What is Buffer?
Buffer helps you schedule content to multiple social accounts from one simple dashboard. It’s a great tool you can use to drive traffic to your website, increase customer engagement and save time on social media.
Reposting WordPress Blog Posts on Social Media (via Buffer)
Sign Up for a Buffer Account
Sign Up for a Buffer Account and connect your small business social media platform(s) to it
Install the WordPress to Buffer Plugin
Once you set up a Buffer Account, you’ll need to add the WordPress to Buffer plugin to your WordPress website. From your WordPress Dashboard, find Plugins in the left menu, then choose “Add New” and search for WordPress to Buffer. Find the plugin by WP Cube and click the Install Button, then Activate the Plugin.
Get Your Callback URL
In WordPress, you’ll see a WP to Buffer link added to your left menu. Click on this. Now, you’ll see that you need an access token to connect the Buffer App to The WordPress to Buffer plugin. Note the callback URL listed on the page - it will look something like this http://myawesomewebsite.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wp-to-buffer
Register an App on Buffer
Now you can get an access token by Registering an Application. You can also click the link on the page near the callback URL. Here are my settings - yours should refer to your business. The most important detail is the callback URL. Click Create Application and on the next screen copy your Access Token. It’s a big long string of numbers and letters and should start with 1/..
Add Access Token to WordPress
Go back to your WordPress dashboard, and in the WP to Buffer area paste in your Access Token and hit Save. You should get a message “Thanks - you’ve authenticated the plugin with your Buffer account.”
Adjust Your Settings
Click on the Posts tab, and check the box next to “On Publish” so that your posts will go to Buffer when you Publish them. Edit the Tweet if you’d like, and make sure you check the box next to your photo to connect it to your account, then click Save. Click on the other tabs to queue different custom post types to your Buffer. In the Help tab you’ll find a list of tags you can use for your posts, such as {sitename} {title} {excerpt} {url} and more.
Set Up Your Schedule on Buffer
Now go back to Buffer and click on Schedule. This is where you’ll set up how often you want your posts to happen. Set up your posts to go off every day, and even multiple times a day. I used their Optimal Timing Tool to find out what the best times to post are. Currently I’m only posting to Twitter a couple days a week once a day. I don’t want to set the number too high because if my queue is not filled with other things it won’t have anything to post anyway.
Keep the Automation Going
Anytime I write a new blog post, I add the link to an IFTTT recipe that will post it to my Twitter account (@afedele01) each month on a specific day and time. Blog Posts are scheduled the day I write them, and by posting it a month later, I can get it in front of as many people as possible on a monthly basis.
Wrapping Up
Buffer and IFTTT are both powerful tools that can make managing multiple social media accounts much easier on a Small Business. Once set up, these tools can do tasks for you that you may have spent hours on before. However, just because the scheduling of these tasks is now automated for you, don’t forget to check your social media profiles. Potential customers may be reading your posts and commenting or asking questions, and you’ll need to be on top of your game so you can get back to them quickly and convert your sale. This bit of automation will certainly assist you in working smart, not hard. Let me know if you have any questions, or feel free to post your favorite Buffer or IFTTT tricks below.
Leave it to the Geek!
Not interested in doing it yourself? You are in luck. I am a geeky web professional and would LOVE to help you out.
