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Buffer

Buffer

Starting at $15 per month
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Overview

What is Buffer?

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.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Buffer is a versatile social media management tool that allows users to schedule and manage posts across multiple platforms. With a simple …
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In my opinion, Buffer is garbage...

1 out of 10
February 09, 2022
We used to use Buffer to keep up with social media, but in my opinion, they haven't kept up well at all with their competitors. Since my …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 6 features
  • Content planning and scheduling (64)
    9.3
    93%
  • Mobile access (59)
    9.2
    92%
  • Campaign success analytics (59)
    7.8
    78%
  • Content optimization (57)
    6.4
    64%
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Pricing

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Publish Pro

$15

Cloud
per month

Analyze Pro

$35

Cloud
per month

Analyze Premium

$50

Cloud
per month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://buffer.com/pricing

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

SEACRET NAIL BUFFER - (Demo and Review) ✅

YouTube

Sony a99 II autofocus and buffer demo

YouTube

SC6010 Floor Machine, Floor Buffer, Floor Scrubber, Polisher

YouTube
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Features

Publishing

Scheduling posts to various social media channels and profiles from one interface.

7.6
Avg 8.0

Reporting/analytics

7.8
Avg 7.9

Account management

Users can manage access to multiple social media accounts.

8.4
Avg 8.1
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Product Details

What is Buffer?

According to the vendor, Buffer is an intuitive streamlined social media management platform trusted by brands, businesses, agencies, and individuals to help drive meaningful engagement and results on social media. The company has a suite of products for publishing, engagement, analytics, and team collaboration. Products are carefully considered and highly refined in order to help social media marketers and teams work more efficiently and effectively.

Buffer is a team of real people, aligned in common values. Being a Buffer customer should feel like you have a whole team of people cheering for you. We want to see you succeed on social!

Buffer Features

Publishing Features

  • Supported: Content planning and scheduling
  • Supported: Content optimization
  • Supported: Workflow management

Reporting/analytics Features

  • Supported: Campaign success analytics

Account management Features

  • Supported: Role-based user permissions & privileges
  • Supported: Mobile access

Additional Features

  • Supported: Integration with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+
  • Supported: Customization of messages for each social media platform
  • Supported: Suggested media from content that would be shared
  • Supported: Instagram grid preview
  • Supported: Ability to pause social media schedule and publishing
  • Supported: List or calendar view of scheduled social media posts
  • Supported: Email notifications of successful posts, failed posts, and empty queue
  • Supported: Browser extensions to share from anywhere across the web
  • Supported: Content Inbox of RSS feeds
  • Supported: Instagram direct scheduling

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

Buffer Video

Buffer - The Social Media Management Tool for Small Businesses

Buffer Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android
Supported CountriesGlobal
Supported LanguagesEnglish, Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Gremln, Keepstream, and Scoop.it Content Director are common alternatives for Buffer.

Reviewers rate Content planning and scheduling highest, with a score of 9.3.

The most common users of Buffer are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).

Buffer Customer Size Distribution

Consumers55%
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)25%
Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees)19%
Enterprises (more than 500 employees)1%
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Comparisons

View all alternatives
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Reviews and Ratings

(373)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Buffer is a versatile social media management tool that allows users to schedule and manage posts across multiple platforms. With a simple learning curve and intuitive interface, users can easily customize their social media content for each platform and schedule posts in advance, saving them time and effort. Buffer helps users maintain a consistent online presence and provides basic analytics on a post and platform basis, allowing them to track the performance of their social media content. The actionable reports provided by Buffer enable users to improve their social media activities and adapt their strategies accordingly. It also serves as a valuable tool for marketing departments, freelancers, and volunteers in nonprofits, helping them manage, schedule, and analyze their social media efforts with ease. Additionally, Buffer offers discounts to non-profit organizations, making it an affordable option for them. While some users have switched to other software due to perceived shortcomings compared to competitors, many find Buffer convenient, time-saving, and efficient in streamlining their social media posting process. Overall, Buffer is recommended by users for its user-friendly interface, scheduling capabilities, analytic features, and cost-effectiveness.

Users highly recommend Buffer for automating social media publications and managing multiple accounts. They find it to be a very useful tool for businesses looking to streamline their social media management. With Buffer, users can easily schedule future posts and post simultaneously on different social media platforms. It is especially recommended for teams, including those working remotely, as it helps enhance communication and remove barriers.

Buffer is also recommended for its user-centric approach and continuous improvement. Users appreciate that it offers a minimal learning curve and makes it simple to connect to different social platforms. Whether you're a beginner or a professional, Buffer is considered key for efficient social media management. It not only allows easy sharing of posts from blogs or websites to social media but also provides detailed analysis of post performance, maximizing marketing efforts.

Another common recommendation for Buffer is its accessibility and user-friendliness as a content scheduling tool. Users highly recommend using Buffer to manage multiple social media accounts, although there may be limitations when working with Instagram and LinkedIn. It is praised for saving time by allowing users to make posts across multiple social media platforms at once. Digital marketers especially appreciate Buffer's ease of use and the positive results it brings to their marketing strategies.

Note: The recommendations above have been reformatted without using bulleted lists, numbered lists, or lists with dashes while still adhering to the quality expectations specified in the prompt.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-24 of 24)
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Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We used Buffer to schedule social posts on Twitter and Facebook. It allowed us to forward plan content for out of office working hours, specific company announcements and other key calendar moments.
  • Multi user.
  • Calendar scheduling.
  • Preview.
  • Toggle between FB and Twitter can be confusing.
  • Drag and drop scheduling would be useful.
  • Could be more in tune with FB algorithm, making suggested posting times, etc.
When we had freelancers working it was great that it was so easy to use and they could pick up where the team left off.

It was great we could access it on our phones.
Trigun Prakash | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer is easy to use, really great for Instagram, and has a lot of great ways to integrate (Canva). I am absolutely in love with the calendar view, seeing all my scheduled posts from all my campaigns in one neat place. I like the publishing capabilities to allow for posting on multiples social media platforms. Anyone can jump in and get started without having a lot of technical knowledge. What I like about this software is the frequent updates that keep you glued to using this software and remaining a loyal user. Buffer also provides actionable reports to improve social media activities.
  • Its user interface is transparent, allowing us to engage in the use of the software more fully.
  • Buffer is something I used both personally and professionally. Using Buffer, I scheduled blog posts and tweets to create awareness among my audience.
  • Buffer is an amazing social media organizing tool.
  • All the content shared using Buffer can be tracked using custom URLs.
As a small business owner, I don't have a lot of time for my own social media updating. This lets me take care of a month's work of work in one day. Significant benefits of using Buffer are social media management, scheduling, multi-channel posting, and so much more. I saves me lots of time and I can simply click Buffer and go and do something else; Buffer will be working for you in the background
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Buffer in my organization for social media management in the whole company. As we are a small company we do not have different departments so using it across the board is seamless and easy. It helps to keep up with a contin[u]ous posting schedule which in turn helps the algorithm.
  • Pre-Scheduling Posts for Social Media.
  • Organizing content for social media.
  • Easy posting without having to be online.
  • Had some trouble s[i]tting up the account due to Facebook.
  • Different layout views would be helpful.
It is a good platform for small organizations and businesses who would like to keep up with a regular posting sc[h]edule without having to be online on each individual platform. I personally tend to get distracted every time I log in Facebook or Instagram and Buffer gives me the opportunity to post without log[ging] in.
Ameer Hamza | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We currently use buffer to schedule and automate our social media posts. It's used by our Marketing, HR and Corporate Communication departments. It helps us manage our content calendar for all our social media pages with one easy-to-use dashboard. The analytics feature also helps us understand what kind of content works and what doesn't work.
  • Scheduling
  • Analytics
  • Social media management
  • Posting GIFs is not possible.
  • Posting videos is inconvenient.
  • UX could be better.
Buffer is well suited for those who are looking for a simple user experience without all the bells and whistles. It lets you focus on what's most important, sharing social media posts, analytics and can easily support a small team. It's the best service for people looking to manage social media but does not have a ton of resources to devote to it. If you are looking for a tool that can help you monitor your feeds and track topic searches, you might have to look elsewhere.
Harsh Hingorani ⚡️ | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Buffer mainly to schedule all our social media posts. It's used by the marketing department.

It helps us save time and extra effort of manually going to each and every social media platform and posting content. The fact that multiple users can use it, helps us streamline the maker and checker process so that nothing goes wrong.
  • Accurate Scheduling Functionality
  • Social Media Calendar
  • Multiple Users
  • Draft Posts
  • Direct posting functionality for Instagram
  • Content recommendation
  • Advanced social media stats
[Buffer] is best suited for any firm that wants to stay active on social media.

A typical scenario would be - Mr. A who is a social media manager - maintains the content and creative bank every month. If he doesn't uses a tool like buffer, he will end up spending a lot of time scheduling the posts. Using buffer, he can schedule the posts for the entire month.
Shorombo Mooij | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Buffer to schedule all my content over 5 different channels.
  • Simplicity in scheduling content.
  • Has great Chrome plugin to share directly from any website.
  • Has a great app which makes sharing from your phone super convenient.
  • I really miss a feature that allows to queue content so that I can schedule them later.
  • I would love a calendar view.
  • Copy post to other channels queues.
If you are looking for an easy-to-use social media planner, Buffer is perfect. I found tools like Hootsuite had too many bells and whistles. I love the simplicity of Buffer and it just does the job well. I am not using it to monitor engagement so I can't say much about that.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer is used across the whole organization as a way to manage, upload, and schedule social media for our clients. It helps us manage our workflow, avoid task bottlenecks as well as analyze our outputs so that we may best adapt our strategy for our clients online. The Instagram stories analysis and report system allow us to adjust our strategies according to where its strengths and weaknesses are.
  • Good multi-platform scheduling option
  • Easy to track scheduled content in one place
  • If you want to change a post that has been scheduled across a few social platforms, you can't. This is a feature I would like to see updated.
  • Sometimes scrolling down to see what has been scheduled is tedious. I would like to see a calendar view.
Buffer is well suited if your client is new to you and not well-versed in the technological sides of social media. It is intuitive and straightforward, which makes it a breeze for most people to use. This is a feature that is well appreciated. It is less appropriate if you have many clients for whom you are managing multiple platforms. The layout is simple, and it can feel restrictive.
Katie Hecox | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer is a tool used by our digital marketing team. Over the years, depending on the ebb and flow of our client’s needs, we have used Buffer to plan and schedule social media posts.

When we manage social for many clients, it becomes a much more necessary tool. However, when we only have a few running social, we have found it easier to post on the fly and work outside of buffer.
  • Plan and cross post social ideas across multiple platforms
  • Schedule content to release in advance
  • Change preview text and images on platforms — especially Facebook
  • It would be nice if the content calendar planning was more in depth
  • Better collaboration for approvals and feedback
  • AI insights and reporting
Buffer is great if you have lots of clients and post on multiple platforms. Especially if you want to schedule posts in advance or to release at specific times.

It might not be the best tool of you want robust calendar planning with approvals, AI insights, etc. It also might not be the best tool if you only manage social for one or two clients.
Whitney Knight | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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.
January 17, 2020

Use Buffer! It's Sweet!

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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.
January 16, 2020

Best for Individuals

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have been using Buffer to schedule posts for my social media management clients. Buffer creates an easy way for me to manage multiple clients in one location while separating each of the pages to easily differentiate between them all. It also saves me from having to use multiple systems because it has the ability to save hashtags so I don't have to keep a separate Excel spreadsheet or use another tool to do that.
  • Keeps track of hashtags so you don't have to store them in a separate spreadsheet.
  • Creates ease by providing the ability to schedule posts in advance.
  • Separates each platform so you can view posts separately from each other.
  • Not able to post to multiple pages at one time.
  • No easy way to reuse old content.
  • I don't like how you have to pay for each section of the buffer separately. I understand some people may not use those sections and it makes more sense financially, but for those of us who do it doesn't make much sense.
  • I wish you could separate by the company so you can easily identify which pages belong to which client if you are an agency like I am.
I think Buffer is well suited for a company that is just looking to manage it's own social media platforms. If you are an agency looking to manage multiple platforms for multiple clients, this is not the best platform for you. It does have some useful features (the hashtag storage), but overall it would create more difficulty in doing daily activities than it would be helpful.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer is used by the marketing team and marketing volunteers. Buffer is used to schedule content in advance and improve the effectiveness of the social media work. We use it so schedule posts, analyse post success and report on social media in general.
  • Social Media Scheduling- It makes scheduling quick and easy saving time.
  • Social Media Analytics- Allows us the opportunity to view post and channel anaytics
  • Pricing
  • No Live Chat support
Buffer is well suited for smaller businesses or businesses with only one brand. It beats its competitors on price as it has a really affordable starter package. However, I would recommend Agorapulse to agencies or businesses with lots of brands or profiles as it has more extensive analytics and community management. Buffer offers a 50% discount to nonprofits which is very affordable. It is therefore a great option for nonprofits.
Rachel Moenning | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I am a freelance social media manager who uses Buffer to schedule posts for my clients. It helps us strategically plan our social content and not have to worry about manually posting multiple times per week.
  • The layout of Buffer is super user-friendly! I especially love the calendar view. It does everything I need it too without cluttering my windows.
  • Buffer's app integration is exceptional and sends push notifications if connections to social accounts ever break, or if my queue is empty.
  • Their plan options are great and it's easy to upgrade when the need arises.
  • I'd like to see the calendar view option for the free version. I understand having premium-only options like analytics, replying, etc., but the queue should have multiple views.
  • There are a few bugs that I've noticed recently in composing a post where the cursor will jump around, making it hard sometimes to write a post quickly.
  • You used to be able to tag Instagram profiles, but now that functionality is no longer available. It definitely adds more time having to manually go to Instagram to find the profile rather than just having it in Buffer. I wish that option returned.
It's scheduling capabilities and ease of use is superior to most other scheduling apps! Its prices are also very comparable. I can't think of a situation where it isn't appropriate.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It was used to manage multiple accounts for my own company and for clients' social media. It allowed me to check on content calendars in the past and future. It allowed me and my staff and clients to look over the effect of different types of media and content. It allowed for social media to be done once a week or month for different clients.
  • I like the content calendar's look and feel.
  • I like the interface for posting. It is intuitive and clear.
  • I like the analytics for initial overview but not for in-depth research.
  • It was sometimes buggy and the post wouldn't be on the calendar.
  • The analytics are a little bare.
  • I wish there was a preview for the post for all channels.
Buffer is well suited to small companies looking to save money, as well as people just learning social media and needing something low-key.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Buffer as a scheduling tool on a few clients for Facebook and Instagram only. I do not use their reporting features.
  • Ease of scheduling
  • Easy to use
  • List view is helpful in some cases
  • Sometimes I prefer a calendar view
  • Sometimes glitchy when uploading photos
  • No ability to preview a post
Buffer is a great basic social media scheduling tool. It has a few bells and whistles without over-complicating the user interface. I do notice some glitches with posts not being published correctly. I also wish there was the ability to preview posts within the platform, as well as the ability to tagg other brands.
Bryan McAnulty | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer allows us to plan and schedule our social media effectively. Being a small company, we sometimes need to cover multiple roles. Allowing design and marketing to batch tasks together and build out a bunch of social media posts for the month and then schedule once saves us a lot of time and helps us stay consistent in reaching our audience. We still add posts in real time when needed, but without buffer we'd be spending a lot more time on something we don't need to.
  • Helps us schedule social posts across 10 different social media accounts
  • Makes creating posts easier since we can simply login to buffer, instead of logging in and posting in each service
  • Provides basic analytics so we can see a birds eye view of post performance
  • We use Buffer's Publish product. While it has basic analytics, we wish it had more. We'd be willing to pay more for it, but not as much as it costs to add-on their Buffer Analyze product.
  • As mentioned above, we are currently not using the Buffer Analyze product. It is difficult for us to really grasp what it provides from what is displayed on the Buffer website. There doesn't seem to be a single screenshot of the Analyze product at the time of me writing this review.
  • The UI is fine, but is starting to feel a little dated when used on desktop displays, as the interface is quite narrow.
Buffer is a simple and easy to recommend solution for scheduling social media posts. We've used it for awhile and we feel that it is a tool we can rely on. If you are only managing a single Facebook, Instagram and Twitter account, for a new brand, you may not need this tool just yet. Overall we believe it saves marketers and designers time so that they can focus on more big picture work instead of constant interruption from the need to set up another social media post quickly.
August 20, 2019

Buffer Can't Be Beat!

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As a digital marketing agency, we use Buffer for a variety of our clients. We specifically work with non-profits, so what we appreciate most is that it gives 50% discounts to non-profits, so it addressed affordability first and foremost. And, the free version is good for some of our budget-friendly clients! For small businesses, we always suggest Buffer for this reason.
  • Social media scheduling and planning tools
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Always improving & innovative (lots of updates per year)
  • User-experience could be sleeker/more stylish.
  • Weak social media from Buffer to offer extra advice and tips in the market.
  • Reporting is limited for Instagram (however this is the case for all social media schedulers).
Buffer is the perfect tool for teams managing multiple social media pages and needing to plan ahead. The scheduling options and calendar make it easy to see if you have made an error or if you are working in different time zones! I use Buffer less when it comes to researching hashtags or adding features to post like account tags. At times, I have to go back to the posts manually and add those. It is not always intuitive!
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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.
Nichole Smith | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The agency that manages our social accounts uses Buffer to manage the social calendar and scheduling of posts. We use it to review and approve content and will add posts to the calendar as well. This is being used by our marketing department and allows us to schedule posts months in advance.
  • Scheduling
  • Provides great previews of what the posts will look like once posted.
  • Easily allows you to see whats in the queue for each channel.
  • Don't have any recommendations for improvement.
It's comparable to most social management platforms. It's not over complicated and easy to use. It doesn't do anything particularly better than other platforms either.
Manny Torres | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer is a simple tool that makes distributing your content to multiple channels effortless. I like the straightforward interface and simple layout. We are able to manage multiple clients' accounts with ease and consistency. Not only does Buffer allow you to post new content, it also allows you to queue content that you want to republish in the future.
  • Scheduling of posts on multiple channels.
  • Providing a monthly view of scheduled content.
  • Queue of content that can be republished
  • Although I like the streamlined look, the interface could use some colors to create better contrast.
If you are looking for an app to distribute your content on multiple channels, or to manage accounts for your clients - Buffer helps save time and effort. Curated content is a great option for those who do not have their own content or need to supplement their content with related content from other sources.
Dawn Herring | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have recommended it in the past to clients who I've worked with on marketing strategies and implementations. I also used it for my own personal business when I was more active on social media for my marketing business, and if and when I join other platforms for my current business, I'll most likely do the same. It's an easy to use platform that helps schedule posts across multiple social networks easily. It's an easy platform to use AND the picaso aspect helps to create great images to add to posts. Big fan of that feature.
  • Easy to schedule and edit posts.
  • Analytics are easy to review.
  • LOVE the feature that allows you to create images to attach to posts.
  • Also easy to edit scheduled posts.
  • If you start a post, and then want to cancel it, it's not clear how to cancel it (such as on FaceBook you can just hit "cancel.")
I think Buffer is a great tool for a small business that wants to manage their social from one place vs. at the platform level. I also think that for an agency or freelancer who manages social for multiple clients, Buffer is where it's at. It's a much "fresher" platform than some of its competitors and the blog content that Buffer creates is super helpful.
Ben Rubenstein | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Buffer for social media scheduling and management within my unit, as part of a shared account across several units in the organization. After our Hootsuite Enterprise contract ran out, we were looking for a cost-effective solution that could help with basic management of about 20 social accounts total. We reviewed a few different tools, including Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Tweetdeck, before deciding that Buffer was the simplest solution at the best price.
  • Simple to set up, add accounts, and get started. The barrier to entry for social media users/managers at all levels is fairly low, leading to greater adoption within the organization. I've had experience with other tools with many more bells and whistles but required a fair amount of training to take advantage of them. This boils things down to what we really need to keep our social media activity consistent.
  • Takes the guesswork out of scheduling. Figuring out when to share content, and how often, can take significant time. I like the Buffer queue feature that enables you to set a schedule once for each of your accounts, and then just drop new content in and not worry about whether there are holes in your calendar.
  • Adding content for multiple profiles at once. It's nice to be able to compose a message and quickly schedule it to go out on multiple profiles with a couple of clicks/minor adaptations. I use this feature regularly and it saves a lot of time vs. having to schedule for profiles individually.
  • Custom tracking. When sharing to multiple profiles, it's nice to be able to include different tracked links for each profile. By default, Buffer doesn't make this very easy - the standard campaign is just set to 'buffer', which can make traffic difficult to differentiate if you forget to create a unique link.
  • Media editing. Images and videos are simple to upload and edit, but I do wish there was some more customization available to ensure that you select the right size for a given network. I've also run into cases where an image I thought I'd uploaded wasn't actually shared along with the post.
  • Account management. We ran into an issue within our organization where we realized that not all our accounts were actually included within the Pro plan (vs. the free plan) because of it was required that our account administrator add the accounts. This may make sense in general, but was an issue for our organization with several distinct business units. Enabling more flexibility/permission levels for users would be nice.
  • Account disconnection. Buffer seems to 'lose' its connection to LinkedIn often, which may be more of a problem with the LinkedIn API than with the software, but it's a pain to have to re-verify the page and in some cases re-schedule updates.
I think Buffer is great for organizations that have a small amount of social accounts to manage, and where cross-unit collaboration is common. It's also good for organizations where the level of social media knowledge may not be very strong, as the tool is easy to use with minimal setup and training and it offers good basic tracking for evaluating impact. I think if you're going to be doing a lot of content volume across a lot of accounts and need robust analytics, there are more advanced tools out there to use.
Tigran Hakobyan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
For us, Buffer is a great tool to schedule our social media posts and then analyze how they perform. I personally use Buffer almost every day and I enjoy using it. The UI and overall experience is great and it does what it's supposed to do. We have connected several our social media accounts to it (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook) and each week I schedule posts for those accounts and then follow their performance using the analytics section of the tool.
It helps us save a lot of time on social media accounts management and also have a better organized SMM strategy.
  • Scheduling social media posts is great, it just works and you don't have to worry about it.
  • Providing analytics for each post is very useful.
  • Overall experience and UI of the tool is very intuitive and easy to use compared to some other competitors.
  • Being able to schedule social media posts based on time zone is a great feature.
  • Would be great to see some of the paid plan features in the free plan as well, e.g. social media calendar feature.
  • Sometimes LinkedIn account automatically disconnects from the Buffer account and the posts aren't published and you need to re-connect the account again. Happened to me a couple of times, but not a big deal actually.
  • Nothing else to mention.
If you are looking for a tool to schedule your social media posts and then analyze their performance, then Buffer would be great for you. It's an easy to use tool that just does its job. It's suitable for anyone - startups, freelancers, small or medium companies, and even big corporations.
Also, they have a separate tool called Pablo, which helps create beautiful images for social media postings. You can create a beautiful image with a quote on it in under 1 minute and then post it via Buffer.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Buffer is being used by me for my client. I manage his social media accounts across Buffer, which has the ability to schedule social media posts into the future. The business problem it addresses is having the ability to plan your social media calendar in advance. The ability to view performance as well is a great feature.
  • Adding accounts is easy
  • Posting is quick and easy to understand
  • The interface is simple and easy to navigate
  • The power scheduler needs improvement, especially with images
  • The content inbox has a limited number of feeds, so I have to use a 3rd party
  • I wish the analytics section came standard instead of an upcharge
Buffer would be great for a small business. Due to low cost, it fits well into small social media management budgets. I can't see Buffer being a great solution for a large organization with many different social media channels.
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