How To
InterNations Team Explains How to Manage a Global Audience on Social Media
The InterNations Social Media Team weighs in on what it takes to engage a social community of over one million people around the world.
As the Social Media Manager for InterNations, the largest network for people who live and work abroad, Erin McBrayer is in charge of the company’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube accounts. It is her responsibility to ensure that the content shared on each platform is interesting and relevant for InterNations’ followers and fans. As this is a fairly large job for one person, Social Media Intern, Leah Martin, provides vital support. This two-woman team works together to cross borders and bridge cultures through engaging social media posts!
See Also: 6 Tips for Managing a Global Social Media Audience
What do you do all day?
Finding content to share on different platforms is one of the most important parts of the job. This content must be interesting for our audience, relevant to the company, and must adhere to our brand standards. We also write texts and find images to post with articles, ensuring that captions and photos are as engaging as possible. As well as posting content daily, we also work on larger campaigns, such as contests and Twitter chats, and collaborate with other departments on major projects.
Another central part of our work is to monitor incoming messages across our different channels. Since the world of social media is active 24/7, we are constantly checking our notifications in order to ensure that all questions and inquiries are answered — and that there are no inappropriate comments on our pages!
How do you decide which content to post?
When we started working at InterNations, the company had already established an impressive social media presence, as well as clear brand guidelines on what type of content to post; however, because we are always hunting for fresh and exciting articles that relate to current trends and topics, there are still times when we’re unsure what to post.
In these cases, there are a few questions that need to be addressed. Firstly, which platform is this content for? Articles posted to Facebook are always expat-related in some way (such as tips for moving abroad, or tricks for learning a new language), whereas our Twitter audience is much broader, so the content can cover a wider range of topics, such as food and architecture. We then have to look at the publication or author and ensure they’re a reliable, trusted, and reasonably well-known source that present their articles in an aesthetically pleasing way with minimal ads. Thirdly, we consider the topic and whether we have recently posted similar articles as we don’t want our channels to become repetitive. Finally, we delve a little deeper into the content of the article, and check the language is not offensive, and that it is written in a way that will fully engage our audience (i.e. not too long, too short, too formal, or too colloquial).
As you can see, finding content is not a straight-forward process! It really is a team effort, and we work together to find articles and give each other feedback. Once we have agreed on the appropriateness and potential success of an article, we pop it into our content calendar and schedule it to go out across our platforms on a specific date.
How do you keep track of different social media accounts? What tools do you use?
We use a variety of tools to manage our social media accounts, the most important of which is ‘Sprout Social’ — it shows us all of our notifications, including tweets, inbox messages, comments etc. We can
then reply to followers through the tool, or forward more general inquiries to our Member Relations Team. ‘Sprout Social’ is also used for scheduling our posts that are published outside office hours. Finally, this tool is used to find certain data for our weekly reports, which track interactions across our channels. Facebook Manager and Twitter Analytics are also vital for finding the data needed for this tracking.
We also use an online tool called ‘Canva’ to design and edit images. If you’ve looked at any of our platforms, you’ve probably seen images with ‘expat tip’ or ‘chat’ topics on them. We post these on a weekly basis to encourage engagement and design them using Canva. This handy tool is also used to create promotional images when we are hosting a specific contest or campaign, or to make new header images for our Twitter account.
What is the most difficult part of your job? What are the risks?
The most difficult part of our job is dealing with so many incoming comments and messages! It’s challenging to address and answer everyone’s inquiries and questions as we don’t always have the solution for more personal issues, such as job searches or visa problems.
Reading negative comments on our content is also difficult, especially if we were really happy with the article before posting. Mistakes are also noticed easily and instantaneously in the world of social media, and people don’t hold back when criticizing online. It can be quite stressful and disheartening to see these kinds of messages on the few occasions that we do slip up!
In terms of risks, there is always the possibility that certain followers will interpret an article differently than we did. We never want to offend people, however, we do want our posts to be engaging and interesting — sometimes the articles we share contain strong opinions. The more followers we have, the more careful we have to be with what we post as there’s a higher risk of someone being offended. Balancing the risk of negative feedback against the risks that come with only posting bland or repetitive content is a challenge in itself!
In general, though, we strongly believe that having one million Facebook followers is more of an opportunity than a challenge or a risk. While there’s a risk content may be misinterpreted, it will also be read by more people, who will hopefully share it with their friends.
What advice would you give to people working with large global audiences on social media?
You need great attention to detail! It’s very important to check the content you’re posting to ensure it’s appropriate and not too provocative. Make sure you do a basic spell-check to find any silly mistakes, and — if possible — get a friend to read over your posts for those little things you might have missed — your followers will be quick to notice them!
It’s also vital to pay attention to the numbers, see what kind of content performs well, and adjust your content calendar accordingly. Get to know your audience, but keep in mind that — even if you think you understand your followers — an article might not always perform as well as you’d hoped. It’s impossible to please everyone, and that’s okay! Listen and respond to constructive criticism, be open-minded, and adapt your strategy accordingly, but never let hostility or negativity stop you from doing your job.
A URL Shortener is a technique in which a URL may be made shorter and still redirect to the original long page.
Most URL Shorteners are free and easy to use but come with limitations.
Google shut down its Google URL Shortener in 2018 with continued support until March 30, 2019. However, all existing links will continue to redirect to the intended destination.
Top URL Shortener Services on the Internet
1. Bitly.com
Bitly offers a free and enterprise version of its URL shortening service. No signup necessary, but creating an account allows you to manage links quickly and change the short link characters if you wish.
According to this Quora answer, the enterprise version of Bitly costs around $995/month.
Pro Tip: add + after the short link to access analytics of any bitly link. bitly.com/link+
2. TinyURL
A simple shortener that requires no sign-up and allows users to customize the keyword. The service is free to use, but there is no analytics.
3. Short.io
The best shorten link provider so far, it has so many useful features such as google analytics integration, bulk import, broken links detection, built-in analytics with so many details, link cloaking, and more.
Cost: affordable compared to similar solutions.
4. Rebrandly
Rebrandly is one of the popular URL shortener services in the market. It’s the most complete and reliable link management platform. Their solution provides the easiest way to create, measure, and manage short URLs with a custom domain name.
You can buy your domain name using Rebrandly, tag your URLs using UTM tagging, allow social media pixels to optimize for conversions, and more.
It’s expensive compared to other solutions.
5. eg.gd
eg.gd is a new URL shortener service that offers the same as rebrandly but for free. It was launched last year when bit.ly service was blocked in Egypt.
In the course of my professional endeavors, I consistently inquire about the origins of information, the methods by which our audience discovers us, and the roots of potential leads. These inquiries, among others, are integral to unraveling the complexities of the marketing funnel.
A commonplace challenge encountered by numerous marketers on a daily basis revolves around a pivotal question: which blog post proves most effective in generating leads and conversions?
If you have a blog on Webflow that includes a lead gen form or a newsletter form in all blog posts, when you receive an email from one of the forms – of course, you have to find out the URL of the respective page. This way, you can detect the top converting posts.
I’ve been searching for a solution here and there and finally found it. So, I thought to share it here.
How to automatically include the current URL in the webflow form?
- Add an embed code before the submit button of your lead generation form or any other form type – make it hidden, and insert the following code into it then save.
- The javascript code you need to make this work:
<script type="text/javascript"> window.onload=function()
{document.getElementById('pageurl').value = window.location.href;} </script>
<input type="hidden" id="pageurl" name="pageurl" value="pageurl" />
3. Once published, any new form submission will have a new column called “pageurl” so you can detect the source page of this submission.
Follow us for more Webflow hacks.
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is paramount. One essential factor that often flies under the radar is Google’s E-A-T principle, which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This principle, now upgraded to E-E-A-T to include Experience, plays a pivotal role in enhancing website credibility and user experience.
In this article, we’ll delve into how understanding and implementing E-E-A-T can significantly influence your search engine rankings.
Unearthing the Essence of Google E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T is an acronym that encapsulates the qualities Google values when assessing the quality of online content. While it might not be explicitly mentioned in Google’s 200 known ranking factors, it holds undeniable significance in the eyes of quality raters and SEO professionals alike.
Expertise: Mastering Your Domain
Expertise is the cornerstone of E-E-A-T. It revolves around showcasing your in-depth knowledge and proficiency in your niche. To demonstrate your expertise effectively, consider these strategies:
1. Comprehensive Subject Mastery: Your content should reflect a deep understanding of your subject matter, leaving no room for ambiguity.
2. Credentials and Qualifications: Display relevant qualifications and credentials to bolster your credibility.
3. Proven Track Record: Highlight your past accomplishments and successes, as they can instill trust in your audience.
4. Research and Data: Stay updated with the latest research and trends in your field and back your content with accurate data.
5. Niche Specialization: Focus on a specific niche to establish yourself as an expert in that area.
6. Active Contribution: Contribute to your field by publishing content, and research papers, speaking at relevant events, or joining professional organizations.
Experience: Real-World Application Matters
Experience complements expertise by emphasizing practical, real-world application. To convey your experience effectively, consider these tactics:
1. Practical Application: Apply your knowledge in real-world scenarios and showcase your problem-solving skills.
2. Case Studies: Present real-world examples and results to illustrate your expertise in action.
3. Success Stories: Share stories of achievements or satisfied clients to instill confidence in your abilities.
4. Portfolio Display: For creative fields, such as design, art, or writing, showcase your previous work to demonstrate your experience.
5. Knowledge Demonstration: Stay updated with industry best practices, trends, and new developments, and share your insights through blog posts, articles, or speaking engagements.
6. Customer Testimonials: Positive testimonials from satisfied customers provide social proof of your expertise.
Authoritativeness: Building a Trustworthy Reputation
Authoritativeness centers on establishing your website as a reliable source of information within your niche. To enhance your authoritativeness, consider the following strategies:
1. Backlinks and Citations: Earn backlinks from authoritative websites in your industry, a strong signal of your website’s trustworthiness.
2. Awards and Recognition: Credible recognition, such as awards and certifications, contributes to your reputation.
3. Thought Leadership: Demonstrate authority through original research or innovative ideas, and engage in industry discussions.
4. Collaboration with Experts: Collaborate with recognized experts in your field through co-authored articles or speaking engagements.
5. Strong Social Media Presence: Engage with your audience on social media platforms to establish yourself as an authoritative figure.
6. Consistent, Relevant Content: Create high-quality content consistently to build credibility with users and search engines.
Trustworthiness: The Bedrock of Credibility
Trustworthiness is the final piece of the E-E-A-T puzzle, focusing on the credibility of your website’s information. To foster trustworthiness, adhere to these guidelines:
1. Transparency: Be transparent about your brand, contact details, business operations, and the purpose of your content.
2. Provide Accurate Information: Ensure your content is factually correct and up-to-date, and avoid misleading practices.
3. Ethical Practices: Follow ethical guidelines, respect user privacy, handle sensitive data responsibly, and comply with relevant laws.
4. User Experience and Security: Create a positive user experience and prioritize website security with HTTPS connections.
5. Customer Testimonials and Reviews: Genuine testimonials from satisfied customers bolster your website’s trustworthiness.
6. Customer Support: Offer prompt and helpful customer support to engage with your audience effectively.
7. Disclosure of Affiliations: Clearly disclose any affiliations or sponsorships that might impact your content.
While Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines may not explicitly mention E-E-A-T, adhering to these principles can significantly improve your website’s credibility and user experience. Remember, achieving higher SERP rankings requires a holistic approach, and understanding and implementing E-E-A-T is a valuable piece of the puzzle.
If you need expert guidance, consider enlisting the support of professional SEO services to help you navigate this ever-changing landscape.
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