Scheduling your social media posts couldn't be easier! Our vision is for users to have a unique voice on social media, and to be able increase engagement and reach of posts by targeting the message to the right audience on each social network. Using the tailored posts composer, you're able to customize your post for each social network that you're sharing to.
📝 This article is designed to help users with the Buffer mobile app. All instructions and screenshots are taken from the iOS app, and any steps that are different on Android are noted. You can find the desktop version of this article here.
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Tap the blue + icon at the bottom middle of your screen. This will open up the composer. On Android, you'll need to tap the blue pencil icon at the bottom right of your screen to open the composer.
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The social channel you were viewing before opening the composer will already be selected. If you'd like to share to multiple channels, tap the + icon and then tap any channels you'd like to include. You'll then need to tap Done at the top right of your screen. On Android, you'll need to tap the back arrow at the top right of your screen after choosing the channels you'd like to share to.
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If this post is part of a campaign, choose the campaign you'd like to add it to at the top of the composer. Learn more about creating and managing campaigns here. Campaigns do not yet work for TikTok or Pinterest, as neither are currently available in the analytics dashboard.
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You're able to customize your post for each social network you're sharing to. If your post is going to be quite similar for each one, we'd recommend starting with a base for your post, which you can either type in or copy and paste. Then, tap Customize at the bottom of your screen.
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- You'll now able to customize the post for each of your selected social networks, by tapping through the social icons at the top of your screen, or by tapping Next at the bottom of your screen.
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You will have various options for adding media attachments. For Facebook and LinkedIn posts, if you've included a link, a link preview will be automatically generated. You can tap Replace link with photo or video if you prefer. You'll then have the following options:
iOS Android Camera Use camera for photo Camera roll Select image from gallery Images from URL Select image from URL Remix (learn more here) Remix (learn more here) Unsplash (thousands of free images) Unsplash (thousands of free images) -
You'll then see a quick preview of each post. If you're happy with them, tap Share at the bottom right of your screen and choose your sharing method:
- Share Now: Your posts will be published immediately, essentially skipping the queue.
- Share Next: Your posts will be saved at the top of your queues and be the next ones to be published. Other posts in your queues will be bumped down one time slot. This option is not available on the Free plan.
- Schedule Post: You will be able to choose a custom date and time in the future for the posts to be shared. This option is called "Custom schedule" on Android.
- Add to Queue: Your posts will be added to the bottom of your queues, in the next available time slots from your posting schedule.
- Once you're happy with your customizations, tap Preview at the bottom of your screen. (You'll only see the Preview option when the last social network is selected.)
Notes
- Link shortening: Although links won't be shortened when you're scheduling your post, they will get automatically shortened when the post is added to your queue. On the Free plan, all links will be shortened using the buff.ly link shortener. On our paid plans, you're able to decide which link shortener to use by heading to Settings. Pinterest does not allow link shortening, so be sure to use a full URL in the destination URL box.
- Facebook page and Twitter mentions: To mention a Facebook page or Twitter profile, simply type the @ symbol and start typing the first few letters of the page or profile you'd like to mention. Matching results will be returned and you can tap the one you'd like to include.
- Image descriptions (alt text): Descriptions added to images that are shared on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are added as "alternative text", which is read aloud by software that users with visual impairments use to navigate the web. To add alt text to your image, tap Add Description. Add your image description in the text area and then tap Done. Learn more here about adding alt text.
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Hashtags: You're able to include hashtags in your posts for any social network and they will be hyperlinked once published. Type in the # symbol and start typing the first few letters of the hashtag you'd like to include. Matching results will be returned at the bottom of your screen. Tap on the correct suggestion to include it in your post.