Tools for Marketing and Content Creation

Over the past decade, Instagram has grown exponentially, with more than a billion monthly active users. However, with that increase in users has come an equal rise in fake accounts. You’ve probably received a weird-looking comment or direct message on Instagram that you could immediately tell was a scam. But fake accounts are becoming increasingly sophisticated as they take on a more “human” tone. Scammers create these fake profiles to spread false info, steal your personal details, and sometimes even bully people online. As an Instagram user, you have the power to spot fake accounts and take them down, and in this article, we explore how to do that. Jump to a section:…

Social media links make it easy for people visiting your website to find your business on social media — an essential first step toward growing your audience. Since every company has a different branding style, you might not want to use a social media platform's traditional icon styling. So, how can you find free social media icons that suit your brand? We’ve scoured the internet for 40 stylish and versatile social media logo files. The best part is that everything on this list is free, so you can stay on brand without spending a dime. 1. FlatIconFlatIcon is a database offering including each social media app’s original logos and combination icons — if that's something y…

Countless nonprofits are doing meaningful work every day, and at Buffer, we want to play a small part in helping them share their stories and amplify their impact online. To do that, we offer nonprofits a 50% discount, something we've done since the early days of Buffer. While our pricing is already designed to be accessible for everyone, the additional nonprofit discount helps make content creation even more attainable for these organizations focused on the public good. I'm one of the Buffer teammates who review requests from organizations applying for our nonprofit discount. And, I gotta tell ya, these organizations are incredible! Every time I connect with them, I lea…

Social media marketing is more complicated than ever. You need a proper strategy, content creation skills, copywriting formulas in your back pocket, and a knack for tying it all together. It doesn’t hurt to borrow the hard-earned lessons of industry experts who’ve come before you. Here are the top 12 courses to improve your social media marketing skills. Some of these courses are free. But even the paid courses are worth every penny, I promise. There are two types of courses on this list: Cohort-based courses: These courses have a fixed start and end date. You’ll work through the material in real time with other students and your instructor(s). These courses are excellen…

Ever noticed how, if you’re really on top of replying to your LinkedIn comments, your posts seem to perform better? I certainly have — and now I have some seriously impressive data to back my anecdotal evidence. Replying to comments on your LinkedIn posts can boost engagement by around 30%, according to a massive analysis by Buffer's data scientist, Julian Winternheimer. Julian analyzed 72,000 LinkedIn posts from nearly 25,000 accounts, and the pattern was clear: When creators engage back in their comments, their posts perform significantly better relative to their own baseline. This is one of my favorite data analyses we’ve done at Buffer, because it’s hard evidence that…

Trends, launches, algorithm shifts, new platforms... As a social media manager or creator, there's a lot beyond your control. But there are some things you can plan for. And doing that makes creating space for the many spur-of-the-moment posts you’ll need to create in 2026 just a smidge easier. Enter: This comprehensive list of all major dates you might need to create content about, from January to December. Everything from key national holidays, culturally important dates, headline-making events, and tongue-in-cheek holidays. Superbowl LX? Dress Up Your Pet Day? Mother’s Day? It’s all here. Use this comprehensive list to mark what matters for your audience, pause during …

Whenever I dream up a home improvement project for my place, I work the smartest and fastest when I have the right tools. The difference between having helpful resources and trying to figure everything out manually? It's huge – and it shows in your results. The same principle applies to digital marketing. How can you work smarter and faster with SEO? It starts with having the right tools. Whether you’re just getting started with SEO or you’ve been at it for a while, these free tools can make a real impact on your visibility in search. They’re user-friendly and give you a peek into the factors that determine how well your content performs. Let’s dive in and see which tools…

Most creators use Buffer to schedule posts. I turned it into a creativity lab — and in 90 days, my impressions tripled and my newsletter passed 1,700 subscribers. After 12 years of working at Netflix, I assumed I knew how to handle content systems. But stepping into the creator economy was a different game. I needed more than a scheduling tool — I needed a way to capture ideas as fast as they came to me. That’s when Buffer shifted from a scheduler into the missing piece of my creative process. With it, I built a system that turned scattered thoughts into consistent content. In 90 days, I went from 3,500 followers posting sporadically to reaching 100K+ people every month. …

As a freelancer, I always wondered, “What would happen if I needed to take an extended medical leave?” I’m not the kind of person to take a month-long trip, and I’ve never taken more than 7-10 days off at a time (which requires meticulous planning ahead of time!). If I don’t work, my revenue is $0. I run a solo business, so my income is 100% dependent on me. So what would happen if I couldn’t work? Would my clients understand? Would my social media engagement take a nosedive? Would my business crumble? I found out this year when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Not exactly what I was expecting. I needed brain surgery, and recovery was expected to take a minimum of six…

As an Engineering Manager at Buffer, I write a lot — Slack messages, proposals, code, documentation, and feedback. And as AI tools became part of my workflow, I found myself writing even more. I've always been slow at typing, and I think better by talking than by writing. It never felt like a big limitation before, but with AI tools, I started feeling it more and more. I'd keep prompts short even when I knew I should add more detail, because typing it all out felt tedious. Then I tried ChatGPT's voice feature and something clicked. I could include all the context and nuance that I'd normally skip. I wanted that experience everywhere, not just in one app. So over the last …

If you create content regularly, you understand the pressure to always be “on”. To be a conveyor belt of ideas. To be writing, filming, editing, posting, and engaging. It’s a lot! And then start the cycle all over again with each new post. Being a creator can sound like a dream job from the outside, but in reality, it can be exhausting. So it’s really not surprising to me that 52% of creators admit to experiencing burnout — I’m definitely one of them. If you're reading this, I’m guessing you get it too. What weighed down my brain wasn’t even the ‘creation’ part. It was the pressure to remember every single good idea (and the constant fear of losing one) that gave me crea…

From the moment I launched The Flourish Market — a boutique that specializes in selling clothing, accessories, and gifts that have a bigger purpose — I knew that we would need to think about our holiday promotions differently. Given that most of the 200+ brands we partner with are B Corps or fair trade companies, our margins are already tighter than the average store. I felt the biggest discount we could afford to offer holiday shoppers would be 20%, which isn’t very exciting when the big box stores and even smaller boutiques would be offering 40-60% (or more) off. I’ve always been a big believer that when you can’t compete, you get creative. So I thought about what we …

TikTok LIVE is a blank canvas that creators and brands have adopted in different ways. Some creators stream games as they would on Twitch. Others perform or create content in real-time on the platform. Going live on TikTok can help you increase your engagement, reach new audiences, and grow your following. It’s also a great way to start monetizing your TikTok presence through TikTok Gifts. If you're curious about how to go live on TikTok, you'll need to meet some requirements for TikTok LIVE access: Have 1,000 followers, andBe older than 16 (18 if you want to monetize)Once you're there, you’re ready to start streaming! In this article, I’ll explain how to go live on TikT…

We’ve all been part of the rush to figure out gifts for family and friends as the holiday season approaches. Many companies even recommend starting holiday shopping (plus social media and email marketing campaigns) months early to avoid shipping delays or out-of-stock notifications. The holiday season often means a busy time for brands — and that’s what events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday intend to capitalize on. But sentiments are changing. People are questioning and expecting more of the brands they shop from and 89 percent of shoppers say they would be loyal customers of a brand associated with a good cause, given similar price and quality. Brands are also sayin…

BFCM — Black Friday and Cyber Monday — is an exhilarating but often daunting time of year for business owners and marketers. Now that fantastic deals are table stakes, it can feel like shouting into a crowded room to ensure your brand gets the attention it deserves. But capturing market attention is well worth doing over this high-spend period. According to Adobe Analytics, Black Friday 2024 alone generated $10.8 billion in online sales (up 10.2% from $9.8 billion in 2023), and Cyber Monday saw $13.3 billion. The full 2024 holiday season reached a record $241.4 billion in online spending, making 2025 poised for another record-breaking year. To help you stand out from th…

“Work smarter, not harder” has always been one of my favorite phrases. But now that I’ve entered my working-mom-of-a-toddler era, it’s taken on a whole new meaning. I only have so many hours in a day, and if I want to have any semblance of free time, I need to make the most of them. Enter: these AI productivity tools, all of which help me streamline, automate, and optimize as much as possible. Some of them help me save hours of work, others a few minutes, while some just help me maintain my sanity — it all counts. Every second I save goes toward that glorious hour or two when my work is done, my daughter is snuggled up in bed, and I can cozy up with (read: pass out on) a…

I joined LinkedIn in 2020 as an eager freelance writer, but I didn’t get the hype. Everyone looked so polished, and I felt like I had nothing valuable to add. So I left, convinced the platform wasn’t for me. When I later niched down into SaaS writing, something shifted. My ideal clients — marketers, founders, content leads — were all active on LinkedIn. If I wanted to reach them, I had to show up here. At first, I wasn’t sure what to post or how to stay consistent. But five years after that first attempt, I’ve: Done a 90-day posting streak from January 1 to March 31, 2025Posted every weekday since thenRecently landed a freelance writing gig with Userpilot, through a refe…

If you’ve ever gotten lost in the rabbit hole of swiping through Instagram Stories, you know how compelling (and dare I say addictive) they can be. I’ve broken down their main benefits below: Increased engagementSimple setup and quick sharingFlexible creative toolsThe good news is that stories are incredibly easy to use. The challenge: that same ease-of-use means that you need to grab the attention of your viewer quickly because, as easy as it is to reach people, it’s just as easy to lose them. Thanks to Instagram Story Highlights (which are at the top of every profile), you can turn your temporary stories into evergreen content. Here are some genius story ideas (with ex…

There's no guaranteed formula for TikTok virality. You can't predict which video will take off. But there are various strategies to increase your chances of achieving viral success on TikTok. These methods still can’t guarantee virality, but they can tip the scales in your favor. This article will share ten such tips to help you create viral content. But first: What does it even mean to go ‘viral’ on TikTok? Jump to a section: What counts as a viral TikTok video? Don’t chase virality just for the sake of it Consistency is the bedrock of virality There’s no one surefire formula for going viral on TikTok How long does it take for a TikTok to go v…

You open Instagram to grab a trending audio for a reel. Just one quick thing. Two hours later, you're still scrolling. You haven't created anything. You haven't even saved the audio you meant to find. And now it's 10 p.m., and you're mentally exhausted — and a little sad, tbh — from consuming content instead of making it. (Seriously, why is Instagram's search function on the Explore page?) Oh, wait, that was me. Hi. 👋 High up on the list of Things I Do Not Have Time For (along with low-carb diets, marathons, and the new season of Stranger Things) is doomscrolling. I'm a mom with a full-time job, and I'm an active creator. I also have ADHD. For what it's worth, I actually …

It goes without saying that managing multiple social media platforms — whether for yourself or for a brand — can mean some serious multitasking. On any given day, you are: Creating social media posts, repurposing existing content for socials, staying on top of trends across multiple platforms, reviewing your analytics for social media reporting, and so much more. If you’re a creator or a small business owner managing your social media presence yourself, all of this is in addition to running your business. Luckily, there are plenty of social media management tools to take some of the tasks off your to-do list — and make all that work a little more fun. These are the 11 …

Social media was never just a one-way broadcast channel. A holistic social media strategy includes creating useful, entertaining content and building a community. But you can’t connect with your audience if you’re not responding to comments, ignoring direct messages (DMs), and skipping brand mentions. If you’re here, you already understand why engagement matters. Most creators and small business owners struggle with: Lack of time to reply and engageScattered notifications on multiple platformsAbsence of systems makes engaging feel overwhelmingThat’s where social media engagement tools come in. They help you stay on top of your notifications across channels, collaborate wi…

I used to treat comments like notifications I needed to just… clear. See comment > reply if I had time > move on. But when I crossed 10,000 followers on LinkedIn — a platform where genuine community building can have benefits way beyond engagement metrics — I knew I was not doing my audience (and myself) justice. Many of my creator teammates were running into similar issues, especially if they were active on multiple platforms. Replying to comments can be pretty time-consuming. You're jumping between apps, missing notifications, and losing track of conversations. Plus, you’re missing out on the powerful engagement boost that comes with actively responding to comme…

“If you want engagement, do engagement.” It’s probably the simplest social media advice I’ve ever seen (hat tip to Buffer’s Suzanne Kelly and Carolyn Kopprasch for coining that) — and it’s 100% accurate. Not just anecdotally, either. Replying to comments on your posts can significantly boost engagement across six major platforms, according to a massive analysis by Buffer’s data scientist, Julian Winternheimer. He pored over nearly 2 million posts from over 220,000 accounts on Threads, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Bluesky. His conclusion was a clear and consistent pattern: Posts where creators and brands reply to comments perform better almost every time. You want…

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” I bet you’ve heard this one from Peter Drucker, one of the best-known thinkers and writers on the subject of management theory. And maybe that’s why you’re here: You know that growing on TikTok isn’t just about posting videos — you need to dig into the data to see what actually works. But, if you’re anything like me, when you first open the TikTok analytics tab, it feels like staring at a spaceship dashboard. Numbers, charts, percentages … Where do you even start? The good news is that you don’t need to measure everything; it’s more important to measure the right things based on your goals. The magic happens when you focus …