Buffer Is Close To The Perfect Overall Social Sharing App

Articles, Sales Tools

I’ve talked about Buffer before. I have also looked at many many social sharing apps over the last four years. There are many that I like and continue to use but Buffer, I use this app … CONSTANTLY.

What is Buffer? Buffer is a sharing bookmarklet that can be dragged to your toolbar or installed as an extension on Chrome or as an add-on as Firefox. I am one of those folks who reads a great deal of articles on the web and I sometimes like to quickly and easily share those to one or more of my social networks. The free version of Buffer allows you to connect up to 3 social accounts (one each for Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) and when you see an article that you would like to share, you simply hit your Buffer button.

A new window will open and that article title will be created in the window along with a shortened link. You now have the option to set this share for any or all three of your social networks. When including Facebook or LinkedIn, Buffer adds a post thumbnail and an article excerpt. You do have the ability to edit any of these updates and add your two cents, space permitting. Finally, you have a option to either post this update now or to send it to your buffer which will distribute such articles based on your user defined schedule.

Much of my sharing comes via my Google Reader and the integration with Buffer is AWESOME! It also integrates with reader on my Android phone and Mr. Reader (great app b.t.w.) on my iPad.

OK, so what’s so great about it? In no particular order … 

  1. It works with Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or Safari
  2. It’s free! The paid version ($10/mo) increases your social networks from 3 to 12 and your “buffered” shares from 10 to unlimited.
  3. They have integrated this thing into damn near everything! Your browser, WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, my Google Reader, and God only knows how many other apps!
  4. I also have it on my iPad and on my Android phone
  5. The interface is clean, fast, and beautiful
  6. Buffer spaces my updates out over time instead of one after the other and I can edit/set that schedule
  7. Analytics are provided
  8. The people are way cool and they “get” social!
  9. Their support rocks!
Buffer is presently limited to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn and does not yet support Google+ or Pinterest but, that is not their fault. Neither of these services have fully released their API’s and, when they do, I have no doubt but that they will be added to the stable. My ONLY complaint about Buffer at this time is that on my Android app, my LinkedIn in profile photo has a Twitter icon attached to it. This would not be a big deal for me however, I use that same photo on all of my social networks.

 

Craig M. Jamieson

Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services
Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!
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