Are you Paying more than you should?

Buffer is a popular tool among those planning content across social media channels. This can, in part, be attributed to its freemium version that allows for many publishing features as well as a few other extras. This basic version allows for effective content planning, which is why some small businesses without much of a social media presence may opt for it. However, the tool is not right for every user and, for many, there may be a real need to search for a Buffer alternative.

Why you might be looking for an Alternative to Buffer: What might you be missing?

To begin, let’s go over why people are looking for an alternative to Buffer. While Buffer may be immediately appealing if you are looking for a free social media tool, additional features can really cost you. For a social media manager who needs to publish content on multiple accounts, conduct competitor research, manage your community of followers, and provide progress reports with interesting insights to management, there may be better options out there. So what are some of Buffer’s weaknesses? Let’s find out below. 

Paid Features: When a Good Deal Isn’t What It Seems

It is probably helpful to start with Buffer’s pricing plan. Many social media managers may be drawn to this social media tool, especially if they are starting to build their companies social media presence from scratch. This is because there are free and low-cost versions of the tool available, although these are severely limited in features. Additionally, there is a constant drive to upsell users to add features which can dramatically raise the costs.

We understand that upselling is a part of many business models. However, when important features are constantly being restricted because an additional purchase must be made, this decreases the value of a tool. As your social media presence expands, and you require more features or additional team members, the expense can quickly escalate, making it difficult to justify the investment.

Analytics

Posting Limitations – No Tagging on Scheduled Posts!

Even though Buffer is known as a tool that can effectively used for publishing across social media channels, there are some problematic limitations related to posting. Most notably, users cannot tag other social media accounts or users on scheduled posts. For instance, let’s say that you are looking to post on your business’s LinkedIn account and wish to tag a user or account. With Buffer, you would need to manually publish these posts yourself. This is obviously not a great feature for those with a large social media presence.

Who are Competitors you need to Know

So what about the competitors to Buffer? Are there affordable other options that provide a more comprehensive array of features that are needed by social media managers? The short answer: Yes! Below, we will detail some of the apps like Buffer currently on the market that you should check out.

Fanpage Karma: Social Media Management, Made Easy

As an Alternative for Buffer, Fanpage Karma really shines. Whether you are a small business, large corporation, or social media agency looking for an all-in-one social media tool solution, Fanpage Karma offers its users advanced functionalities for their analytic, publishing, monitoring, and discovery activities. 

Below are some of the primary benefits of Fanpage Karma:

✅ Track an Unlimited Number of Profiles

With Fanpage Karma, you never have to worry about limits on competitor analysis or benchmarking your accounts against others. With the ability to track an unlimited number of profiles across all channels, social media managers can gain deep insights into their own profiles as well as their competitors. 

✅ Transparent Pricing Plans

Fanpage Karma believes that you should get what you pay for, and that is whythe pricing plans don’t have hidden costs or create free offers with the intent to upsell you on paid subscriptions later. 

✅ Dynamic Sharing, Feedback, and Reports

Fanpage Karma gives its users the option of creating public dashboards so that those not using the tool can keep updated on the progress of social media activities. Additionally external sharing features allow social media managers to receive insight and feedback by those not using the tool such as colleagues or even clients alike. Reporting can also be exported and shared or shared with a link to anyone who needs access.

✅ Comprehensive Post Scheduling Functionality

Never worry about losing features when scheduling social media posts with Fanpage Karma. The tool allows for tagging,   and AI caption writing options to help companies create engaging posts.

✅ Powerful Engagement Features

Part for increasing interaction rates. Fanpage Karma offers many tool automating these processes such as automation capabilities, AI- generated email responses, and other organizational helpers such as tagging and assigning tickets to your colleagues. 

Hootsuite: A Tried and True Social Media Tool

As a Buffer app alternative, Hootsuite probably is a social media tool that many may think of. Hootsuite offers all the core functions that one can think of when searching for an all-in-one social media tool as well as a number of other specialty functions for those looking for certain niche features. The major downsides have to do with the high costs of its plans, as well as the limits it places on the number of profiles you can track.

Sprout Social: High-Quality Social Listening, but Expensive

If you really are looking for a social media tool that provides excellent social listening capabilities, then Sprout Social may be for you. However, this tool comes at a high price point, even for their cheaper plans, so be aware of that downside. Moreover, there are limits to profile tracking and competitor analysis depending on the plan you choose.

Swat.io: Similar to Buffer, and sometimes Cheaper

Swot.io may not be the first tool that comes to mind as an alternative to Buffer, but it does provide a suitable tool, largely for small businesses. However, with its cheaper plans there are limited functionality when it comes to features such as analytic insights with additional features only available on more expensive plans. Many users also are critical of the problem with managing accounts that are operating in different countries around the global publishing capabilities and may be best suited mostly exclusively for small businesses in local markets.