Simplifying Social Media Marketing With Buffer

Managing multiple social media accounts and dozens of posts everyday has always been a challenge for both individuals and business entities. The amount of time and effort required to do everything manually often creates confusion, resulting in delays and errors. Thankfully, we now have automated tools that have simplified social media marketing. One name that has got the attention of social media marketers is Buffer, a handy tool that lets you schedule posts, track social media performance and manage all accounts from a single dashboard. Buffer integrates with popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Google Plus.

The inspiration for Buffer came to co-founder Joel Gascoigne in 2010 when he noticed some problems with Twitter clients that were there at that time. The main problem was that the Twitter clients required the exact date and time for scheduling the posts. Joel just wanted to post tweets ‘x times a day’, evenly distributed throughout the day. However, this functionality was not available with Twitter clients. This is what inspired Joel to create a new platform that would simplify social media marketing. As the name suggests, the primary idea behind Buffer is to keep adequate buffer between social media posts, so that consistency can be maintained.

Buffer’s journey is just as novel as the primary idea that powers it. Joel did not rush to create a product; rather, he followed the principles of Lean Startup, where the idea’s acceptability is tested first. Joel created a two page website and invited users to learn more about the product he was planning to develop. Users that liked the product idea were provided the option to register their email ID, so that they can be informed when the product was finally launched. Joel promoted the idea on social media and received a good response from people. The first version of Buffer was launched in November 2010 and the company gained its first paid customer within 4 days of the launch. In the next six months, the number of users climbed to 100,000, most of whom were free users.

Buffer currently has more than 75,000 paid customers. Buffer is generating more than $1.3 Million in revenue each month. Buffer offers both free and paid plans for customers. One of the best things about Buffer is that it is transparent in its operations. The company does not shy away from sharing its ups and downs in the public domain. This is one of the key reasons why customers prefer Buffer. Buffer’s simplified user controls and functionalities and affordable pricing plans are also appreciated by users.