#1 most frequent
United States of America
47.3%2,773 installations of 5,868
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.
Categories & Use Cases
Media
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Screenshot of The Buffer dashboard
Top Performing Features
Content planning and scheduling
Users can easily plan content and schedule posts to various social media channels and profiles from one interface.
Category average: 9.1
Role-based user permissions & privileges
Permissions to perform actions or access social accounts are assigned to roles, which are then assigned to users, reducing complexity of administration.
Category average: 8.5
Mobile access
Users can effectively use the software through a mobile or tablet device.
Category average: 8.2
Areas for Improvement
Workflow management
Users can share assets through asset libraries, assign tasks, and approve or edits posts through the tool’s interface.
Category average: 8.3
Content optimization
The tool can suggest content, as well as the best days and times for content publication and customer engagement.
Category average: 8
Campaign success analytics
Users can analyze the success of campaigns through metrics such as likes, shares, retweets, followers, clicks and conversions.
Category average: 7.8
Who Buys & Uses Buffer
#2 most frequent
India
19.4%1,137 installations of 5,868
#3 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
5.2%303 installations of 5,868
Pros
- Efficient cross-platform social media scheduling and customization.
- Intuitive and easy-to-navigate user interface.
- Provides valuable analytical insights for content strategy refinement.
Cons
- Limitations in handling specific content types like Instagram Reels and certain carousel posts.
- Difficulties with social media tagging on platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Challenges with accurate post scheduling across different time zones.
Affordable and easy to use.
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Our team uses Buffer and its tools to schedule and post social media content (images, videos, etc) and prepare monthly social media analytic reports.
Pros
- Scheduling.
- Analytic tools.
Cons
- Scheduling gifs.
Return on Investment
- Increased our ROI because it is cheaper than other tools.
- Allowed us to prepare the reports faster and with ease.
- Saved time on scheduling content.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Hootsuite
Other Software Used
Sprout Social, Meta Business Suite, Google Slides
Buffer for the small business win
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I use Buffer when scheduling social media posts and analyzing data. Buffer makes it easy to schedule multiple posts all at once and for future posts scheduling. It’s a time saver and gives me the opportunity to adjust posts in accordance to trends and AB testing results. Buffer allows me to adjust photos to fit all platforms and generate reports as often as needed.
Pros
- Allows for future posts scheduling.
- Allows for reporting for all connected platforms.
- Allows for mentions, tagging, hashtags, and more across platforms.
Cons
- I would like to see more platform options and bridge capabilities
- I would like to see a build in SEO optimization tool
- I would like for the free version to offer more for those just starting out with the service
Return on Investment
- It saves time and offers peace of mind when perfecting branding initiatives
- It can be a little expensive especially when Meta offers a free option for posting but Buffer is well worth the price. Giving more advanced reporting tools.
- Buffer offers options that helps those just starting with scheduling platforms. It’s simple yet effective
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Hootsuite, Zoho Social and Meltwater
Other Software Used
Hootsuite, Zoho Social, Meltwater
Buffer made multi-channel posting easier and trackable
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use multiple social media platforms across the board, which means metas calendar isn’t enough. this is where Buffer comes in, it allows us to post on multiple channels at the same time, while also letting us adjust the post for each one.
Buffer also has a nice tagging system where each post can be tagged, as a distributor this is really helpful because it makes us able to create reports by brand
Buffer also has a nice tagging system where each post can be tagged, as a distributor this is really helpful because it makes us able to create reports by brand
Pros
- Tagging your posts with customized tags, and then being able to create reports with them
- letting you adjust the post for each channel, including pictures and captions
- hashtags groups, i can create groups of hashtags which makes posting much quicker!
Cons
- The tagging for instagram is not as sophisticated as the one for facebook. you have to make sure no typos are used or it won’t work, while facebook shows if the tag is correct or not
- the way you plan posts can be a bit confusing, for example im not sure what the time slots are
Return on Investment
- Increasing good contact with the brands we make social posts for, as we can show them reports.
- Speeding the process of adjusting posts for each channel, with the hashtags groups and the ability to change captions and media.
- Making it easier to track your posts (for us which brand the post is related to) for good oversight and reporting.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Meta Business Suite
Other Software Used
Meta Business Suite
Intuitive Straightforward - Great for Small Businesses
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Buffer significantly helps us schedule our social media posts and also plan our feeds across multiple platforms which is critical since we use several social media channels.
Pros
- Scheduling and posting scheduled posts
- Highly intuitive user interface
- Analyzes post performance clearly and visually
Cons
- Functionality overall is fairly basic compared to other platforms
- Limitations in handling certain content types like Reels and certain carousel posts
- Provides top line analytics but doesn’t go super in depth
Return on Investment
- Saving loads of time
- Planning ahead posts proactively
- Running quick analytics reports
Usability
Alternatives Considered
HeyOrca, Later Social, Hootsuite and Sprout Social
Other Software Used
monday CRM, Slack, Dayforce
My review of Buffer
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I used Buffer to help automatically schedule social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus when Google Plus was still a thing. It was used by me for a sole proprietorship business client. It helped us put consistent content out of social media without having to babysit social media every day. We can frontload the content by the week.
Pros
- Schedule multiple platforms at once
- Offers multiple platforms to choose from
- Can schedule across time zones
Cons
- Translation of links need works sometimes the images if an article will not translate to a post when it buffers
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Sprout Social
