AI Summary
This tutorial demonstrates how to use Buffer's social media scheduler from a beginner's perspective. The creator walks through account setup, post scheduling, AI-powered hashtag suggestions, optimal timing, analytics, and inbox management to grow an online presence.
Chapters
Buffer is free to sign up with just an email. After login, connect social media accounts from the left sidebar; Buffer provides step-by-step instructions for each network.
Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok must be business or creator accounts: Facebook requires a Page, while Instagram and TikTok need business/creator accounts to connect to Buffer.
Open the Publish tab to access the post calendar. Click 'New Post,' select target platforms (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, Facebook), and choose the post type (post, reel, or story depending on the platform).
Buffer's built-in AI assistant generates optimal hashtags based on the post content. You can ask for a shorter list and copy/paste them directly into the post.
Buffer flags issues like character limits; each platform has different limits (e.g., Pinterest is much shorter than Facebook or YouTube). Pay attention to these to avoid posting errors.
Use the 'Add to Queue' button and select a custom date and time—or let your post go into the queue for optimal publishing.
Buffer analyzes when the bulk of your audience is online for each platform and recommends the best time to post. A good rule of thumb is to schedule right before that peak window—e.g., 4 p.m. Monday for a Monday-afternoon audience.
Buffer's analytics show follower growth, top-performing posts, click-through rate, engagement, and customer demographics. The free version covers the last 3 months of data.
The Inbox tab centralizes comments and direct messages across all connected accounts. You can filter and respond quickly, which is especially important in the moments right after posting.
Buffer offers a paid Start Page to link all profiles, but customization is limited. The creator prefers Linktree, a free centralized hub where followers can find all social media links in one place.
Buffer streamlines social media management—from scheduling and hashtag generation to analytics and audience engagement. Beginners can start with the free tier and only upgrade if they need access to data beyond the last 3 months.
Mentioned in this Video
Tutorial Checklist
Study Flashcards (8)
Which account types are required to connect Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to Buffer?
easy
Click to reveal answer
Which account types are required to connect Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to Buffer?
Business accounts: a Facebook Page and Instagram/TikTok business or creator accounts.
01:24
What does Buffer's AI assistant help you generate?
easy
Click to reveal answer
What does Buffer's AI assistant help you generate?
Optimal hashtags for your social media post.
02:55
What is the general rule of thumb for scheduling posts in Buffer?
easy
Click to reveal answer
What is the general rule of thumb for scheduling posts in Buffer?
Schedule your post right before the bulk of your audience is online.
04:32
What data does Buffer's free analytics version cover?
medium
Click to reveal answer
What data does Buffer's free analytics version cover?
Data for the last 3 months on all connected accounts.
05:56
What can you do in Buffer's Inbox tab?
medium
Click to reveal answer
What can you do in Buffer's Inbox tab?
Centralize comments and direct messages from different accounts, filter them, and engage with followers.
06:21
Why does the creator prefer Linktree over Buffer's Start Page?
medium
Click to reveal answer
Why does the creator prefer Linktree over Buffer's Start Page?
Because the Start Page is paid and has limited customization, while Linktree is free and acts as a centralized hub.
07:40
What percentage of viewers on the channel are subscribed?
easy
Click to reveal answer
What percentage of viewers on the channel are subscribed?
Less than 1%.
05:13
What happens if you don't respect character limits on each platform?
hard
Click to reveal answer
What happens if you don't respect character limits on each platform?
The post may fail to publish; Buffer shows warning exclamation points for these issues.
03:35
💡 Key Takeaways
Buffer is free to start
Democratizes social media scheduling—beginners can access powerful tools without upfront cost.
00:44Business account requirement
A critical gotcha that saves beginners hours of troubleshooting when connecting platforms.
01:24AI-powered hashtag generation
Shows practical AI integration that simplifies a tedious part of social media marketing.
02:55Data-driven best posting times
Uses audience analytics to optimize reach—an actionable insight that directly improves engagement.
04:18Analytics show customer demographics
Enables creators to understand their audience on a deeper level without paid tools.
05:43Full Transcript
[00:01] started using buffer to schedule social media posts engage with followers and track my online growth and today I'm excited to share my stepbystep tutorial expedite your buffer learning curve from beginner to Pro you've came to the right
[00:15] place I'll walk you through connecting accounts scheduling social media posts exactly intuitive but have really revolutionized my social media game revolutionized my social media game let's
[00:31] sponsored by buffer this tool just generally saves me about 10 hours a week all I ask in returns that you smash that like button and hit that subscribe button right there if you like to stay up to date on all things AI business and
[00:44] Tech now let's get to it signing up for buffer is free and here's a list of all you're going to be able to connect all you have to Simply do is add your email and get started when you log into buffer for the first time you're going to see
[00:56] be able to add all your different social media accounts so on the left side connect simply select the one you're interested in use your general login connected buffer is going to give you specific instructions on what's needed
[01:11] and this is what I meant earlier when I said I want to expedite your learning curve this process here took me multiple iterations to figure out so I'm going to put up on the screen here all the requirements you need to connect that
[01:24] form of social media so for instance in order to connect Facebook Instagram or Tik Tok these have to be business accounts so for Facebook this is the equivalent of a Facebook page and for Tik Tok and Instagram these are the
[01:36] equivalent of business accounts or creators accounts these changes are all have to do is log into settings on that here on the screen is how to do that in Facebook Instagram and Tik Tok if you
[01:49] want to change your standard account to business account now that your accounts process of actually scheduling a social media post at the top of the screen here tabs one of those is called publish so let's select there to go to buffer post
[02:03] calendar which will show you all your scheduled content today and anywhere into the future now ours is blank so let's go ahead and select new Post in the top right and create our first
[02:16] selected right here you're going to be able to see all your connected social connected Tik Tok Instagram and YouTube and if you select something like Instagram it'll show you whether you want to schedule a post a real or story
[02:30] same thing for Facebook and Tik Tok so let's go ahead and schedule one post for all three of these platforms at the same time so let's select Instagram Tik Tok we're going to be able to add what we like to post let's go ahead and drop
[02:43] that in you'll see we added some emojis to make it more eye-catching and then we want to add an attachment since this is going out as a real or Tik Tock equivalent let's select that here now you watch it load as we have an uploaded
[02:55] attachment and now my favorite feature buffer is actually this AI assistant here here and it's really really great for hashtags so what I like to do is go into the AI system box here and ask what of the best hashtags for this social
[03:08] media post drop in my post and now you'll see it automatically generate a bunch of optimal hashtags for this post so it seems like there's a bunch here the post let's go ahead and ask it to be shorter great we'll copy these hashtags
[03:22] and drop it in our post one feature I really like about buffer is it actually that social media platform and if you don't get these correct the post isn't You'll see this little exclamation point
[03:35] while we're doing that we can even select the category and if we want this public or private this really helps us be impactful with the little tweaks that can really emphasize our social media post now something also to consider
[03:47] that's incredibly important is character limits for instance Pinterest have way like Facebook or even look at YouTube that's kind of crazy right if you don't to go through so make sure pay attention to these if you have to adjust character
[04:02] the different social media platforms and now just scroll down to this add to Q button select schedule post and now you can choose the date and time you want to brings us to our next question how do you know the optimal time to schedule
[04:18] your social media post well buffer has the answer my favorite feature of buffer is that actually recommends the best time to post based on when the bulk of your audience is online on that specific platform to see data like this just go
[04:32] you can have a breakdown of your data for Instagram Facebook Tik Tok all your accounts and A good rule of thumb is you want your social media post to be scheduled right before the bulk of your audience is online for instance for us
[04:47] on the YouTube channel here the bulk of our audience is online Monday afternoons finishing up work so we schedule all of our content for 400 p.m. on a Monday so it's available right about the same time when the bulk of your audience is online
[05:01] and something new that they can enjoy when they're traditionally on those social media platforms this has really been a huge help to revolutionize my social media game before we move on to my favorite feature of buffer YouTube
[05:13] analytics shows that less than 1% of people watching videos on the channel are actually subscribed since we release videos every Monday on all things AI subscribing You're simply just get a notification every Monday when we create
[05:27] a video like this one comparing metric buffer and Hood Suite deep diving how that's really a gamechanging video so go ahead and consider subscribing and let's single feature that has allowed me to grow my online presence the quickest is
[05:43] Buffer's analytics dashboard you'll be able to see your followers which posts are performing best analytics like click-through rate and engagement and my favorite customer demographics now Buffer's free version allows you to see
[05:56] data on the last 3 months for all your different connect social media account you could upgrade to their paid version where you can see data on all your they were connected on Buffer but like I said I don't really see the need to do
[06:09] this all the information for the last 3 months is on there I use a completely free tool but I wanted to let you know that those options are available if you features we're going to talk about today
[06:21] this is the one that has allowed me to engage with my social media Community the best and it's called the inbox management tool on the inbox tab it's your different social media accounts in
[06:33] one centralized spot here you can see things like comments direct messages and this little filter button where you can filter for all the things that you respond to those elements to engage with your followers and this is really
[06:47] important to do so in the moments right after posting your social media post with your audience at the time that they're looking at your social media post if you're liking the video so far go ahead and leave a comment below let's
[06:59] connect tell me what your thoughts are about buffer so far lastly I want to show you one final trick that ensures all your social media followers who follow you on one platform also have the opportunity to follow you on all your
[07:12] sense to have someone follow you on one form of social media but not the rest of them how do we capitalize on this now to create this centralized Hub buffer has a feature called a starts page and here you can go ahead and add your profile
[07:26] different social media platforms and and when someone navigates to that link they different forms of social media now personally I don't use the start page from buffer it is only available in their paid version and the customization
[07:40] of the tool is fairly limited you can't really change that much the tool I use is link tree Now link tree is also a free tool Tik Tok actually recently audience to different content creators and it's one centralized Hub where
[07:54] all your different social media platforms if you want to learn how to do this and you found enjoyment out of this video I recommend you do three things one like this video it really helps the channel grow and shows that the audience
[08:07] is enjoying the content two consider subscribing so you get a notification every time we release something on AI business and Tech and number three most importantly go watch that video on how to make a link tree it will take 5
[08:19] minutes it's our most popular video on the channel and it's a really incredible tool to upgrade your social media game thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next video