Update: Received an email the morning of March 7th announcing that Buffer has purchased the WordPress plugin Digg Digg. Useful if you are a blogger.
This is the second part of my series called “Organizing Your Social Media Life”. The first post looked at HootSuite.
The point of this series is not to look at social media itself, but at the tools that are available to users to manage your social media experience. I believe we need tools like this as social media itself continues to expand. As it grows, and as different social media networks gain traction, the need to manage your social media accounts grows as well.
Today we are going to take a look at Buffer App. Buffer is similar to HootSuite, but different in other ways too. If HootSuite excels at putting all your social media networks in a single interface that is configurable, Buffer excels at prepping the posts to three specific social media networks: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
What Buffer Says About Itself
We designed Buffer to offer you a both personal and yet more efficient solution to handle sharing on social media.
Buffer makes your life easier with a smarter way to schedule the great content you find. Fill up your Buffer at one time in the day and Buffer automagically posts them for you through the day. Simply keep that Buffer topped up to have a consistent social media presence all day round, all week long.
The key point for us to grasp is that Buffer lets you schedule out all your social media posts throughout the day. So, rather than having to interrupt a work day (if your employer even allows you to visit social media sites), you can prepare things you want to send out ahead of time, and you are done.
Freemium or Premium, That is The Question
Buffer App uses a Freemium business model, which by definition gives you access to three accounts, one each at Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you want to add additional accounts it will cost you. A premium account lets you configure up to 6 social media accounts, and have up to 50 posts in your Buffer. It will cost you $10/month, and if you pay for a full year Buffer will give you a 15% discount.
Personally, I think the $10 price point is a bit high for the service and have chosen not to pursue that. However, if you have a very active social media presence (or desire to), the ability to schedule multiple social media accounts and the easy of use will make Buffer Premium well worth the cost.
If your business desires to have a team to focus on social media, Buffer App offers a Premium account with unlimited social media networks and unlimited posts in your Buffer. You can have up to 5 team members per social media account. Interestingly, the Premium plan gives you a direct line to the founder of Buffer App.
The Mechanics of Using Buffer
Buffer App is super easy to use. They have developed a selection of add-ons or extensions that will work across most browsers and on most platforms. This includes the ability to use apps for Android and iPhone.
To install a Buffer App extension you log in to your Buffer App account and chose the “Goodies” tab. All available options are found on that screen.
Once you have installed an extension, you will want to configure your schedule for your Buffer. You can set your schedule to post to Twitter or Facebook on similar schedules or completely different schedules.
Here’s a tip: Research indicates that most Twitter activity occurs during work or school hours, while Facebook is mostly used in the evenings and weekends. Schedule accordingly.
Do you use Buffer App? What are your thoughts?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Love Buffer and Hootsuite. I use Buffer to schedule tweets for the day, and Hootsuite to manage multiple accounts. Hootsuite also lets you create “searches” so you can create a search for your webpages’ URL to let you know if anyone tweets about you (without using your @twittername handle). Great tools, especially when used together.
LanieKay recently posted..Top Ten Tips For Getting The Cheapest Travel Insurance
I use them both daily!
I have not heard of buffer but will take a peek at them. Right now, I use Hootsuite and use their scheduling feature also. I usually spend about 30 minutes in the morning scheduling posts and then pop back in a few times a day to respond to conversations. Whatever app you use, getting organized so that you don’t feel like you have to view every single tweet as it happens is a huge time saver.
Pam at MoneyTrail recently posted..The Hidden Cost of the Birthday Present
Buffer is a little different than Hootsuite — with Buffer you predetermine a schedule for your social media networks, and click a button to add something to the Buffer. With Hootsuite you are scheduling individual posts. You should give it a try.
Thad recently posted..Saturday Evening Post(s) #6
The twitter, face book and all the other social media stuff going on is alot to keep track of on a newly created website. Hopefully in the near future I can make this a focus!
Christopher recently posted..Part 1 of the Retirement Roundtable: What is a 401k, and why is it all over this material HR gave me?
Staying on top of it is important. I suggest a look at HootSuite too.
Thad recently posted..Organize Your Social (Media) Life | Buffer