We used Buffer to schedule our social media posts. It does all the things you'd expect from a social media scheduler, and it also has some cool features that make it quicker and easier to post things. It has a neat AI assistant that recommends / writes content - and it's a really easy to use interface for that, quite graphical. Plus it has a browser extension that can be used to share or schedule links really easily, so that as I'm browsing the web on other sites I can easily click and schedule shared content.
Pros
Schedule social media - across all the major platforms
Generate AI content, in a way that makes it look good
Show analytics to help make better future content
Easy collaboration tools to work with a VA or team
Cons
Sometimes we have to reconnect the social platform services
Doesn't have deep tools for managing other aspects of social media
Not designed for realtime engagement
Likelihood to Recommend
If you want to have a consistently busy posting schedule, Buffer lets you schedule heaps of things in advance and has specific tools that make it easier, like recurring posts and a content library. Even the AI tool is designed specifically for creating a bunch of posts and scheduling them into the content mix.
Buffer is utilized by our Marketing team at a small, private university. We use Buffer to schedule posts in advance to keep our social media platforms thriving and we also use it to measure our success via the analytics features it offers. It addresses our need to be active and stand out on social media, especially in a very competitive market for higher education. It is a great tool that allows us to have social media planned out while other things are going on so we never have to worry if we have missed a post or not.
Pros
Distinguishing platforms: By far one of my favorite features on Buffer is the ability to customize posts for different social media accounts. This makes it easy to start with the same base post and then optimize it for each platform. Captions usually need to be shortened for Twitter, and we generally add more hashtags to our Instagram posts. Buffer makes it easy to accomplish this while still only having to make the post once.
Optimized timing: Buffer helps pick optimal times for your posts to go through, which is a great feature if you don't already have a specific time in mind.
Cons
Expensive Analytics: The upgrade you need to access your analytics is quite expensive, and I have come across other tools that provide the same or even more for a lesser priced plan.
No Media Library: The one feature I have found on another social media planning tool that I wish Buffer had is a media library. This allows you to upload photos you aren't using right away to have them readily available when you do decide to use them. This is not a feature in Buffer.
Likelihood to Recommend
Buffer is one of the best social media management tools out there, particularly for its cost. Our team used the Pro Plan for just $15 a month which allows you to connect up to eight social media accounts, which was more than enough for us. A larger company might need to look into a higher cost plan, but small marketing teams can absolutely utilize this plan for $15. Buffer is great for scheduling social media in advance and keeping your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts thriving.
Currently, Buffer is being used alongside AirTable (Content Calendar) to schedule and publish 80-90% of the social media that our university puts out. As of right now, it is only being used by our marketing department as we are the only department that has control of the main university social media accounts. The business problem that it addresses for us is the fact that we are a small department that wears multiple hats at any given moment and it allows us to be able to schedule our social media out ahead of time.
Pros
It allows multiple social platforms to be used at once. For our university specifically, we have Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram that we use as our main accounts and it allows us to be able to post and custom tailor to each one of these social media platforms.
Buffer also has a pretty robust analytics section of the site (paid) that allows users to see details about the posts we have going up and the interactions we are having with them. This allows us to make educated decisions in regard to our social media planning and strategy.
With the exception of the paid analytics portion of Buffer, it is honestly cost-effective for us. It offers more for the dollar amount than any other social media scheduling platform that we have used in the past.
Cons
One of the biggest areas for us that buffer has some room for improvement is with Instagram. It does not always automatically push to Instagram and we have to manually do it once the post attempts to go up automatically.
I would also like to see an area built into Buffer that is similar to AirTable. We use AirTable to plan out our calendar of social posts and content. It would be nice to have it as an all-in-one platform.
Another small area that I would have different about buffer would be to have different tiers of pricing for the analytics portion of the platform. As a small university, it is hard for us to justify paying the $50 per month price tag for our analytics.
Likelihood to Recommend
Buffer is perfect if you are a company looking to be able to have regularly scheduled social posts go up. It allows the company to be able to create a cadence of posts for any given campaign. It works mainly for us when it comes to having things scheduled out because it is our goal to have at least one post per day. Buffer helps us achieve that since we are a small department of only two.
It would be less appropriate for a company that does not have the need to plan out a cadence of posts and they are more organically driven social. It is also not suited for social media stories.
Buffer is used by varied departments across our university, and nearly every residence life staff member uses it for social media for their facility. It allows us to schedule social media posts in advance to create consistent posting patterns, a significant challenge for chaotic jobs without formal offices or office hours. Additionally, because residence hall directors have high turnover, Buffer enables us to schedule posts during the transition time until a new director is in place. Finally, it enables us to post similar or the same content across multiple accounts easily, another bonus of the software in the way we use it.
Pros
Buffer connects multiple platforms well, linking Twitter and Facebook especially well.
Buffer is quick to respond to industry innovations, adding scheduled Instagram posts as soon as it was available.
Buffer's free access proves useful to budget-conscious departments and employers.
Cons
Buffer communicates with Instagram, but only for business accounts. Because most of our accounts are qualified as personal, not business, this missing functionality poses a problem.
Buffer easily schedules Facebook and Twitter, but there's no way to type the post once and select both platforms. I would like to see these more connected.
I would like Buffer to make it easier to link multiple Facebook pages or Twitter accounts to the same email.
Likelihood to Recommend
Buffer is helpful for scheduled posts and accounts that don't need to respond to current events and controversies. It proves useful for event reminders, information sharing, and repeated themes (Throwback Thursday, Woke Wednesday, etc.). It allows me to post when my users are most engaged with the platforms, even if I am away from my phone or computer.
We use Buffer to manage our social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. We plan out our content calendar of posts a month in advance, and we utilize Buffer to upload all that content and schedule various dates and time throughout the month to be posted. Our department posts content on all three channels and we have another department who posts content to two more Facebook and Twitter accounts. It allows us to collaborate on posts, review and approve content through various user permission levels. We can see all the posts scheduled on all our channels at a glance and see what days we have too much content or not enough. Working through Buffer allows managers/admin to oversee and approve everything that goes out on our social media channels so there are no surprises. It also allows us to review each channel's analytics to see how the content we are posting is performing.
Pros
The interface is easy to use. You can pick up how to navigate everything very quickly. We connected to several social media channels and can schedule and post with relative ease.
Their customer service has always been friendly and prompt with responses. They are honest and helpful.
Buffer offers a review process so we can look over posts before they go live and ensure all content has one consistent voice that best represents us.
It has been a huge lifesaver to manage all of our social media channels for various departments in one place. It's easy to use and oversee all the content going out on various social media channels. It makes it easy to manage all of your accounts in one place.
In addition to posting content, you can view analytics for your various channels to see how posts are performing and when they perform the best.
Cons
I wish the connection with Instagram was easier. You cannot schedules posts to go directly to the platform. You need to have the Buffer app in order to get a reminder on your phone to manually post at the designated time. I will say that Buffer makes it super easy to manually post from the app. They just copy the text, pull the image into IG and you paste the text and hit Share.
We've also encountered some issues between the app and Instagram reminders. Usually, when we add a new user and they download the app in order to post to Instagram, they do not receive the post notifications. It takes a bit of back and forth and usually everyone has to delete the app in order for this one person to receive notifications. Then we all re-download the app.
Another disadvantage to the app is that only certain access levels can post directly to Instagram. Some of our team members have the "Approval Required" access level. They can schedule posts for review, but cannot fully post. So if we want a team member with that access level to post to Instagram, they have to either log in through someone with "Full Posting Access" or we have to change their access level.
Likelihood to Recommend
It is a lifesaver when it comes to managing different social media channels for various departments in one place. The approval process is exactly what we're looking for. Buffer is great for larger groups of people who would like to manage multiple social media channels. If you don't plan to post often, have a number of people who will post or only want to focus on one channel, this may not be necessary for you. If your main channel focus is Instagram, I don't think Buffer is the best place for that.
VU
Verified User
Manager in Marketing (Higher Education company, 201-500 employees)
I initially came across Buffer when I was looking for a low-cost solution to implement for a charity I was consulting for. They needed something that was easy to use and that could be quickly implemented and easy to troubleshoot. Buffer fit the bill many times over!
My first impressions were good - it offers a generous 'free' version which meant that I was able to get it set up and then train staff on how to use it, without making a financial commitment. We were very quickly able to attach social profiles and begin scheduling content which meant that the social media element of the job took a lot less time and became more productive.
Pros
Simple straight-forward interface. The GUI is so much more straight-forward than competitors like Hootsuite and SproutSocial. Their interfaces can easily be overwhelming and take some getting used to whereas with Buffer you can be up and running very quickly.
The 'free' element is very generous and enables you to become familiar with the software in as short or long a period as you need, across multiple social accounts.
The integration with Feedly means that content curation is an incredibly simple job for anyone to perform, enabling you to schedule content as you come across it on the web.
Cons
They used to have a fantastic feature that optimised posting times based on previous times' reach and engagement. Sadly this feature was removed which is a shame as it was one of my favourites.
The reporting functionality is limited and I would like to see a greater ability to report across all platforms, creating white label reports.
You have to purchase separate tools in order to access an influencer module and an image design module - in many tools these are included.
Likelihood to Recommend
Buffer is NOT trying to be all things to all men in the way that many tools are. I think the approach of 'keeping it simple' means that it is attractive to many as a starting point. I recommend it to businesses just starting out with social schedule especially those with 10 or fewer employees or with only a handful of profiles to manage. Once you start to want more functionality or have a greater number of profiles to manage I would recommend upgrading to something more powerful.
I manage a team of students that post on social media. They have analyzed the best times to post and how to carefully curate content. Buffer makes it so easy to post when you want by scheduling the times you want specific content posted. We mainly use Buffer with Twitter, but it works with Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest (paid-version only). Our click and like rates have improved since we began using Buffer. I receive a weekly email with the breakdown of how each tweet performed.
Pros
Allows you to right-click and choose to post with Buffer. Puts the image in there for you too!
Sends a weekly feedback report.
Allows easy scheduling of posts. You can set up a predetermined posting schedule which is great when you know the times you plan to post.
Cons
I wish Instagram was a connected social network.
They used to provide suggestions of what to tweet if you did not have anything in the queue. It was great and I'd love for them to bring it back!
Likelihood to Recommend
I think Buffer works great for a social media account(s) where you post on a regular basis, several times a day. However, Buffer is so easy to use, I would recommend it for a personal account as well. There is now an incorporated image creator (Pablo) so you can create or an improve upon an existing image. No excuses for posts without images!
