Amazon Top Social Influencer In The World

According to the recent Klout 50 list, from Lithium Technologies, of the top global companies for social media influence, online retail giant Amazon is the top global brand for this form of influence, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK reports.

The Klout 50 ranking measures the social influence and engagement of various brands, looking at how they share top tier digital content and how they engage their audience. Amazon came first, narrowly beating Microsoft with a Klout score of 98.86 compared to 98.85, respectively. MTV came third with a score of 98.32.

The ranking itself uses information from Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and specially formulated algorithms to generate scores out of 100. However, it is more than simply the strength of a brand’s value that translates into social media success, the article notes – some of the brands that appear in the Klout 50 list do not appear in the Interbrand 2014 Best Global Brands survey; Apple, for example, appears low down on the Klout 50 list yet came first in the Interbrand list. Congratulations should be given to Microsoft, Google and McDonald’s, however, as they secured places in the top ten for both lists.

According to a blog post by Klout, the firm believes that social influence is focused on “creating and sharing engaging content online.” They believe that brands who actively connect with customers via social media sites, encouraging them to share their experiences, deserve recognition. The list should also act as “a wake-up call” for other brands who are not investing enough effort in social.

Other brands listed in the Klout 50 top ten were Facebook, Nintendo, eBay and Ford.