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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

(374)

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

(1-25 of 35)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Luke Paulin | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have used Buffer to publish social media posts for small businesses. The scheduling features, automation, and tools they have available are useful for planning a social media program. It is a very simple program that offers the ability to schedule posts to go out to multiple platforms at once.
  • scheduling
  • free trial
  • posting times
  • more social media networks
Buffer is the perfect solution for someone starting out a business with social media. The tools are straight forward with a usable free version that helps you try out what you are doing before purchasing. They offer the ability to post on main social networks, and the ability to customize each post for each network.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
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 experience, we have moved on to use other software for this task that is much more suited and kept current. Personally, I am not a fan and would not really recommend this clunky platform to anyone.
  • Scheduling
  • Alerts
  • Privacy
  • In my opinion, it is outdated.
  • In my experience, it can be barely functional at times.
  • I feel like I can do most of this in other software, even free software.
Personally, I just don't have anything nice to say about it at this time. I mean their site looks nice, and they talk a good game, but face it, in my opinion, there are better, cheaper, and even free alternatives with much more functionality. I believe it was great back in the beginning, but I feel that maybe all the new interfaces with various social media has been hard to keep up with.
January 19, 2022

BEST FOR SOCIAL HANDLES

Mishka Panwar | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
This platform has helped me achieve significant post coverage and great skills in content programming on any social network, it offers an easier way to approve or deny things when they are in different locations, I have also been able to efficiently control our accounts active and keep them always up to date, it also helps a lot that it is cheaper compared to others in some way. It is extremely simple and easy to use social media.
  • Facilitates the sharing of several media formats.
  • Enhances your social media operations.
  • Distribute post across every social media accounts simultaneously.
  • Although I did not find any difficulty using it, yes I think I would like to improve that the maximum no of tasks limited to 10, if we do not have premium membership but it's ok, for that we need to update.
  • Other than that it has been working flawlessly.
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.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer is one of [the tools] used in our marketing department. I find Buffer very useful in terms of management of social media accounts. Various features are excellent like scheduling posts, multiple accounts at one place, analytics, I recommend paid use as it offers more features as competitive to free one. Integration is easy, you can use multiple social media accounts at one place.
  • Buffer allows you to monitor multiple social media accounts and also offers detailed analysis of how your posts are performing.
  • Chrome extension of buffer is really helpful.
  • It also offers best time to schedule your posts.
  • It would be better if it allows monitoring for mentions and polling.
  • The images crashed sometimes when posted via scheduling with Buffer.
  • The paid version is bit costly.
In my work area Buffer [is] mostly used to monitor the client data and analysis also it helps me to schedule tasks in one go. It also allows you to create free images which you can use in your posts. The analytics helps me to know performance of the posts. I recommend paid version as it offers you better features than the free one . It is working fine with both desktop and mobile. Support system is also good. If it allows monitoring for mentions that will be an added advantage.
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.
Michelle Messenger Garrett | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Buffer for my own social media for my business and also for clients. It solves the problem of social media posting when you can't be at the computer or on social media platforms, such as overnight, weekends, and so on. It also helps you post consistently, a problem for some organizations.
  • Buffer is EASY to use! So easy to use every day and to set up in advance. I do have the paid version, but there's a free version, too.
  • Buffer provides good support if you have any questions/issues.
  • Buffer also has an image tool, Pablo, incorporated into it, so you can very easily pull images, add text if desired, and add them to your social media posts.
  • They took away the optimal timing feature, which I used and found valuable. I was never sure why they completely removed it, but they should bring it back.
  • They took some of the features that were free and put them in the paid version. Granted, it's not terribly expensive ($100/year), but it felt a little like pulling the rug out from under some of the users.
  • Better reporting/analysis would be nice. I see they've added an analysis tool, but it's another $50/month.
I find Buffer ideal for my small business. It helps me with my personal branding. I also love it for clients. I have a client I manage social media for, and they're on my Buffer account because I can have up to 10 accounts set up.
It may not be the best fit for someone with no budget for tools though, and I can't speak to the higher-priced version. I have used competitor's tools and find Buffer easier to use, at least on the scale on which I use it.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Thanks to Buffer, we have been able to plan content publication to our social channels in advance and always stay updated while saving time. Buffer has also been useful for tracking the success of our posts to give us an idea of what we are doing well and what needs to be improved in our content.
  • 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.
  • There are limitations in its integration with some social networks.
  • It is limited when tagging users in some social channels and making mentions.
  • The mobile app does not have all the features of the web version.
Buffer has been an indispensable resource in our organization to keep our social networks up to date and full of content while tracking the success of our posts. You will be pleased with a tool like Buffer that is as useful as it is easy to use.
Andrew Folts | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Buffer to schedule social media posts for a range of content. I create content on a daily basis, but I normally don't finish it until later in the day (at which point it's too late to post), so Buffer allows me to publish it the next day at the time of my choosing.
  • The UI is pretty simple and straightforward.
  • I love that there's a free tier.
  • I can't use Instagram with Buffer because the mobile app isn't compatible with iPhone 5.
  • The pricing is super-steep for analytics and reply.
It's ok. I liked the interface better than Hootsuite and Buffer has a free tier, which is great while I'm building an audience and not generating profit. I don't love it though and the field is wide open for a better competitor.
Len Gordon | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Buffer for my own social media scheduling for my blogs posts and also for my clients and our organisation's social content.
  • Easy to set up and use.
  • Connect to other social media tools such Quuu.
  • Maybe adding all there features into one affordable plan.
  • More social media platforms added.
I will always recommend Buffer to anyone who is looking to grow their presence on social media and needs a go-to tool.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer is used by the marketing department for the purpose of scheduling digital marketing content on multiple social media channels with the idea of optimizing for most engagement even when the team is not working. For example, when we need to schedule for when people are commuting and most likely on their phones but also when our team is not at work.
  • Great for posting on multiple social media channels from the same platform.
  • Visibility to posts performance allowing for optimizations.
  • Issues with Instagram integration.
  • Limited analytics for the free version.
It is a good tool to use when you want to manage all social media channels from the same place. It saves time so that smaller digital teams to be able to focus on other marketing efforts.
Collin Berg | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Buffer to quickly lay out a week or two worth of social posts in advanced so that we don't waste time during the week. Buffer also analyzes the open rate so we know when to schedule them for max reach.
  • Buffer is quick and easy to use. Scheduling posts out across multiple platforms is much simpler than in any of the competitors.
  • Pablo, its quote generator is also a great and easy tool to use for growing an audience
  • The price jumps between tiers makes it somewhat hard to justify going up in price.
I always recommend Buffer to organizations as a timesaver. The ability to schedule posts for 3 different networks and customize it to each network is fantastic. The free option is perfect for small organizations with only 3-4 networks.
Heather Robinette, MBA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer has a great freemium model that makes it perfect for small companies to large companies. I started using Buffer at my last company to schedule posts on all of our social media accounts. It was really easy to use and I really like how the scheduling feature was setup. They make it less cluttered and easier to read than some of the other platforms. After leaving, I ended up using it for my personal social media accounts. I use it to schedule posts around marketing. Through Buffer I have been able to help develop my personal brand and really create a strong social media presence. I love Buffer!
  • Makes it easy to schedule posts across multiple platforms.
  • Makes it easy to share content from the source.
  • I can't always tag other pages.
  • Recommended tags like LinkedIn provides would be helpful.
I think Buffer is a great scheduling tool for anyone. I have found it particularly helpful for smaller companies as that is where I've personally used it. It allows you to manage all of your scheduling in one place. There are paid versions with more features, but it still isn't over the top like some of the others. For smaller companies, you really don't need them. They are nice to have, but not a need to have.
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.
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.
Alicia Meyer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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.
Michelle Green Arnson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I currently use our Buffer account to schedule news, event info, and fundraisers across our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.) It's as easy to push in-the-moment happenings as it is to schedule posts in advance, and it works well on my computer and my Android device, so it really meets all of my posting needs regardless of where I am or what I'm sharing.
  • The Chrome Extension-- I LOVE being able to navigate to, say, a blog post I want to share later today or an event page I want to share next week, then click the little Buffer button on my browser window and write/schedule unique posts for each of our social media channels. It's so convenient.
  • Scheduling (and rescheduling)-- The interface from the Buffer website itself is really great for scheduling posts to go out to different channels at different times (custom or pre-selected), and also to reorganize the order and timing of your posts on each channel, as needed.
  • Re-Buffer-- You can see your top performing posts and easily "re-buffer" them to use in the future. So helpful!
  • Analytics-- The analytics on the Pro plan are limited at best. You can simply review your posts from the past 30 days, but you can't access any analysis (or even simple tallying of Likes, Shares, etc.) without upgrading to the Premium or Business plans, which are otherwise more than we need at the moment.
  • Publish+Reply+Analyze-- It's a bit tedious to have these basic social media functions/tools separated out as three distinct products, as well as overkill for a small nonprofit without a dedicated social media team. I imagine each tool is good at its job if you need 'em.
  • Linking to Accounts-- Buffer seems to lose touch with Facebook and LinkedIn somewhat frequently. It's vaguely annoying but very simple to fix, so I just roll with it.
As far as Buffer Pro goes, I'd recommend it for small shops that want to maintain their social following and have a simple, easy-to-use way to share updates, sell event tickets, and invite donations and volunteers. If you're a actively growing brand where engagement and analytics are high priorities, I'd recommend trying Buffer's other plans and tools. Their free trials are great!
Susan Hammiche | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Buffer is used as a scheduling tool to make posts on our social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It is used by the marketing department to keep track and stay organized in scheduling posts and review analytics for those posts. It simplifies the use of social media for our company.
  • Post the same content across different channels with a few clicks.
  • Scheduling posts ahead of time for the whole week for example.
  • Integration with many platforms makes it easy to review how posts have been performing.
  • Provides an app so you can everything on the go as well.
  • The Instagram scheduling still doesn't work for us and never has, it always gives an error.
  • The pricing structure is not clear and some features have hidden added costs.
  • Free version is now more limited than it was before.
If the company has several social media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, this platform is ideal to schedule and publish posts rather than logging in to each of those and manually adding posts. While some social media channels let you schedulein advance, Buffer can do it for all of them when you prepare your posts. It is well suited to keep track of your social media. If teh company is not really active on social media and doesn't use any of those channels for advertising, it will not be very useful to have buffer.
Michael Anderson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I work on a small video production team and we use Buffer to manage and schedule our social media accounts across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. We schedule 2 to 4 posts a week with Buffer. Before using Buffer we would post straight to each platform, which took a lot of time and coordination.
  • Post scheduling is easy, whether you're doing weeks or days ahead.
  • Buffer makes it easy to post across multiple social platforms but tailor each one for where it's going, saving a lot of time.
  • Buffer tries hard to stay up with current social platforms and trends by updating and adding new platforms pretty often.
  • Price can be high for small business, especially if you don't use it a lot.
  • Not everything can be done through Buffer. Several platforms (Instagram, Twitter) have limitations on what exactly you can post through Buffer and sometimes you still end up having to go to the post on the platform and edit to add tags or actually hit post on the draft it gives you. It still speeds it up over having to go to each platform separately, but just learning the quirks can take time.
For people who have more than two social accounts and post regularly but don't have a lot of time, Buffer can save a lot of it.
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!
February 02, 2019

Buffer is the Bomb.com

Stefanie Cash | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our marketing department uses Buffer for social media management. Buffer helps us organize all of our accounts in one place. We are able to analyze, post, and schedule content from one seamless system to all of our social media accounts.
  • Navigation
  • Ability to schedule
  • Analytics
  • Default layout
  • Location of certain settings
Buffer is the ultimate social media management software. It has all the capabilities you need to successfully manage any number of accounts you may have. With easy to understand analytics and even easier scheduling capabilities, Buffer does not disappoint. It's an aesthetically pleasing one-stop shop software for all your social media needs.
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.
Emanuele Pagani | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The marketing department uses Buffer to manage social posting and their scheduling across multiple platforms.
  • Social posting scheduling
  • Very great browser extension (Chrome and Safari) to help with sharing content from its address
  • Great post queue management
  • I would improve the analytics section, to have more data and suggestions for caption, content, posting time, etc.
Buffer is perfect for small to medium-sized organizations, startups, and influencers to build a social posting queue, directly from their browser. Also very good if there are multiple managers.
Mandy Cramer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I recently started a new sub-brand of my design company and use social media as a major means of getting my brand out there. Buffer helps me automate my posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I am currently using the free version, but as my brand grows I will likely upgrade to the paid version if I continue to find Buffer of use. What I really love most about Buffer is that I can actually automate my posts to Instagram. Up til this point, while I could plan my posts, Instagram didn't allow automated posts from other apps I've used. So this feature is really incredible for me. I find Instagram to be my most profitable form of social media, so this is truly an essential function.
  • It allows you to automate your posts on Instagram
  • It allows automated posts of other social media as well
  • It's very user-friendly and efficient
  • You can use it on your desktop or mobile!
  • I'd love if I could edit my images for Instagram before posting to the app via Buffer, but I imagine that's too much to ask!
  • You can only connect three profiles if using the free version, but that's to be expected.
Buffer is better than what I used previously (Hootsuite). I always found Hootsuite to be cumbersome and clunky. Buffer is straight to the point and I always prefer efficiency in the programs or apps that I use. I do wish that you could schedule more than 4 images in a gallery for instagram, but it's not a major issue since as a business account on Instagram, I prefer to space out my content anyways in order to reach the widest audience and create brand recognition through repeated imagery and style.
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.
Adeline Garman BA (Hons) DipM MCIM | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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.
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