We’ve been using Buffer for a while now at Business-Software.com to help us manage social media posting, but we haven’t always been happy with their platform. Buffer just relaunched with a new look and some great new features that make their platform faster, more elegant, and simply better overall. While Buffer is sometimes considered the underdog to Hootsuite in the social media management game, we think this redesign is setting up Buffer to be the go-to solution for simple, effective social media management. Here are the features we love that make Buffer a great social management platform.
Speed
The first thing we noticed about Buffer’s redesign is how much faster it is. Instead of waiting 30+ seconds between saving a post and seeing it appear in our queue, our post pops up in seconds. Buffer’s new Analytics and Scheduling tabs load faster than before as well. Transitioning between pages goes smoothly and quickly, making the process of posting, collecting data, and editing content faster and less frustrating.
Easier Posting
Buffer has always had a pretty clean interface, but now it’s even more intuitive. The layout has been redesigned to be easier to navigate, making posting quick and simple.
- Composition Box: Much like Twitter’s composition box, you can write a post no matter where you are on your site. This lets you compose and post content whenever the inspiration strikes.
- Predictive Text: For many links Buffer automatically generates the title of the linked page. You can edit it if you’d prefer to be more creative, but it’s a time-saver if you have to queue up a lot of content like we do.
- In-line Editing: See a typo in your queue? In-line editing lets you fix it immediately, without waiting for it to load in the editing box and then re-queue.
- Drag and Drop Cross-platform Reposting: If you decide that you want to repost that great Tweet in your queue to Facebook, there’s no need to retype or even copy and paste. Just drag it into the account you want to republish it to and you’re done! This can also be used in combination with Analytics, so if you see that one of your previous posts performed well on one platform, you can easily post it to others.
Even More New Features
Buffer has thrown in some cool features that we didn’t even know we wanted until we started using them! These tools help set Buffer apart by giving you even more control over your posting queue.
- Shuffle Posts: This new option does exactly what you’d expect- randomly shuffles your posts to make their order less predictable.
- Link-Shortening Opt-Out: We love the auto-link shortening feature, but sometimes we’d prefer to skip it. The one-time opt out feature lets you prevent automatic link shortening for specific links without turning it off completely.
- Top Posts: Buffer marks your top posts across all networks, so you can figure out what your best stuff is and track and/or repost them easily.
New Buffer Provides a Streamlined Solution
Buffer is clearly focusing on making their product the optimum platform for sharing content. They’ve put a lot of thought and effort into making their product a stronger, more analytics-driven tool. “We’ve been working on this for the past six months,” co-founder Leonhard Widrich told VentureBeat. “We’ve been collecting tons of data of how Buffer was used, how our now 50 partner developers … have gotten usage through our API, and where we see the future of sharing on the social web.” Buffer’s goal is to help you spend as little time as possible on their platform by providing easier publishing, so you can spend more time creating and discovering content rather than worrying about how to distribute it. Ready to check it out? Visit Buffer to sign up for free and to learn more about their product.
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