If you happen to’ve been seeing Buffer teammates pop up in your social feeds much more these days, it’s not a coincidence. It’s by design! We’ve been deliberately investing in constructing a group of Buffer creators as a company-wide initiative.
On the core of this work is a straightforward perception: being creators ourselves will proceed to set Buffer up for long-term success. By residing the identical creator journey as our clients, we will make higher product selections and join extra meaningfully with the individuals we serve.
Changing into a group of creators is a signature model wager that we have kicked off in 2025; it’s our manner of constructing Buffer from the within out.
On this submit, I’ll take you behind the scenes of how we’re making it occur. From the methods and workshops we’ve designed to help our teammates, to the early indicators of influence we’re already seeing.
The evolution from dogfooding to Group of Creators
Buffer’s story with creation began lengthy earlier than we referred to as it “Group of Creators.”
Again in November 2010, our CEO Founder Joel Gascoigne constructed the primary model of Buffer throughout a Startup Dash to resolve an issue he was experiencing: he needed a approach to area out when his tweets had been despatched.
Within the early days, we had been small, the product was private, and plenty of teammates had been constructing in public — tweeting typically and utilizing Buffer simply as our clients did. Creation was woven into the day-to-day in a pure manner, however there was no formal construction and no shared expectation.
As Buffer grew, our strategy turned extra intentional via dogfooding — utilizing Buffer internally to publish our personal content material, take a look at new options, and catch bugs earlier than they reached clients. Dogfooding saved us near the product and gave us helpful suggestions loops, nevertheless it had its limits. We had been utilizing the product, however not essentially residing the client journey.
The shift to constructing a group of creators
Group of Creators is a deliberate shift from dogfooding, and a defensible long-term technique that could possibly be an enormous differentiator for Buffer.
We’re not simply testing our product internally; we’re creating content material in public collectively. Meaning experiencing the identical hesitations, artistic blocks, and cold-start challenges our clients face; and studying how you can transfer via them. Within the course of, we’re constructing our personal voices and consistency; and gaining a deeper understanding of what it takes to develop as creators which in the end helps us create a greater product expertise.
Group of Creators is about encouraging each Bufferoo to share their voice in a manner that feels pure to them; on social platforms they’re most snug with, and in areas they genuinely care about. Which may imply a designer sharing their course of on Instagram, a marketer providing business tips about LinkedIn, or a teammate posting their mountaineering adventures on Threads. It’s not about solely posting about Buffer, it’s about constructing the behavior of making and connecting persistently.
Joel talked about this shift from dogfooding throughout our June 2025 All Palms, reflecting on how Group of Creators marks a pure evolution in our tradition: one which strikes past transparency into visibility, and invitations each teammate to be a storyteller in their very own manner.
An outline slide from Buffer’s June All Palms highlighting our 4 strategic themes.
Setting expectations at Buffer
This shift has been intentional, and is a change we’re making company-wide. We have had sure groups up to now that naturally labored on changing into creators, however this variation is company-wide — each function, each group.
To really make the imaginative and prescient for our group of creators be a actuality, Joel, set a transparent expectation that everybody on the Buffer group participates and begins their creator journey; with managers supporting this work alongside the best way.
A slide from Buffer’s June All Palms presentation, outlining how teammates ought to take into consideration their function in Group of Creators.
We’re not simply empowering your complete Buffer group to develop their voices on social, construct public credibility, and share actual tales from behind the scenes. We’re setting a excessive normal of excellence.
This shift strengthens our tradition, builds a stronger bridge to our group, and creates a type of model differentiation that’s exhausting to duplicate. As Michael Porter writes in What’s Technique?:
“An organization can outperform rivals provided that it may well set up a distinction that it may well protect.”
Group of Creators is how we protect that distinction; by maintaining our individuals on the heart, and studying by doing.
As soon as we’d made the choice to change into a real group of creators, the actual work started.
How we constructed the Group of Creators ecosystem
It’s one factor to set an expectation, it’s one other to construct a program that individuals wish to be a part of, week after week, for the lengthy haul.
Even nice concepts can lose steam as soon as the preliminary pleasure fades. For Group of Creators to ship on its promise, we couldn’t simply depend on preliminary enthusiasm; we would have liked to construct one thing that will make it straightforward, energizing, and rewarding for teammates to participate over the long run. That meant creating a robust spine: clear construction, accessible assets, and methods for teammates to help and encourage each other.
With that finish objective in thoughts, we got down to create a framework that might stand by itself, adapt over time, and actually assist Bufferoos construct a sustainable behavior loop. That additionally meant making intentional selections about what to prioritize first, and establishing methods we may scale as momentum grew.
Organising help methods for Buffer creators
The first step was ensuring each teammate had sensible help, clear pathways, and a spot to attach with others doing the identical. That basis got here collectively in a number of interlocking components, beginning with a devoted Slack channel.
The Slack channel: #buffer-creators
Slack was the pure selection for this primary step because it’s the place we already collaborate every day, and we needed this area to reflect the group spirit we’ve constructed externally, however inside Buffer.
From the very starting, we saved the comms tempo intentional and set the channel up as an lively, working area to swap concepts, share wins, ask for suggestions, and cheer one another on.
A peek into the #buffer-creators slack channel on Buffer’s Slack.
One key piece of the technique was to maintain give attention to a human and values-led strategy, moderately than kicking off any system-based automations or zaps in Slack on day one. Some days that meant asking what content material individuals had been planning for the week; different days it was recognizing a teammate’s submit within the wild; grabbing a screenshot, and sharing it with the hyperlink so others may increase it. And at all times, there have been taco emojis — our Slack custom for celebrating wins, residing our values, and marking milestones!
An instance of giving Buffer teammates shoutouts on the #buffer-creators Slack channel.
We additionally made it a degree to highlight teammates who had been simply beginning out as creators or had been barely extra introverted. The purpose was twofold: encouragement and visibility. Established Buffer creators — these with present audiences and extra creator expertise — typically joined in, providing platform-specific suggestions, sharing AI workflows, or breaking down viral submit frameworks.
A #buffer-creators Slack submit from Simon, Director of Progress Advertising, sharing an automatic workflow for LinkedIn posts utilizing RSS, Notion, OpenAI, and Buffer.
Over time, a set of pure champions emerged: individuals who persistently supplied encouragement, suggestions, and fast assist for anybody navigating the creator journey.
This deliberate early nurturing actually paid off.
Right this moment, #buffer-creators is a buzzing nook of experiments, candid conversations, and mutual help. Teammates brazenly share submit drafts, ask for suggestions, and have fun Buffer Streaks from our leaderboard. Many posts have gone from draft to printed in a matter of minutes, given the collaborative evaluation course of. It’s additionally change into an opportunity to study from one another, as teammates watch how totally different individuals form their concepts and produce content material to life.
⮑ Checkout what Suzanne (Finance) posted from the above Slack thread, on LinkedIn!🏆
Because the area developed a bit extra, we added one light-touch automation — a Monday check-in — to maintain the momentum going.
Automated Monday check-in notification within the #buffer-creators Slack channel.
It’s a mild accountability mechanism that additionally sparks thought sharing and units the tone for the week. However the heartbeat of the channel stays the identical:
Actual individuals supporting one another, as they develop as creators.
The #buffer-creators Slack channel.
Group of Creators Assets HQ (Notion)
The subsequent huge step was level-setting creator data with wealthy and easy-to-follow assets.
We didn’t wish to assume individuals knew the place to start out. We needed to create one thing that felt like a light-weight, choose-your-own-path onboarding: straightforward to dip into, substantial sufficient to degree up.
That turned the Group of Creators Assets HQ in Notion; a working library for kickstarting or up-leveling a creator journey.
A peek at Buffer’s Group of Creators Assets HQ on Notion.
Inside, teammates may discover:
- Clear context for why the initiative exists, why it issues, and easy first steps to get going.
- Actionable steering on figuring out a distinct segment, selecting a main platform, and setting achievable content material objectives.
- Sensible strategies for content material batching and scheduling content material with Buffer.
- Workout routines and methods for reframing frequent creator mindset hurdles.
- Platform-by-platform finest practices, plus notes on how algorithms are likely to behave.
- Repurposing playbooks to assist content material journey additional.
- Instruments for packaging content material nicely, aligned to non-public model objectives.
Since teammates are balancing this journey with day-to-day work, in a 4-day work week; we had been cautious to keep away from info overload. All through the hub, the tone stays heat and exact; pages are quick and interactive. We baked in prompts like “Establish your why with these questions” so individuals may outline their objective at their very own tempo. We additionally layered in suggestions and data share posts from teammates sourced instantly from the #buffer-creators Slack threads, which created a pleasant continuity between the place concepts begin and the place they’re documented.
Amanda from Buffer’s Product group shares a Bluesky thread about discovering her groove as a creator, highlighting consistency, studying, and group help.
A favourite part within the hub is the Wall of Wins: a curated, daily-updated gallery of actual posts from Bufferoos throughout platforms. It provides fast, visible inspiration and underscores an essential fact: exhibiting up counts, whether or not you’re sharing Buffer-related work or one thing private you care about.
The Wall of Wins on the Group of Creators Assets HQ
The Group of Creators Assets HQ utilization information tells us that teammates are utilizing it!
Our newest Notion analytics snapshot reveals 773 complete views since launch, unfold extensively throughout the corporate; proof that individuals are returning to the hub as an lively working device, and never a one-time launch doc. Hurrah!
Notion web page analytics for the Group of Creators Assets HQ.
Creator Café workshops
After launching the Slack channel and assets hub, we needed one thing that will convey teammates collectively repeatedly, and in actual time. An area the place Buffer creators may join, study, and ask questions with out having to carve out that area themselves.
That’s how Creator Café workshops got here to life!
These periods are designed as relaxed, beginner-friendly digital meetups for teammates to enter and maintain their creator journeys with extra confidence. They’re completely optionally available, as we’re a completely distant group, however each workshop is recorded and content material shared afterwards so nobody misses out.
The primary Creator Café workshop held to help Buffer teammates of their creator journeys.
We’re nonetheless early on this journey, and have mapped out three waves for the months forward:
- Wave 1 (foundational): Sensible periods to construct early creator habits, overcome mindset boundaries, and supply hands-on steering
- Wave 2 (needs-based): Focused workshops responding to particular challenges, methods, or alternatives that floor over time
- Wave 3 (collective themes): Classes centered on team-wide developments, showcasing profitable approaches, and spotlighting artistic experiments from teammates
Our first Creator Café was held on July twenty first, and it set the tone for what’s to return!
A snapshot of the slide deck created for the Creator Café workshop.
We kicked issues off with a tour of the brand new assets HQ and shared some shocking early outcomes (yay) from our collective posting momentum that obtained everybody excited. Subsequent, the center of the workshop was an interactive Figma train, full with “hero’s journey” soundtrack, that invited everybody to map out the hurdles maintaining them from posting:
A snapshot of the Creator Empathy Maps train on Figma, from the Creator Café workshop, exhibiting teammates’ content material challenges and shared options.
The primary board, on the left — a Creator Empathy Map — had 4 quadrants: Imposter Syndrome, Perfectionism, Not Understanding The place to Begin, and Lack of Time/Power, plus an area for “one thing else.” Teammates stuffed it rapidly:
- Imposter Syndrome: “I fear my content material isn’t unique sufficient.”
- Perfectionism: “I really feel like I must have every part found out earlier than I share something.”
- Not Understanding The place to Begin: “I’ve too many concepts and may’t resolve which to give attention to.”
- Lack of Time/Power: “By the point I end my workday, I’m drained and may’t take into consideration creating.”
The second board, on the best — additionally a Creator Empathy Map — flipped the dialog. For each problem listed, teammates supplied concepts for overcoming it: every part from small mindset shifts to utilizing templates, batching content material, or discovering an accountability buddy. It was knowledge-sharing at its most natural, with worth flowing between creators at each stage of their journey.
We closed the train loop with a myth-busting phase on content material creation and easing frequent worries. The session wrapped with an open jam and Q&A, which sparked concepts we’ll carry into the subsequent workshop.
For any workshop we host, the objective is to maintain it gentle and memorable all through. For this primary one, we framed the workshop round a pasta metaphor: content material, like pasta, is available in many shapes and types, with infinite “seasonings” (AI instruments, private methods, artistic twists) to fit your style. The suggestions was clear; the workshop left teammates extra assured, impressed, and able to experiment.
Pasta-themed Creator Café icebreaker slide, exhibiting ten pasta shapes used as a metaphor for the number of content material types.
Right this moment, our strategy stays incremental, supportive, and grounded in assembly teammates the place they’re; with every session constructing on the final. Extra to return!
Turning Buffer’s social channels into shared areas
As extra teammates discovered their rhythm with posting, the subsequent step was to increase that momentum past particular person accounts.
We needed to convey extra of that creativity, character, and lived expertise into Buffer’s owned social channels; turning them into shared areas that mirrored the individuals behind the product.
This was a shift in how we noticed our model presence: from being centrally managed by just a few faces to being a residing, collaborative stream of tales. We started that includes teammate-generated content material entrance and heart; every part from business observations and sensible creator tricks to behind-the-scenes glimpses of Buffer tradition and private milestones.
Buffer’s Instagram feed exhibiting a various mixture of teammates featured throughout content material posts, reflecting team-wide participation in content material creation.
For teammates, this turned a mild and accessible approach to ease into public content material creation. Sharing on the Buffer account meant they may experiment, construct confidence, and join with a wider viewers — all whereas understanding their voice nonetheless appeared like them.
For our viewers, it meant extra genuine, different storytelling that might by no means be replicated by a single perspective. It gave our channels a gradual movement of recent content material, extra faces from throughout the corporate, and richer illustration of the individuals and work that make Buffer what it’s.
We’ve since expanded that very same precept to our weblog, inviting anybody at Buffer to contribute. This opens the door for a broader vary of voices and experiences to form our content material — from engineers sharing product selections to designers unpacking artistic processes. It’s diversifying the views we share and including extra depth to the conversations we begin.
To maintain this momentum going, we actively repost and syndicate teammates’ content material, spotlight their work in ask-me-anything (AMA) type threads, and encourage community-driven dialogue. The result’s a suggestions loop the place our group and our group encourage one another, reinforcing the concept Buffer’s model is constructed by the individuals in it, and shared by everybody.
A syndicated submit on Buffer’s LinkedIn that includes Buffer Creator Åsa Nyström, VP of Buyer Advocacy, sharing ideas on scaling buyer help with out dropping the human contact.
Measuring success with information and qualitative influence indicators
From the start, we knew that measuring the success of Group of Creators couldn’t simply be a numbers train.
We’re not chasing advert ROI or attempting to justify media financial savings, which is why we intentionally skipped metrics like Earned Media Worth (EMV). The story we wish to inform is of collective momentum, participation, and constructing empathy for the individuals we serve. It’s in regards to the ripple impact that occurs when dozens of Bufferoos begin exhibiting up persistently, in their very own voices.
In a group of 70, you’ll be able to sense the change nearly instantly with out ever opening a dashboard. It’s within the rhythm of our feeds, within the conversations we’re having with our group, and within the regular stream of posts we reshare from teammates on Buffer’s model channels.
We see it in our Wall of Wins, too. It’s up to date every day and is a residing gallery the place anybody at Buffer can see what others are creating. Some posts are Buffer-related; others are deeply private or rooted in business experience. That blend is intentional and we’ve by no means set the bar at “it’s essential to submit about Buffer.” The objective has at all times been to assist individuals create in ways in which really feel pure, self-led, and sustainable.
Constructing a dashboard
Whereas the cultural indicators have been clear, we additionally needed a approach to anchor our progress in one thing extra tangible.
Earlier than launch, we set a baseline by pulling information from teammate social accounts linked to Buffer, ensuring to solely embody accounts they posted to themselves (not these managed for freelance or different facet tasks). This gave us a real image of the start line and ensured we had been capturing the best quantity for the best story.
From there, we constructed the Group of Creators dashboard; our dwelling for monitoring just a few key indicators:
- Lively group members: to measure adoption charge, and see how many individuals are collaborating in a given week or month.
- Complete group posts: to measure quantity and spot spikes tied to launches, occasions, or cultural moments.
- Median posts per member: to know posting habits throughout the group, not simply essentially the most prolific voices.
- Complete group attain, impressions, and views: to indicate the collective influence of our content material within the wild.
The Group of Creators analytics dashboard, exhibiting participation, posts, and attain metrics throughout Buffer teammates.
The numbers alone aren’t the entire story, however they provide us a strong lens on what’s occurring.
Extra importantly, the trajectory is upward; participation and attain are each climbing as extra individuals discover their rhythm. Subsequent, we’re exploring methods to watch attain per teammate and monitor the share of weekly posting objectives met in Buffer. This may add much more depth to how we measure and share this story.
Leaderboard for encouragement
Whereas monitoring numbers is helpful, we additionally needed a approach to have fun the individuals behind them, with out turning Group of Creators right into a high-stakes competitors.
That’s the place the month-to-month leaderboard got here in!
The Group of Creators leaderboard, rating Buffer teammates by posting streaks to have fun consistency throughout the group.
It’s designed to acknowledge participation and consistency, not simply the most important attain or the best engagement. The first rating issue is posting streaks, as a result of consistency is a extra equitable measure than uncooked impressions and attain; particularly when social following sizes fluctuate extensively throughout the Buffer group.
Alongside streaks, the leaderboard highlights every particular person’s complete posts, likes, reposts, feedback and replies, attain, impressions, and views. The intent is to offer teammates a fuller image of their very own momentum, whereas maintaining the spirit collaborative.
Subsequent up, we’re constructing a group leaderboard to see which groups are main the pack on posting consistency! It’s meant to spark some pleasant competitors, whereas maintaining the spirit collaborative.
Creator Confidence as a hit metric
Consistency issues, however so does the way it adjustments the best way you see your self.
To measure that change, we created a Creator Confidence survey that we’ll run each six months. It asks teammates to charge — on a scale of 0–10 — how assured they really feel creating and sharing as a Buffer Creator, how snug they’re expressing themselves authentically, and the way their confidence compares earlier than the help methods existed versus now.
In true Buffer style, we’ve made the outcomes absolutely seen! The survey isn’t nameless, and each response is shared proper contained in the Group of Creators Assets HQ. That transparency means we will all see what’s serving to, the place extra help is required, and what’s potential after we make area for one another’s voices.
Group of Creators confidence survey responses exhibiting particular person scores, posting frequency, and assets teammates discovered most useful.
Since launching the assets hub, the common teammate confidence rating has risen by two full factors in comparison with earlier than the initiative! It is a regular, measurable shift that displays each the consistency of participation and the consolation individuals are discovering in sharing their very own voices.
The outcomes we’re seeing up to now
The early indicators are encouraging! Participation is excessive, and folks outdoors Buffer have began to note “Buffer in every single place” of their feeds.
Neighborhood reactions to seeing extra Buffer teammates present up of their feeds.
Bufferoos from throughout groups are sharing every part from private reflections to behind-the-scenes seems at their work. Some are constructing fully new content material niches; others, who as soon as felt extra self-conscious about posting, have hit their stride.
There have been many breakthrough moments; posts that took off and led to regular follower progress; and smaller compounding wins that created behavior loops, making it simpler for teammates to maintain exhibiting up.
Since launch, we’ve seen:
- 90% of the group actively collaborating
- 4132 complete posts
- 2,529,156 complete attain
- 3,705,897 impressions
- 1,852,648 complete views
- 43, median posts per teammate
We’ve additionally seen a giant shift in how our group engages with us! Increasingly more individuals are leaning in to assist us create buzz round launches and key milestones.
For instance, for the launch of LinkedIn Profile Analytics, Buffer creators and group members posted coordinated teasers forward of launch. It turned the product launch into an organization and group huge occasion, filling feeds with curiosity and enthusiasm. Because of this, there has additionally been an uptick in product questions and options directed to particular teammates, signaling that the circle of connection is widening.
Snapshot from our #buffer-launch-squad Discord channel; the Buffer group comes collectively round product launches, impressed by seeing teammates extra lively as creators.
The mixture of clear expectations, accessible assets, and shared momentum is why this system is holding so robust, long gone the preliminary pleasure. The act of making is not one thing we do “on the facet.” It’s embedded in how we construct, join, and present up for the individuals we serve.
Protecting momentum alive and what’s subsequent
With the methods and buildings in place, Group of Creators remains to be in its early chapters. It’s a long-term technique, and we’re deliberate about maintaining the power excessive and the participation regular.
A part of that’s celebration. At our month-to-month All Palms, we highlight teammates from the leaderboard — moments that at all times spark smiles and applause. The identical spirit lives in our #buffer-creators Slack channel, the place encouragement flows every day, and infrequently within the type of taco emojis!
A slide from Buffer’s August All Palms highlighting teammates with the longest posting streaks on the Group of Creators leaderboard, celebrating 32–33 weeks of consistency.
We’re equally intentional about listening. The initiative retains evolving in response to what creators ask for — whether or not it’s new assets, one-on-one help, or Creator Café workshops that dig into particular, actionable matters. Quickly we’ll be experimenting with lighthearted inner challenges; providing enjoyable, low-pressure prompts to maintain artistic muscle groups lively.
If you happen to’ve been following alongside and questioning how one thing like this would possibly work in your individual group; otherwise you’re interested in what we’ll attempt subsequent, pull up a chair. We’re at all times blissful to share how we’re constructing, what we’re studying, and the place we’re headed subsequent. You can too direct message me on LinkedIn with any questions!
