Blog - Page 38

A collection of 2,459 blog posts

It’s Time to Reconsider ‘Best Time to Post on Social Media’ Studies. Here’s What to Do Instead.

If you are a social media manager, you’ve likely looked at ‘best time to post on social media’ studies to come up with several posting times for your brand. I know I have. But now, I believe it’s time to reconsider these studies. In the last few years, more and more studies on the best times to post have been released. (At Buffer, we contributed to this too!) And while knowing your best time to post is still very relevant, I’m starting to feel that it’s no longer useful to refer to studies on

How to Schedule Tweets to Maximize Reach and Engagement

Even though Twitter has introduced an algorithm to its timeline , most of the tweets we see on our timelines are still displayed reverse-chronologically. This means that tweeting at the right times can help you reach and engage more followers. But as social media managers , you most likely don’t have the time to wait around and tweet at specific times of the day. Here’s where sch

OpenJun 28, 2018
We Updated Our Core Values For The First Time in 5 Years, Here’s How We Did It

“We believe that it’s really important to come up with core values that you can commit to. And by commit, we mean that you’re willing to hire and fire based on them. If you’re willing to do that, then you’re well on your way to building a company culture that is in line with the brand you want to build.”– Tony Hsieh, November 15, 2010, The Huffington Post Buffer’s founder, Joel , set about identifying his values and the values of the 10 other employees in 201

OpenJun 26, 2018
Here’s Exactly How We Keep Buffer’s Values Strong (Plus a Whole Course on Creating Company Values!)

I was once asked, “How often do you talk about your company values at Buffer?” I think the person I was speaking with was pretty surprised when I responded: “At least once a day!” At Buffer, our values are a blueprint for everything we do. We use them in hiring , in product decision making, in marketing, in overcoming company challenges and in many other situations. We work hard to make sure that our values aren’t just a plaque on the wall –for one, we

OpenJun 24, 2018
Warren Buffett’s Best Kept Secret to Success: The Art of Reading, Remembering, and Retaining More Books

“I just sit in my office and read all day.” This is how Warren Buffett, one of the most successful people in the business world, describes his day. Sitting. Reading. He advises everyone to read more, and that’s certainly a goal we can all get behind. Our personal improvements at Buffer regularly come back to the books we read—how we aim to read more and make reading a habit. I imagine you’re in the same boat as well. Reading more is one of our most common ambitions. So how do we do it? An

OverflowJun 22, 2018
Manage subscriptions with ease using the Google Play Subscription Center

At Google IO this year there was a great session on some new Google Play features to make subscriptions and billing operations easier for both users and developers. The announcements here were also followed up by a blog post here on the Android Developers Blog. Whilst not everyone will be able to make use of all these new features, if you’re providing subs

Self-ImprovementJun 21, 2018
The Ultimate Guide to Becoming Your Best Self: Build your Daily Routine by Optimizing Your Mind, Body and Spirit

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle is credited with saying these 15 famous words. And for most of my life…I didn’t believe him. I fought against cultivating good habits and routines because I didn’t want to feel like I had to live my life by other people’s rules. I wanted to be my own person and do my own thing. Besides, keeping a routine was hard work. Know what I discovered? Having no routine or structure is so much more draining mentall

OpenJun 21, 2018
A Transparent Look Inside Our Process For Creating Buffer’s Annual Budget (Buffer Budget Series #1)

Though to many, creating a budget might sound rather uninteresting and isn’t necessarily synonymous with the exciting fast-paced growth of a startup or scaleup , we believe it is, in fact, a core part of creating a sustainable and healthy company. (Which is what makes budgeting so exciting to us!) We haven’t always used a budget at Buffer to guide us towards financial health and our long-term g

News and TrendsJun 21, 2018
With IGTV, Instagram is Becoming Television for the Mobile Generation

Too busy to read? Just click the play button below to listen to Hailley and Brian discuss the Instagram algorithm on our podcast. How to listen: iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloud [https://soundcloud.com/the-science-of-social-media/instagram-igtv-television-for-the-mobile-generati

OpenJun 20, 2018
How We Stay Organized as a Remote Team: Our Fave Trello Boards

Prefer to listen? Here’s the audio version of this post: One of the biggest questions that comes up when exploring how to work as a remote team is a question of operations: How do all those people, in all those places, stay organized and productive? Since Buffer is one of those fully remote teams, we get the chance to try out many different strategies and tools [https://buffer.com/resources/remote-wor

Case StudiesJun 19, 2018
Coffee and Community: Foster Coffee Company on Growing Their Social Media Following and Business

Too busy to read? Just click the play button below to listen to this post. “We love coffee, but we love community and people more.” This Foster Coffee Company credo isn’t just a brand statement. It’s at the heart of their social media strategy too. We spoke to co-founder Nicholas Pidek and marketing associate, Justin Ozanich, about how social media has helped them grow their community and business. “Two and a half years ago we were

Content MarketingJun 18, 2018
Podcasting for Beginners: The Complete Guide to Getting Started With Podcasts

Content marketing comes in many different shapes and sizes. Creators like you have a lot of options: blog posts, social media updates, visuals, video, slide decks, and even more. You can even add podcasting to this mix. Audio is being used in clever ways to fit into the content plans of some of the top forward-thinking websites and blogs. Tim Ferris—author of The Four-Hour Work Week—started a popular podcast on his blog. Copyblogger runs their Lede podcast amid their traditional awesome marketi

ResourcesJun 14, 2018
How the Instagram Algorithm Works in 2018: Everything You Need to Know

Too busy to read? Just click the play button below to listen to Hailley and Brian discuss the Instagram algorithm on our podcast. How exactly does the Instagram feed work? That question has puzzled marketers ever since Instagram first introduced its algorithm in July 2016. The Instagram algorithm was introduced to help surface the best, most relevant content to each user every-time they check their feed. Until now, though, the inner-workings of the feed have been kept under wraps, but recen

OpenJun 13, 2018
How #bufferchat Shaped Our Community and What We Plan to Do Next

Of the many ways that we engage with our audience — email, video, content, socks — one of our longest-standing traditions has been #bufferchat, our weekly Twitter chat where members of our Twitter community gather together to share questions, answers, insights, and GIFs about social media topics and workplace trends. We’ve been meeting together every Wednesday for the past four years — a to

OpenJun 13, 2018
A Guide To Conquering Remote Work Loneliness from Remote Workers Around the World

Remote work is an amazing way of life for so many people and companies around the world, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. Even with the wonderful perks — the flexibility, getting to work where you’re the happiest, focused work time, potentially traveling around the world, and more — it’s hard to avoid moments of loneliness with this work and lifestyle. As this is something many of us on the Buffer team experience from time to time, we wanted to collect as much advice as we

6 Shortcuts to Speed Up Your Social Media Scheduling Process

As a social media manager , you likely spend a good chunk of your day scheduling content for your brand’s social media profiles . We understand the challenge. Social media scheduling can be a time-consuming process. So we would love to help! In this post, I’ll be sharing some ways you can save time while scheduling content for social media using Buffer [https:/

OverflowJun 8, 2018
Video: Product-oriented GIT workflow [Bufferdevs Snackchat]

At Buffer we regularly hold what we call ‘Snackchats’. These are short & informal presentations of something that we want to share with our team which help to build on our engineering culture and help each other to grow as engineers. Anyone on the team has the opportunity to give these talks ? Once a discussion has been proposed, a day / time can be picked ready for people to grab a drink (and snack!) to take some time out of their day to learn something new. These have been happening at Buff

Social Media Engagement is the New Social Media Marketing: How To Do It Well

At Buffer, we think a lot about the future of social media. It started as a way for friends to connect online, evolved into a broadcasting channel, and is now a place for brands to provide personalized, human experiences with their audience and customers. Social media is as much about engagement with other people as it is about sharing content. It’s why we call it “social” media. Here are just a few reasons why social media engagement is a vital part of any social media marketing [https://b

OpenJun 6, 2018
An Incomplete Guide to Inclusive Language for Startups and Tech

Language is one of the most powerful tools we have as humans. It binds us. Instructs us. When used well, it creates a common understanding. And it’s essential for creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and included. Historically, language has left many out. Individuals and groups have been marginalized and discriminated against because of their culture, race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, socioeconomic status, appearance and more. We can do better. I

OpenJun 6, 2018
How to Disconnect When Your Devices Are Your Office

Prefer to listen? Here’s the audio version of this post! Disconnecting from devices is a challenge for most people. A study of Americans found they check their phones on average 80 times a day! For remote workers, it’s especially difficult if there’s no separation between work and home and your devices become your office. In fact, this is so much of a challenge that there is a law in France [https://www.npr.org

OverflowMay 31, 2018
Evolving Buffer’s Data Architecture

This post is co-written by David Gasquez . All the way back in late 2014, we wrote short little blog post about our first big redesign of our data architecture at Buffer. Back then, the data team consisted of 2 people, handling everything from data infrastructure to analysis and business intelligence (with some part time help from our CTO) within a company of just 25 people. We built out the initial

OpenMay 30, 2018
Most Companies Have Off-sites. Here’s a Look at Buffer’s ‘On-sites’

At Buffer we love working as a distributed team , but we also cherish the times we get to meet up in person . Since the early days at Buffer, retreats have been a core part of our culture and a part of why we’re able to keep working remotely as a company. In their current state, retreats at Buffer happen once a year. We set aside a budget [https://buffer.gho

Guides & CoursesMay 30, 2018
How to Use Pinterest: The Insider Guide for Businesses (With Strategies From the Pinterest Team)

Pinterest is one of the world’s leading platforms for sharing ideas and finding inspiration. Over 200 million people flock to the social network each month to discover new products, recipes, destinations, articles, influencers, and so much more. But Pinterest isn’t just for individual users like you and me. It also represents a huge opportunity for businesses and brands looking to

Video: Let Kotlin Come To You [Bufferdevs Snackchat]

At Buffer we regularly hold what we call ‘Snackchats’. These are short & informal presentations of something that we want to share with our team which help to build on our engineering culture and help each other to grow as engineers. Anyone on the team has the opportunity to give these talks ? Once a discussion has been proposed, a day/time can be picked ready for people to grab a drink (and snack!) to take some time out of their day to learn something new. These have been happening at Buffer