Buffer: Smarter Tweeting Without Flooding your Followers

Leo Widrich 1851 Views, ,
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There are tens of tweet scheduling functions out there I found. Even most Twitter clients have this function integrated by now. However fiddling with individual time setting and going back to a web interface in order to get it done was always quite a hassle for me.

Let me therefore introduce you to a new tool I have been using recently. It is a nifty App called Buffer, that solves me a whole lot of trouble to schedule tweets faster and easier than before.

How is Buffer different to the rest?

  • You don’t schedule each tweet individually, you simply add to Buffer and the App schedules the tweets for you.
  • You can add tweets from any page you are reading with handy browser extensions (Chrome, Safari or Firefox)
  • You can add tweets to your Buffer from inside Google Reader
  • You receive detailed analytics for your Buffered tweets to measure your impact.

Add from any page

One of the things I particularly appreciate about Buffer is that I can add tweets to it from any page I am reading.

In addition it comes with a feature to tweet things other than the post title and link. This is very important to me, as it gives me a chance to stand out from the rest of tweets and I can make my tweets unique.

You simply highlight some text and then hit the Buffer icon, this is what happens with Francisco’s post:

Add to Buffer form Inside Google Reader

Use Google Reader to Buffer tweets

Using it inside Google Reader also comes in very handy as you can add Tweets to your Buffer right from there.

Whenever you like an article simply hit the Buffer icon and you will get the shortened link to the page and the URL, here is another example of Francisco’s post:

Highlight some text and click the Buffer icon

Timing of your Tweets

By default your Buffered tweets are sent at Twitter Peak times for you.

Of course you can always go back to your account and adjust the times to your needs. You can increase the frequency or delete some time slots, as well as change them.

Your Tweets Performance

Knowing how well your Tweets performed is another key aspect for me.

Buffer provides you with detailed analytics about Clicks, Reach and Retweets of your tweets. This is really cool as it also helps you on how to get twitter followers more efficiently. Here is a set of data from my recently Buffered tweets:

Clicks, Retweets and Reach of Buffered Tweets

Wrap Up:

Buffer’s functionality as a Tweet Scheduler goes way beyond existing functions I know of and making use of it saves me a lot of time each day.

In addition I can add lots of tweets to it without annoying my followers with too many tweets back to back. Especially as I am a heave Google Reader user it helps me a lot to tweet about all the amazing findings I come across each day.

What about you? Which Tools are you using to make your life easier on Twitter? Will Buffer be helpful for you too?

Let’s discuss it below.

Leo Widrich

I am a Social Media enthusiast with an extra large addiction to Twitter. You might noticed already ;). I am constantly on the lookout for the best Twitter Tips and Tools to share. Say hi @LeoWid on Twitter anytime.

19 thoughts on “Buffer: Smarter Tweeting Without Flooding your Followers”

  • Thanks Leo for writing this up. Not only will my visitors appreciate it a lot, but me too 🙂 I have heard about the tool but did not explore it as much as I had too. Thanks to your detailed post, I am now a Buffer fan. love the idea of highlighting any part of an article and “buffering” it out. Cool!

    • Francisco, no worries at all, many thanks for writing the first comment.

      Oh wow, that is so great to hear that it helped you out too! Definitely explore it to its fullest now, just like you said, I am sure it will make a big difference.

      Speak to you soon and thanks for the opportunity to guestpost on a great blog!

  • Thanks for the tips on Buffer. I wish you would have mentioned that Buffer is a subscription service with three tiers: free for up to 10 tweets in the Buffer, $5/month for up to 50 tweets in the buffer and $30/month for unlimited tweets in the Buffer. Each tier allows for you to link more Twitter accounts. I think this is vital information worth sharing with your readers. Buffer sounds great and I’m going to try it out.

    • Bryan, many thanks for your comment.

      Yes you are absolutely right, including the full pricing is definitely something that explains the whole service in even more depth. Thanks for pointing it out. Will definitely remember that for future posts.

      Wow, really glad you are going to try it out, if you have any questions please let me know :).

  • Hey Leo – Thats a pretty nice app to schedule your tweets. The interesting thing is that you can hihglight any part of your post and tweet it…

    Buffer looks to be a good tool and will check it out..

    • Sandeep,

      Many thanks for your comment, really good to see you find Buffer useful. Yep, I totally fall for that feature too. Just highlight a few parts and that will be your tweet. 🙂

  • There are many other applications like this to tweets your messages in Twitter, but Buffer look extremely beneficial. The most attractive feature is to highlight the line on which you want the most attention from the reader. And set the time you want your tweet to be appear in twitter, at will be there at exact time. I have adjusted after one hour from 9 a.m.

    • William, many thanks for your comment.

      Yep, you are absolutely right, it makes using Buffer a real delight that you can simply highlight any quote and it will immediately become your tweet.

      Oh right, yep, that sounds interesting what you are doing with times there, I will definitely try it out for myself too!

  • I have created an account buffer recently the user interface is fast and easy to use this is the biggest advantage and I will also praise the marketing done by buffer marketing team they used guest posting to promote there product and see now every one nows about buffer hats off.

    • Hi Sonu,

      Thanks for your comment and for your kind words.

      It is good to hear you are finding the UI of Buffer useful and easy to use, very important feedback I think.

      Yep, lots of guestposting brought Buffer all the exposure it needed and it is now fairly well known I believe.

  • Buffer is a great application! I started using Buffer earlier this week after seeing a post on it somewhere else. I am using the free version and I love it!! I didn’t know that you can add tweets to your Buffer from inside Google Reader. I will give that a try. Thanks!!

    • Darlene, this is so great to hear that you already heard of Buffer and started using it.

      Yep, works inside Google reader too and as I am a big GR user it helps me a great deal too. Sure take it for a spin, would love to hear what you think about it 🙂

  • That’s a neat tool – the way software like this integrates with your daily tasks affects your productivity enormously. And I like the way this is a 1-way process – so I’m not going to get sucked in to reading a bunch of Tweets when I just wanted to send one!

    • Hi Mark, thanks for your comment.

      Yes it is exactly like you say, you can easily integrate it with your daily tasks by adding to your Buffer whenever you feel like it.

      Oh right, I never thought about it in that way, but very true, it’s only the one thing you have to do!

  • Okay, I signed up for buffer but I have not take advantage of it yet. Now I kicking my self in the butt. It is way easy to set up and a great way to get things done fast.

    • Hi Sheila,

      It is really great to hear you find it useful. Oh, yes, I know that feeling, but no worries at all. It is just like you said, all is super easy to set up and you can go ahead and make use of it right away :).

      Thanks for stopping by, if you come across any issues with Buffer, just let me know, I am happy to help out! 🙂

  • Hi Leo

    Great to see the word is going out. Remember you introducing me to Buffer over on Brankica’s blog. It’s getting a good rap so that must be encouraging for you cos all these guys will be honest in their assessments.

    Patricia Perth Australia

    • Hi Patricia,

      So good to see you here and thank you very much for your kind words, yep you are right, this was quite a while ago indeed.

      Oh yes, you are absolutely right, I am seeing it definitely as an honest assessment and also a good source to know where to improve :).

      Thanks for your comment!

  • Thank you very much for this valuable post.
    It seems that Buffer is a Twitter tool full with flexiblity.
    Thanks again and I will try it. 🙂

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