For the past week I have been using Buffer to schedule my tweets and have been enjoying the simplicity the service has to offer. At it’s core you write a tweet, click “Buffer” and your tweet will be delivered during the next available time-slot in your schedule. Your schedule is a predetermined list of times during the week when you want tweets to be sent out. The is an easy way to write a series of tweets, “Buffer” them and have them delivered at optimal times. Before using Buffer, I would write a message in TweetDeck and then manually set the time and date for the tweet to be sent. Buffer makes this process far easier by scheduling tweets automatically for me.
Here is a list of five features that makes Buffer a must have tool for any social media administrator:
1. Choose your own schedule
The beauty of Buffer is that you get to choose your own schedule. This allows you to pick the most optimal times for your tweets to be sent to your followers. I recommend you use the free service Tweriod to pinpoint the time of day your audience is most engaged on Twitter. Tweriod will analyze your followers tweeting habits and determine the very best times your should be sending out tweets. From within your Tweriod dashboard you can sync those results with Buffer and boom! your schedule is supercharged to serve tweets at choice times.
2. Tracking and analytics
Every tweet that Buffer sends gets tracked and the results get compiled in your Analytics page. For every tweet it shows the number of retweets, favorites, mentions, clicks and potential reach. Buffer also instinctively marks some messages as “Top Tweets” to highlight those that did exceptionally well. This data will help you see trends and make better decisions about what kind of content is making the biggest impact with your audience.
3. Account connectivity
Buffer not only schedules your tweets, but can schedule personal Facebook status updates, Facebook Page posts, LinkedIn profile updates, LinkedIn Group updates and connect with App.net. Buffer can become your all-in-one command center for scheduling your social media posts and updates.
4. Link shortening and campaign tracking
Buffer has it’s own internal link shortening service called “buff.ly”, but if you prefer to use a third-party link shortening service you can. Bit.ly and J.mp are the two link shortening services Buffer currently offers connectivity to and will aggregate click tracking data to your Analytics page. If you prefer not to have your links tracked, you can choose not to shorten your links.
Buffer also has the option to turn on campaign tracking. When enabled, Buffer will add UTM parameters to shared links for tracking inside Google Analytics. These are the UTM parameters Buffer adds:
- Content: buffer[unique code]
- Source: buffer
- Medium: twitter (or other platform)
- Campaign: buffer
5. Team members
Most social media accounts for companies and organizations are managed by more than one person. Buffer makes this very simple by allowing team members to be invited to access the account. Each member has their own username and has the ability to add messages to the Buffer stack.
Go use Buffer for free and start scheduling your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn updates.