Buffer: What is it and how does it work?

Buffer is a social media app that helps you save time by scheduling your posts over multiple networks in a queue.

The social media accounts you can schedule with Buffer are Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also post to a Facebook group from Buffer.

You can use the default time slots or set your own. The default slots are set up to take advantage of the most popular times on each platform, but you may find your audience differs from the default.

Analytics are available in the paid version. The analytics tab allows you to see your results for each post and easily click to resend the most popular ones. You can also filter the view by popularity.

You can also pause your posting schedule. This is helpful if there is some breaking news happening that would make posting seem insensitive, or if you find a campaign you’re promoting needs some tweaking.

The free version limits you to three accounts. With the paid version, you can have up to 10.

How to add posts in Buffer

You can either add posts through the dashboard or by adding an extension to your browser which will allow you to post a link right from the page. This is helpful for users who want to send aggregated articles from around the web to their followers. The browser extension is available for Chrome, Safari or Firefox.

You can also add the mobile app to your phone or tablet. In addition to sharing posts from anywhere, this will allow you to take photos and upload them directly to your Buffer queue. Video posts are available on the paid version. The app is available for both iPhone and Android.

One you have Buffer installed on your device, it will show up in the share menu, which makes it easy to share content, photos or other items with a tap. In iPhone, you’ll have to enable this in the Settings. You can set up RSS feeds, then check your Content Inbox for posts to share.

You can also add Twitter Retweets to your queue.

Instagram is now allowing direct posting from apps, which is a feature that Buffer is now including.

Pablo

Another helpful feature is Pablo, which will allow you to design graphics for your social media posts. This is helpful for quotes, Pinterest pins, banners and any other time you want to share text on your image. This feature is similar to Canva or Adobe Spark.

Words Plus Design offers social media management as one of our three services. Our customized solutions will help grow your reach. Learn how to incorporate social media in a PR plan by signing up for our free 12-part email course.

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