Are you looking for an affordable and lightweight way to manage and schedule your social media posts? If so, Buffer could be what you need, but it's important to understand its limitations as well.
One of the biggest hassles with social media is often one of time: A well-managed social media account needs to have plenty of content in the pipeline, as well as an awareness of the best times for posting material. As a business or individual adds accounts, these issues multiply, until simply posting social media content becomes a full-time job.
Buffer is one of the most popular social media management programs online, and it's designed to address exactly this problem in a simple, no-frills fashion.
How Buffer Excels At Simplified Social Media Account Management
At its heart, Buffer is quite simple. The interface is clear and straightforward. You can connect a variety of social media accounts to it, including (at time of writing) Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn. Additionally, paying customers also get access to Pinterest.
Its dashboard, which is available through html or a mobile app, allows you to pre-write messages, which are then buffered and posted over the course of upcoming hours or days. You have control over when these are posted or you can allow Buffer to automatically drip-feed them based on its own calculations of best posting times.
Three payment options are available: a bare-bones free version that only allows one account per service and 10 buffered messages per profile, an $8/mo mid-tier service that allows several accounts per service and up to 100 messages, and a $50/mo subscription with thousands of messages buffered and access to higher-end analytics. Paying customers also have more options for customizing drip times and amount of posts per day.
Downsides To Buffer
Buffer excels at its core competencies, which is its main selling point. The problem is it really only has those core competencies, and forgoes the features necessary for it to be a true social media management platform. Most notably, there's no way to follow interactions or directly respond to followers from within the app, which greatly limits its utility.
One will also need to be careful not to over-rely on the automatic posting system. It makes good averaged recommendations for posting times, but entirely disregards content. Anything time-sensitive will need to be posted manually, since it has no way of distinguishing hot/trending events.
Additionally, its range of services supported is weak compared to most competing products, especially since Pinterest is pay-gated.
The Buffer Bottom Line
Buffer is an affordable marketing option, but limited in its effectiveness for robust companies. It could be a great option for organizations just getting started in professional social media marketing, especially those lacking expertise in more robust systems. However, the likelihood of you outgrowing Buffer is high, either from its limited network compatibility or its inability to manage interactions.
Still, for the price, it's worth checking out if you currently lack any other social media management services.Still, for the price, it's worth checking out if you currently lack any other social media management services.
