The measurement of online influence is a hot topic these days. For example, Klout is a popular app that helps users determine how much influence they wield on Twitter and Facebook. Soovox is launching to help users determine their social influence and aid marketers in connecting to the influencers for particular brands. Soovox, which is launching tomorrow, is offering TechCrunch readers an early look at the site if you use the code “soovoxtcvip” here.
Called the Social IQ, Soovox’s tool promises to measure a user’s ability to sway others’ opinions and actions. The startup uses an algorithm that tracks the user’s social web influence by measuring three main criteria to score their social influence: Reputation (authenticity, behavioral),
Connections (passive, active), and Knowledge Authority (consumer, professional). Social IQ tracks Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace to determine influence.
As an incentive for consumers to sign up for Soovox, the company offers contests where users can win prizes. Users can also earn cash for participating on the site which can be used in a marketplace (which has not been launched yet).
For marketers, Soovox offers access to influencers/ambassadors of their brand or products. Social IQ allows brands to identify their brand Ambassadors (those with a high Social IQ score) and the Soovox marketplace will allow the brands to engage the influencers to participate in their marketing campaigns.
For now, the only feature that Soovox has available is the ability to measure your Social IQ and the startup is hoping to incentivize consumers to sign up with a contest to win a Macbook Air. In theory, Soovox sounds like a great way to match up brands with influencers. But in reality, the startup is going to need more than a laptop giveaway to get users to participate in the site. And if Soovox doesn’t manage to find influencers, then marketers won’t see any value in the site.
It’s also worth mentioning that a number of other apps out there help brands identify influencers on Facebook and Twitter, including Viralheat and PeopleBrowsr.
