Tools for Marketing and Content Creation

If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, it’s easy to believe that video is the be-all and end-all. Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikToks, LinkedIn’s video feed: it’s everywhere, and it feels like every platform is building for it. If you’re looking to build an audience, “more video” is often touted as the answer. But is that true? It turns out — as is often the case with social media — it depends. Video certainly performs best on some platforms, but it’s not quite as cut-and-dried on others. This data comes from our 2026 State of Social Media Engagement report, which analyzed millions of posts across all major platforms. And, at the risk of sounding like a cli…

For years, Alexandrea Browman's team had two options when it came to responding to client comments and messages on social media: log in with the client's credentials (a security risk), or navigate Meta Business Suite (time-consuming and clunky). Neither was great. And community management wasn't a nice-to-have for her boutique agency, Sapphire Social — it's their specialty. So when she found a tool that solved it, it was a no-brainer." With Buffer, it's just all in one place," she says. "It's so easy." Alexandrea has been working in social media for over a decade. For the last three years, she's been running Sapphire Social, an agency based in Oregon. She manages around …

We recently started a small project to clean up how parts of our systems communicate behind the scenes at Buffer. Some quick context: we use something called SQS (Amazon Simple Queue Service. These queues act like waiting rooms for tasks. One part of our system drops off a message, and another picks it up later. Think of it like leaving a note for a coworker: "Hey, when you get a chance, process this data." The system that sends the note doesn't have to wait around for a response. Our project was to perform routine maintenance: update the tools we use to test queues locally and clean up their configuration. But while we were mapping out what queues we actually use, we fou…

If you use Buffer, then you’re familiar with our Composer. It’s where every post begins. Where you draft, tweak, preview, and hit publish. It’s the most-used surface in the entire product, and it’s the core of our value. For a while now, though, the composer has been showing its age. Not necessarily to users (it worked!), but under the hood, it was built on legacy code that made it increasingly difficult to maintain, improve, and extend. Every small change carried risk. Every new feature required navigating layers of complexity that slowed us down. So we decided it was finally time to do something about it. Over the past few months, a small team at Buffer has been moder…

I have three kids under five — and getting them out of the house regularly is essential. I'm always scouring Google Reviews for new and interesting kid-friendly things to do in our neighbourhood. I look for great reviews, of course, but you know what stands out even more? Reviews with responses from the business. There's a "kids' cafe" not far from us that responds to every review. That tells us they care about their customers — and we go there often. I know I'm not alone in this, either. BrightLocal's research found that 88 percent of consumers would use a business that responds to all of its reviews, both positive and negative. Here's the data on why you should be repl…

On March 21, 2006, founder Jack Dorsey set up his “twttr”: Since then, some of the most important, world-changing moments have unfolded on Twitter in real-time for all to see, react to, and engage with. A lot has changed since those early days, including the platform’s name. When Elon Musk officially acquired Twitter on October 27, 2022, for $44 billion, he renamed it X. Almost four years later, people are still calling the platform Twitter, so, in this article, we’ll jump around between the two names or use both. just setting up my twttr — jack (@jack) March 21, 2006 If you’re new to X, or feel like you’re no longer sure how to use Twitter after all the changes, this a…

For a word that determines so much of how social media and the creator economy operate, engagement can be pretty hard to pin down. So, we looked at the data. This report documents how engagement works across social media in 2026. Not how we wish it worked or not how platforms market it — but what the data shows. To understand what's actually happening across feeds right now, we dug into tens of millions of posts published through Buffer — looking at engagement baselines, reply behavior, posting frequency, and how different formats perform across platforms. The short version: If you're spending more energy looking for the perfect time to post than you are replying to the p…

Most social media tools — including Buffer, historically — operate on a pretty simple model: you give us your content, we publish it, we show you some charts. If you want to improve, that's on you. Go look at the analytics. Figure out what's working. Adjust your strategy. Come back and use the tool again. The problem is the gap between the data and what you're supposed to do with it. It’s where most people get stuck. Take posting times as an example. It's one of the most common questions we hear: "When should I post?" And the honest answer has always been: "It depends. Look at your analytics. Test different times. See what works for your audience." Which is technically co…

Paid advertising on social media can be incredibly powerful if you're battling to reach the right audience — especially when you need to tap into very specific demographics. Which is where Facebook really shines. With over 3 billion monthly active users, it's no surprise that Facebook is the go-to social media platform for running ads. The Facebook algorithm can be tricky to figure out, especially when you're just starting out as a small business owner, creator, or social media manager. That's where Facebook advertising comes in — it helps you reach your audience more reliably. That's why, when it comes to social media strategy, understanding how to advertise on Facebook…

Threads doesn’t just reward replies — it was built for them. Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, has said this more than once, and he hasn’t minced words on it, either: "The sum of all your replies is about as valuable as the sum of all the value of all your posts," he told Platformer. Turns out, he wasn't exaggerating. We have data to back up just how powerful responding on Threads can be. Replying to comments on your Threads posts can boost engagement by around 42% — the highest lift we've seen across any platform — according to Buffer data scientist Julian Winternheimer's analysis of over 128,000 Threads posts. Julian found that when creators and brands engage back in the…

Scheduling is what Buffer is known for, and fair enough. But there's way more going on under the hood! Buffer has grown into a pretty comprehensive toolkit over the past few years, and some of the newer features (some of my personal favorites) are super useful in ways that go well beyond the queue. Here's what else it can do. Reply to comments across platforms, from one placeIf you've ever posted something, disappeared, and come back three days later to a pile of unanswered comments, this one's for you. Community is Buffer's unified comment inbox. It pulls in comments from Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, and X, so you can see and reply to everything wit…

Hootsuite is a pretty powerful social media management tool. But its $99 per month starting price puts it out of reach for a lot of creators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses — and that's before you even get to the plan most people actually need. Hootsuite's free plan was discontinued on March 31, 2023 — so there's no way to get Hootsuite for free beyond the 30-day trial. When the free plan was axed (RIP), existing users were nudged toward the $199 per month Standard plan — billed annually, which means a lump sum of $2,388 upfront. Some customers chose to upgrade to keep their access to the social media scheduling tool. But for a lot of creators and small teams, $199 a…

Here's something worth knowing upfront: You don't need millions of followers or superstar status to make money on Instagram. Micro and even nano-influencers on Instagram are supplementing — or even replacing — their income with content creation. I now have over 15,000 followers on Instagram, but when I started experimenting with monetization, I had no idea what would actually work. And I tried everything. Affiliate links that made me a few bucks, brand partnerships that weren't really sustainable, and eventually a few income streams that started stacking up month after month. One of the most important things I've learned is that there no ‘easy money’ switch here — turning…

With more than 40 million registered users, Bluesky is fast becoming a decentralized force to be reckoned with — and with good reason. Among the new wave of fediverse platforms and decentralized networks, Bluesky is possibly the easiest to get to grips with, thanks to its clean interface and ever-increasing community of all sorts of creators. From science to K-pop, there’s a space for everyone on the network. If you’re new to Bluesky and the world of decentralized social media, here’s a quick summary: Bluesky was created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and is a decentralized social network built on an open-source protocol called AT Protocol. With the protocol, Bluesk…

Threads has over 150 million daily active users. Great for reaching new audiences. Also, a discovery problem. How do you get seen when millions of conversations are happening at once? Enter: Trending Topics for Threads, right in Buffer. It brings real-time trending conversations directly into Buffer's composer. Built in partnership with the Threads team, Trending Topics surfaces what's trending on Threads to anyone, no matter your location, through Buffer's API access. The discovery challenge on ThreadsThe Threads algorithm rewards genuine conversation and authentic engagement. Success comes from joining discussions people actually care about, at the moment they care abou…

These days, it feels like Threads is dropping new features every week. Whether it's small quality-of-life improvements or game-changing updates (we see you, Trending Topics), the Threads team has been busy since their rocketship launch in 2023. The only potential downside to all that fun new stuff for its 400 million monthly active users to play with? It's not easy to keep track! Which is where this guide comes in. Here, I’ll unpack some of the top new features on Threads by Instagram — plus how to use them to grow your following. Let's make sure you're getting the most out of Threads, shall we? Jump to a section: 1. Topics, not hashtags 2. Trending Topic…

Tried and tested strategies for growing your following on Threads, with insider tips from the Threads team. There's no doubt about it: Threads is here to stay. After a record-breaking start, Threads is fast proving that it was no fly-by-night fad but a force to be reckoned with among the other social media giants. Threads by Instagram now has 400 million monthly active users and counting. To put that into perspective, that's a little over a third of X's (formerly Twitter) monthly active users of 550 million — and X has a good 16 years on Threads. If you’re a creator, marketer, or business owner, growing an audience on the platform is well worth it. Especially if you’re in…

Our old homepage hero technically showed all the platforms we support — but it felt overly corporate. Like a feature list wearing a trench coat. So in early 2025, we redesigned our homepage as part of an overall website redesign. …

A few weeks ago, we completed our seventh profit share at Buffer, distributing $377,005 to 75 teammates. This represents more than a dollar amount. It reflects a real turnaround in our growth and in where we are headed. Just a few years ago, we were not in a position to do this at all. We went through two years of net losses, made hard decisions, and focused deeply on rebuilding a healthy, sustainable business. There were moments when profitability and profit sharing felt far away. So returning to this practice in 2025, with an average share of $5,095 per teammate, feels especially meaningful. It reflects the resilience of our team, the care people have put into their wor…

Let me just put it out there: There has never been a better time to become a LinkedIn creator, even if you’re starting completely from scratch. LinkedIn has over a billion users, but only a small portion of those are actively creating. That means less competition for attention on the LinkedIn feed — and as a result, plenty of opportunity to increase your followers on LinkedIn. I can personally attest to the power of focusing your creative efforts on LinkedIn. I've been posting consistently on LinkedIn for about six years now, and it's helped me grow to over 22K followers — which has opened up some incredible opportunities. Increasing my LinkedIn following has helped me …

If you've been wanting to post on social media but keep putting it off, this one's for you. I asked Buffer's team of creators — because creating is important to us since our product is for creators — to share what actually helped them get past the fear, overthinking, and blank-page paralysis that accompanies early-stage content creation. And their advice was refreshingly actionable. A bit of backstory: In an initiative spearheaded by Sabreen Haziq, our Senior Brand & Community Manager, Buffer's team has been transforming into a group of creators with real skin in the game. Over the past 8 months, we've collectively: Published over 11,000 postsEarned 14 million impress…

I love the idea of the mythical Instagram hack. When a social ‘expert’ pops up on my feed, emphatically telling me to do the Fate of Ophelia choreography during the full moon after every post to go viral — there’s a good chance I’ll give it a bash. (If you saw me practicing that dance in my last vlog, no, you didn’t.) The fact is, though, those hacks, in the truest sense, really don’t exist. The quality of your content is the be-all and end-all of Instagram post performance. But there are a handful of things you can do to give your content a helpful little boost. Posting at a good time for the platform can help, as can keeping up a consistent posting cadence. We have data…

Managing multiple social media accounts can feel like a lot — especially when you're doing it solo. But with the right approach, it doesn't have to be overwhelming. If you're a creator or small business owner trying to stay active across multiple social media networks, you're probably wondering how to make it all work without burning out. This article shares seven strategies you can use (with software recommendations in between) to manage multiple social media accounts effectively. Quick summary: how to manage multiple accountsUse templates: Create repeatable formats in Canva to reduce design time and maintain brand consistency.Repurpose and crosspost: Share high-performi…

Threads might look a bit like Twitter and feel like Instagram, but the fledgling social media platform is a bit of both — and neither. Threads has been positively flying since it first burst onto app stores in 2023. In just a few years, the Meta-owned app amassed 141.5 million daily active users, with many serious superfans in its ranks (several of the Buffer team among them!). And those superfans will be quick to tell you that social media strategies for Instagram and Twitter/X aren't plug-and-play for Threads. The Threads algorithm is all its own, and — if you're serious about building an audience on Threads — it's well worth getting familiar with how it works. Whic…

Every year brings a fresh wave of headlines and bold predictions about what social media is about to become. A new platform. A new format. A new rulebook we’re all meant to learn overnight. But when you zoom out, the underlying dynamics don’t actually change all that much. ✅ Creators want more ownership. ✅ Audiences are more precious about what they give their trust and attention. ✅ Platforms are making updates and changes. I’ve been working in and around the creator economy long enough to recognize these patterns when they keep showing up. I see them as a consumer, through my work at Buffer, and as a creator who’s increasingly embedded in the space myself. That’s why thi…