Social media has become an essential aspect of online business, with billions of active users engaging across platforms. Companies and startups are constantly looking for ways to enhance their online presence, and social media is an obvious choice. While social media makes it easier to get your brand, products, services, or information in front of a viable audience, it’s ultimately up to you how you choose to take advantage of the benefits of the apps available. One of the most effective and reliable social media apps is Buffer. In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about using Buffer for social media management, how it behaves as a powerful social media booster, and how to integrate it with WordPress.
Why Choose Buffer?
Buffer is a powerful social media sharing app that supplements your ability to engage live on social media without bombarding your followers with updates all at once. If you don’t want to flood your followers with concurrent posts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media pages, then the Buffer app is the perfect system to help you. It allows you to easily schedule and bookmark Facebook updates, prepare Pinterest pins well in advance, schedule tweets from any computer in the world (provided you have a working internet connection), and more. All you need to do is preset the updates and add them in Buffer. The app will do the rest.
Not only is your content timely updated, but this also keeps your customers engaged on your platform throughout the day. In addition, you can use Buffer statistics to see the number of people who clicked on your content, which posts were re-shared, etc.
How to Set Up Buffer
Setting up Buffer is easy and straightforward. Here are the steps:
1. Create A Buffer Account
First, sign up for a Buffer account using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn accounts, or you can use Buffer’s option to sign up with your email.
Next, you’ll be prompted to link your social networks. You can choose from Twitter account, Facebook Page or Profile or Group, LinkedIn Profile or Page, Google+ Page, Pinterest, and Instagram. Depending on the network you are connecting, Buffer will ask for permission to access certain aspects of your social media accounts – this is necessary for you to schedule and post content via Buffer.
Once you’re done setting the options for your social account, Buffer will ask if you want to manually set posting times or if you want Buffer to calculate them for you.
If you choose to let Buffer do the scheduling for you (which we highly recommend), simply add in the number of posts a day you want, and it will calculate when you should post based on your highest traffic times. With that done, you’re finished setting up your account!
2. Scheduling Social Media Posts with Buffer
The next step is to start scheduling posts and updates for your social media accounts. Log into Buffer. From the “Content” tab, you can add your preferred posts, articles, quotes, or tips (even images and videos). If you used Buffer to create your optimal posting schedule, just click the “Add to Queue” button, and your post is all set to be sent out at your next available posting time. You can also choose to “Share Now” or you can “Schedule Post” to set a custom manual posting time.
Once you have your posts and updates scheduled, they will automatically go out to your social media accounts at your predetermined times of the day. So you can spend the rest of your day focused on your business and not your social media accounts.
3. Integrate WordPress with Buffer for Even Easier Sharing
Buffer is a great tool on its own, but when combined with WordPress, it’s a surefire way to boost your traffic and reader engagement with social media. To add Buffer to your WordPress site, we recommend using a plugin, like WordPress to Buffer. Since it’s in the WordPress.org plugin repository, you can install it right from your dashboard under Plugins > Add New.
Once installed and activated, you will need to create an access token in Buffer so the plugin can access it. To do this, go to Buffer’s App page and register your website using the Callback URL that was provided on the plugin’s setting page (see above).
Once you’ve registered your website, copy the “Access Token” and paste it into your plugin settings page. Now you can get started with the settings for sharing your content!
WordPress to Buffer includes options for you to schedule your posts and pages to be shared when they are published and updates. Check the box (or both) and then edit the new post format using the plugin’s tags, including your blog name, post or page title, excerpt, post category, date published, URL, and author. Then check the box for which Buffer linked social accounts you want to automatically share your content on.
Then simply save your settings. Now as you create content on your site, it will automatically be shared with all your followers via Buffer! There is a Pro version available, which includes features such as the ability to auto-pin content to Pinterest, custom tags for sharing your content, support for featured images, individual post settings, etc. So if you want more options, you can upgrade with the click of a button.
Tips to Get the Most Out of Buffer for WordPress
In addition to using Buffer to promote your WordPress site, here are a few tips to help you optimize the content you’re sharing to get the absolute best results possible:
1. Be real with your customers. Try not to schedule too many posts in a day – automation is good but too much makes your accounts seem less human and more automated.
2. Create your own content to source through Buffer. If you’re curating content from other sources, make sure to create your own custom excerpt to share it with to keep it fresh for your readers.
3. Try to avoid posting to Facebook frequently. They do penalize items shared using third-party apps or services, so your content might not reach your customers (don’t worry though – all the other social media accounts Buffer supports have no problem with automated sharing).
4. Be social online with your readers. Re-tweet and reply to comments. It will increase your reader engagement, and having new comments on your website creates new content, which is good for SEO.
5. Add an “Add to Buffer” button on the top of your website. This way, your followers can add your shared content into their Buffer account.
6. Take advantage of Buffer’s Optimal Scheduling option. This will ensure that your shares reach the highest number of followers.
7. Use the Buffer browser extension to make sharing updates and curated content even easier. With this, you can also shorten the URL, add photos, and more.
Wrapping Up
There are other social media scheduling options, but Buffer by far outdoes every one by being easy and efficient. With easy-to-use features like custom scheduling, multiple account management, and tracking, Buffer is the most convenient way to regularly update the content for your users. If you have any questions about Buffer, feel free to ask. And if you’re already using Buffer, we’d love for you to share your experience in the comments below.
