As you all may know, I wrote a post a while back on the benefits of using Buffer to schedule updates to social media. I love this feature! Sadly, I left Buffer for Hootsuite about a year ago. Let me tell you why, and what brought me back to the Buffer family as a paid subscriber. Let me start with links to the services:
When I first began using Buffer, it was still in its infancy. While on the free version, you can connect up to four accounts and schedule something like twelve updates. That worked well for me for a little while, and it was great for someone with a blog in the beginning stages. One of my biggest issues was not being able to choose which image appeared with my posts.
So, I left Buffer for Hootsuite.
Here was this new interface that it took me a minute to learn how to use, but I felt the time spent was well worth it. Hootsuite's free account will allow you to pull feeds from your favorite social media outlets, connect up to three accounts, and schedule your stuff a few days in advance on any timeline you wish. Your number of posts are still limited, but it's comparable to Buffer's. Here's a link to their plan comparison chart.
All good, right?
Everything was perfect until...
My posts refused to go and there was nothing notifying me stuff was down. I struggled with it for over a week. Page views hit rock bottom, less than 200 per day, and I tried to be patient while wondering in the back of my head if it was only my account having issues.
So, I waited.
And I waited.
And I waited.
Then, I pulled my head out of my rear and hit up those social media platforms to ask if I was the only one experiencing issues.
Guess what? You got it. I wasn't the only one! Relief flooded me at the same time panic set in.
What was I going to do?
A moment of clarity hit me between the eyes like a glass brick.
Why don't I see if Buffer will post my updates?
So, I cruised on back to my old friend. What I found there is nothing short of astounding. Not only could I pay a nominal fee (Buffer charges $10 a month for an upgraded account called the Awesome Plan), but that small amount gave me access to: Connecting up to twelve social media accounts (do you really have more than that?), scheduling up to 200 posts in advance, setting up a custom posting schedule for each day, adding a team member who can also schedule posts and stuff, and pulling RSS feeds.
But that's not the best part! In addition to all of the above, I also have access to a world of easy to understand analytic data.
Hootsuite gives you that, too, but it's only available to paid subscribers, whereas Buffer's is free, and Hootsuite's fee is more than I'm willing to put out of my pocket each month. Plus, their data breakdown just isn't this slick.
Take a look at what I'm talking about:
Yeah, that's about as easy as it gets! I know exactly which posts are doing well; thereby letting me know what content my readers and followers may want more of.
Quickly! Scroll back up to the top of my blog and look on the right hand side. See that little Buffer button? Yeah, that makes it super easy for my visitors to share my content on their own Buffer. One little click.
How does this save me time?
Glad you asked! When I publish a new blog post, or want to fill my Buffer with posts I've already created, I just navigate to the page and click the share button.
I don't even have to go to the Buffer main page if I don't want to. It's the same for people visiting my blog.
By the way, both of these services have an app you can download from the app store.
Now for a couple of numbers!
With Hootsuite, I got around 1k hits on my blog per day. Not too bad...
With Buffer, I've nearly doubled that number.
You tell me which one you'd rather have.
Now, there are "purists" out there who believe if you're tweeting or posting to Facebook, you should be present. But what author do you know that has the time to devote to being online as often as it takes to be able to do things like that? You can still be personable with an auto update. Plus, you can't really get all that analytic data without something backing you up.
Do you use either of these methods? Let's discuss!
Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
