns and tabs, either by Klout Score (Influence) or by […]
[…] with authority who tweet about coffee. In recognition for their prominence, these “coffee influencers” were offered a cup of Pike Place Roast on the […]
[…] individuals with authority who tweet about coffee. In recognition for their prominence, these “coffee influencers” were offered a cup of Pike Place Roast on the […]
[…] Klout partnered with Starbucks to offer free coffee not to twitterers with a large number of followe… […]
[…] individuals with authority who tweet about coffee. In recognition for their prominence, these “coffee influencers” were offered a cup of Pike Place Roast on the […]
[…] an example, Starbucks teams up with Klout and offer free samples to people with high Klout, claiming great results to show for […]
[…] with authority who tweet about coffee. In recognition for their prominence, these “coffee influencers” were offered a cup of Pike Place Roast on the […]
[…] Klout & Starbucks Team Up On Influential Twitterer Marketing […]
[…] Starbucks offers free coffee to select persons who have a large following and also mention coffee in most of their tweets. […]