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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Adobe Social

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AAdobe Social, incorporates technology from Context Optional and Efficient Frontier. Adobe acquired Facebook advertising-management platform Efficient Frontier in November. Six months earlier, Efficient Frontier had acquired Facebook page-management platform Context Optional. Adobe Social is an enterprise social platform competing with Buddy Media and Involver, enabling things like automated content marketing and social sweepstakes and competitions. Customers tend to be medium to large…N/A

    Buffer

    Score7.6 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    Buffer is a social sharing tool. When browsing content, clicking on the Buffer icon automatically stores the content and schedules posts to social media channels throughout the day.

    $6

    per month per channel

    Pricing
    Adobe SocialBuffer
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Free
    $0
    Essentials
    $6
    per month per channel
    Team
    $12
    per month per channel
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Adobe SocialBuffer
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—A discount is offered for annual billing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Adobe SocialBuffer
    Considered Both Products
    Adobe
    No answer on this topic
    Buffer
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    91%
    Would buy again
    30 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    26 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    29 Answers
    Features
    Adobe SocialBuffer
    Listening/monitoring
    Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Adobe Social and Buffer
    Feature
    Adobe Social
    7.4
    9 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Boolean keyword searches7.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Filtering out noise/spam7.57 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sentiment analysis7.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Broad channel coverage7.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publishing
    Comparison of Publishing features of Adobe Social and Buffer
    Feature
    Adobe Social
    7.4
    9 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Buffer
    7.8
    77 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Content planning and scheduling7.09 Ratings8.677 Ratings
    Audience targeting7.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content optimization7.59 Ratings7.370 Ratings
    Workflow management7.59 Ratings7.666 Ratings
    Engagement
    Comparison of Engagement features of Adobe Social and Buffer
    Feature
    Adobe Social
    7.7
    8 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Automated routing and prioritization7.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customer interaction histories8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bulk actions7.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Marketing
    Comparison of Marketing features of Adobe Social and Buffer
    Feature
    Adobe Social
    8.0
    8 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Lead generation8.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content marketing8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Paid media management8.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Campaigns and promotions8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Channel coverage/integration
    Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Adobe Social and Buffer
    Feature
    Adobe Social
    7.9
    9 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Twitter8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Facebook8.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    LinkedIn7.57 Ratings00 Ratings
    Google+7.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Instagram8.57 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pinterest8.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    YouTube8.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting/analytics
    Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Adobe Social and Buffer
    Feature
    Adobe Social
    7.8
    9 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Buffer
    7.0
    70 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Campaign success analytics8.09 Ratings7.070 Ratings
    Real-time tracking7.58 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitor analysis8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Account management
    Comparison of Account management features of Adobe Social and Buffer
    Feature
    Adobe Social
    7.3
    8 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Buffer
    8.1
    72 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Role-based user permissions & privileges7.58 Ratings8.359 Ratings
    Mobile access7.07 Ratings7.968 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Adobe SocialBuffer
    Small Businesses
    Sendible
    Score7.1 out of 10
    Sendible
    Score7.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Emplifi
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Emplifi
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe SocialBuffer
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.5
    (16 ratings)
    7.5
    (97 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    5.4
    (11 ratings)
    8.0
    (15 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (4 ratings)
    8.4
    (33 ratings)
    Availability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    7.0
    (24 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Adobe SocialBuffer
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Adobe
    I used Adobe Social when I use to have my own business on social media. After many months I was having no success in finding the correct clients for my products. Using Adobe Social I was able to market and discover different ways of searching for the correct clients and later on helped my business grow.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Buffer
    It helps me save hours by devoting only half an hour in a month's worth of posting, in addition to that it is quite simple to use. Buffer for scheduling social posts well in advance, but I have begun using it instead of posting natively on the social apps themselves because it makes it super easy to post the same messages to more than one platform.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Adobe
    • Adobe Social lacks strengths, as I believe Adobe themselves have acknowledged, given their decision not to continue support or development. But if I need to list three strengths, the first would be it can publish to some social media platforms with a success rate of over 50%. If that's a strength.
    • It has workflow processes, but they are over-complicated and poorly designed.
    • It has some basic analytics, but Adobe consultants usually recommend referring to Adobe Analytics instead. Which is great if you actually use Adobe Analytics.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Buffer
    • I can plan and publish content on social channels.
    • Buffer's interface is quite tidy and generates the necessary facilities to save us time in publishing consistent content.
    • It has a special price; it is pretty affordable.
    • It has the possibility of integrating with other tools to improve its functions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Adobe
    • It would be great if Adobe scheduled video uploads for Twitter.
    • A time change in a social post automatically puts the post back to Level 1 of approvals. It can be a big hassle to have to start the process over for such a small change.
    • Adobe uses a different algorithm to measure engagement our company does. It would be great to upload your own algorithm into Adobe.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Buffer
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Adobe
    I wasn't in charge of making the actual management decision, but I would absolutely renew Adobe Social. As I mentioned, it provides strong and in-depth analytics and listening tools. The reports that it generates are very thorough and easy to read. I loved the platform and would recommend it to anyone
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Buffer
    I am giving buffer this rating because of a couple issues that it has compared to other platforms. It does not always post to instagram and you will need to go in an manually post. Also, one of the biggest qualms that we have with buffer is the price it costs to have robust analytics
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Adobe
    The reason why I give this rating is that the overall platform is simple to use. You don't need to be tech-savvy or have a vast understanding of how to work a marketing tool. It is very simple to use compared to different platforms and you learn a lot of different ways to build your business.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Buffer
    We use Buffer for certain website content that should be shared on social networks, having this tool helps us to do it faster and easier since we can send the publications from the internet browser and the stack of scheduled messages. It is really fast and easy for all team members who share access to the account, so at the same time that we analyze the information that we can share, the message stack is prepared
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Buffer
    Buffer is always on hand and very reliable, their software suite rarely has outages
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Buffer
    Buffer performs well on both desktop and mobile platforms. The one area as I have stated before is that it does not always want to automatically push to Instagram and the user will have to go do it manually. Buffer works very well pushing to other platforms. The instagram issue is the only reason buffer does not get a 10 on this section
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Adobe
    The reason why I give this a 9 out of 10 in terms of support is because of the mobile app functionality. I have had many issues in terms of logging in and also loading pages. The app overall is easy to use but at what cost? Other than that it is great and I still enjoy Adobe Social.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Buffer
    1. It really helped to my business to grow online.
    2. I was able to take actions mindfully as the analytics are damn good.
    3. Also used for managing clients social media accounts and it proved to be a best resource.
    4. Clients were really happy as they got high demand and growth on internet and the secret is Buffer.
    5. The user interface is really easy to understand and manage. Support is 24/7 available to help.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Adobe
    Training was long and a little confusing. While a number of features carried over, they were still covered in this elongated training. It would have been nice to have training tailored to experience level with the product.
    Read full review
    Buffer
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Adobe
    The implementation was done during our POC. We had a very mixed experience here, and have had some issues arise since based on the way the tool was implemented. An Adobe employee went ahead and made a change to our account that was unauthorized (helpful for our implementation) which caused issues in on boarding another team who needed the same change, but could not get it done without costly Adobe certification
    Read full review
    Buffer
    We were very satisfied with the implementation of Buffer. We had no issues switching from the platform that we were using over to buffer. Our staff did not even miss a beat when it came to posting content. It was an easy transition and I feel that is something that buffer has really done well. They have an "out of the box" usability platform
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Adobe
    Hootsuite Enterprise is superior in many ways, but the biggest factor is probably that it is constantly evolving and adding new features, working directly with social media companies ahead of new releases. Adobe seems to have stopped developing their product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Buffer
    I also used Combin which is easy and free to use. However, Combin only posts when the computer is active and connected to the internet. So, posting while you are not actively using your computer at that moment is not possible, therefore Buffer is much more efficient as you can even post while being on vacation without working.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Buffer
    Buffer does what it say on tin as they say! you can always count on Buffer. Buffer can be scale to 25 social account with 2,000 scheduled post which is enough for most agencies or businesses
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Adobe
    • Although we chose Adobe Social believing it could provide ROI metrics we could not get elsewhere, that turned out not to be the case. Site Catalyst can give us everything we need without Adobe Social
    • Adobe Social did not create greater efficiencies and speed up our activity within social media. In fact, it has done the oppposite. It is very cumbersome with little clear benefit.
    Read full review
    Buffer
    • It has saved money by allowing us to automate our social using one person
    • It allows us to connect one channel at a time instead of wasting money on larger account management tools
    • We are making money, because it has already delivered several clients
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Buffer Screenshots

    Screenshot of The Buffer dashboardScreenshot of Customizable posting scheduleScreenshot of Tailored PostsScreenshot of List or calendar view of scheduled postsScreenshot of Browser extensionScreenshot of Social media analytics