If you are trying to keep an active presence on social that shares information, but are finding it difficult to keep up because of work and other obligations I might have a solution for you, Buffer. As I have stated previously I use Twitter to gather information on my industry and I share information as well. However, I can’t share 15 articles at the same time because it irritates people.
Sharing needs to be spaced out a bit, but who has time to sit and share every 30 minutes to an hour? With the Buffer App, I don’t have to sit in front of a computer all day to share to my Twitter account, Facebook account, Facebook pages and Linkedin. Buffer does it all for me and it can help you as well.
What Is the Social Sharing App, Buffer?
It is an app tool that allows you to share and schedule from your browser, your mobile device or from Web pages. With Buffer you can share images, video, articles, news and more. This tool is fast and simple. You can use Buffer to manage your social accounts and your clients’ accounts at the same time.
What Accounts You Can Add to Buffer
- More than one Facebook profile.
- More than one Facebook page.
- Twitter accounts.
- Linkedin account.
- App.net.
Creating a Schedule
For each profile you have added you can create a publishing schedule where you get to pick the days and times for the items you add to Buffer. This allows you to have diversity in publishing times across social accounts.
How to Add Items to Buffer
There are a lot of ways to add things to Buffer and their site lists each of the ways. I am going to review the main ways I add to Buffer just to make things simpler.
Login in to Buffer
You can login to Buffer from anywhere and add things to share socially. You login and just click on a box that says “What do you want to Share.” When you do, the box below appears and allows you to add text, a link and then lets you choose which accounts to share the info with.
Share from Your Browser Extension
If you are reading an article or news item you want to share you can just click on the Buffer icon extension in your browser. Below is a picture of what the icon looks like in Chrome.
When you click on the icon, a box pops up that allows you to decide which social accounts you want to share the page, article, video or image with. It pulls in a thumbnail of the image on the page, link and excerpt for social networks like Facebook and Linkedin. Here is what it looks like:
Mobile Devices
Buffer has apps for multiple mobile devices that allow you to share and also keep track of what has been shared:
Web Pages with Buffer Share Buttons
Many websites have a Buffer share button that allows readers to add items to their queue straight from a Web page.
These buttons also keep track of the number of times the item has been shared with Buffer.
Buffer Analytics
Buffer also keeps track of sharing data for each social account and each item shared. This data can help you see how engaged your audience is, which audience is more engaged in regards to network vs. network, what types of shared items do best with your audience, track number of clicks and it also keeps a nice clean record of what you have shared in the past. This is great data to have.
Other Buffer Options
Buffer has a free version and a paid version. The paid version gives you a lot more freedom for $10 a month. The paid version also allows you to add team members so it isn’t just up to one person to run and maintain all your social accounts. Buffer also has a link shortening function and integrates other services that you can use (free option).
Why I Use It
I use Buffer for several reasons, but the main reason is that it saves me time. It also allows my social accounts to remain active when I can’t be due to meetings or just life. The analytics are very informative and helpful to me, especially in regards to clicks on Facebook, which I wasn’t able to monitor before. It allows me to share with client accounts and track the data for them as well.
This is one tool that is so easy to use that it is actually faster than sharing by hand. It is fast and simple and makes my life easier. I recommend you try the free version and see how it works for you.
Mobile Image Credit: Apple / Buffer
Ti Roberts
Great piece, Melissa. I particularly love Buffer for scheduling posts to Facebook. For a while I was looking for an app that would do that specifically for FB; there’s already so many out there for Twitter. When I discovered Buffer enable FB post scheduling I was elated and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
Ti
I don’t use Buffer, but I have heard of other similar applications that offer this type of service. Can anyone compare how buffer stacks up to competition?
Martin Lindeskog
Robert: I say the same thing: I am not using Buffer at the moment, but I would be interested to read a comparison with other tools. Would HotSuite be an alternative to Buffer?
Great post Melissa. I like the cleanness of Buffer App and the fact it is so simple to use.
I love Buffer and have been using it for many months. Hootsuite offers more platforms, but it is nice to have both tools in my arsenal.
The mobile apps are not as robust on either tool as the desktop version.
Great article and very good timing as it seems Buffer is gaining some traction as a time saver and FB scheduler. While I still trying to find my identity in the social scene, I love the idea of spending one hour on Sat or Sun and scheduling a whole week of posts, but then I remember to be careful and make sure I don’t forget about the social aspect of contribution and discussion that should follow each post.
I came across this article via Linkedin – I forget the group now. What do people think the advantages of Buffer are compared to what, for example, HootSuite offers? HS, in my opinion, is more visually attractive and takes a bit of getting used to. Apart from that they do mostly the same thing.