3 Reasons You Need To Use @BufferApp

By Brian Murray

I love simplicity. I’m a huge admirer of Apple, Twitter and 37Signals. Sometimes when you add many features to an application, product or site, you end up hurting yourself because it becomes way too complex. There are hundreds, if not thousands of applications you can use for Twitter, but I think one of the best is Buffer. Buffer will not help you monitor keywords or track brand mentions. Instead it does one thing extremely well. It allows you to share content on Twitter (Facebook and LinkedIn too) easily. Sure there are other applications that allow you to schedule, but Buffer makes it more simple (Try it, trust me). Here are three things you must know and do with Buffer!

 1) Use The Bookmarklet- No matter what browser you use, you need to install the Bookmarklet. What does this do? Whenever you find something you want to share, you click the button and it automatically grabs the website address and even the headline! It makes it so you can share it immediately or schedule it. You can easily choose which site you’d like to share on!

2) Use The Analytics- These analytics should not and will not replace tools like Radian6. However, you can learn a lot about interactions like Replies, Favorites, and Retweets. If you attach your Bit.ly account to Buffer, you can track clicks, which help you determine interest in what you are sharing. I learned from clicks that my followers can’t get enough of articles about Pinterest. They still garner a lot more clicks than most things I share.

3) Schedule Based On Your Follower Activity- There are two different applications that will analyze your followers and determine when you should tweet. These applications are SocialBro and Tweroid. SocialBro has a variety of features that allow you to learn about the people who follow you including where they are from, topics they tweet about and when they are active. Tweroid will scan your followers, determine their activity, and suggest times for you to tweet. Both of these can allow you to optimize your share times. If you find the times when your community is most active, you will hopefully drive the most engagement possible!

Bonus: When you haven’t anything amazing to share, share some quotes. Great quotes do really well on Twitter. My favorite right now is: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.” -Sheryl Sandberg

Have you tried Buffer? What are your tips for getting more engagement?