At Buffer, we construct with prospects, not only for them. If you happen to’ve seen my LinkedIn posts asking for fast chats, that’s why. Actual conversations sharpen our product pondering, so each time we begin exploring a brand new concept, we discuss to the folks utilizing Buffer daily.
As a product supervisor centered on how our customers create content material, these conversations are significantly useful in understanding how customers give you concepts and the place Buffer suits into their workflows.
As we explored enhancements to Buffer’s content material creation and scheduling expertise, I spoke with 30+ customers throughout industries and targets: solopreneurs, group managers, and creators rising private manufacturers. We needed to know how they plan, create, and publish, and the place Buffer suits in that circulate.
These conversations clarified our customers’ wants and reminded us that behind each submit is an individual balancing creativity, consistency, and chaos. Under are the massive themes we heard and the way we’re utilizing them to form Buffer’s roadmap.
Throughout interviews, one theme that got here up time and again is that individuals love Buffer for its reliability and ease of scheduling. It’s what retains them coming again, whilst their social methods evolve.
That’s nice to listen to, but it surely additionally reveals a possibility. Scheduling is a energy of ours, but it surely’s only one piece of the puzzle. We’re working to evolve Buffer from a scheduling app into a real social workspace.
Think about opening Buffer to brainstorm submit concepts, collaborate with teammates, draft captions, plan campaigns, and assessment efficiency — multi functional tab.
For lots of the creators we spoke to, that type of linked workflow is strictly what they’ve been piecing collectively manually utilizing a number of apps. Our aim is to make that have seamless inside Buffer, and one thing we’ll be working in direction of within the coming months.
Organizing content material is more durable than it ought to be
A recurring theme throughout practically each dialog was content material group. Creators typically have a mixture of concepts, drafts, and scheduled posts, however discovering what they want can take effort.
Folks advised us issues like:
- “Typically I can’t keep in mind if I already revealed an Concept.”
- “I want I may search all my content material in a single place.”
- “I believed I saved a draft, however I do not know the place it went.”
We’ve felt this ourselves. We’ve got added a whole lot of highly effective options to Buffer through the years, however they don’t all the time really feel as linked as they may very well be, and typically it may be exhausting to maintain observe of your content material. We’re exploring methods to make group smoother and cut back friction between associated ideas like Concepts and Drafts.
Our imaginative and prescient is to make Buffer not solely the only supply of fact to your content material, however one which’s straightforward to navigate, manage, and perceive.
For a lot of customers, there’s all the time one other software within the combine, like Notion, Trello, Canva, or perhaps a easy Google Doc.
Many creators plan or brainstorm elsewhere, then convey content material into Buffer to schedule. And actually, that’s okay! The very best creators construct techniques that work for them. Quite than attempting to switch these instruments, we see this as a possibility to satisfy customers the place they already work, by way of higher integrations and smarter import choices.
That’s one of many causes we’re investing in our public API. We wish Buffer to sit down on the intersection of the instruments you employ, serving to you seamlessly hook up with and share your content material from wherever it resides.
Think about having the ability to pull an concept out of your Notion database straight into Buffer, or routinely import a design from Canva right into a media library. The aim isn’t to entice your content material inside Buffer; it’s to assist it transfer extra freely between the instruments you’re keen on, and share with the world what you’ve got made.
If you happen to’re studying this and have an app, system, or workflow you’d love to connect with Buffer, we’d love to listen to from you. These conversations are precisely how new concepts, and new integrations, start.
Visible readability wins over complicated options
We’re presently engaged on updates to the look, really feel, and circulate of our composer. Once we confirmed customers early prototypes, one factor stood out instantly: simplicity and visible readability matter greater than complicated performance.
That doesn’t imply we’re abandoning superior workflows or customization. However we’ve discovered that energy shouldn’t come at the price of usability.
At Buffer, we’re dedicated to supporting particular person creators and small companies. Lots of our customers are simply getting began with social media, and so they depend on Buffer not solely to submit but in addition to study what works. We do not need them to get misplaced within the nuance, however fairly really feel empowered to deal with what actually issues: posting persistently, and connecting authentically with their viewers.
Understanding this, we’re centered on making Buffer much more intuitive and visually cohesive. We have got some nice updates on the horizon, and I am excited so that you can see them!
AI ought to assist creativity, not exchange it
We additionally requested customers how they really feel about AI of their content material course of. What we discovered was pretty constant throughout customers: most aren’t searching for AI to write down their posts. They need it to assist with the method.
That resonates with how we’re approaching and refining our use of AI in Buffer. We wish it to be a inventive assistant that helps refine your concepts, not exchange your voice.
Assume grammar and tone recommendations, platform-specific optimization, or efficiency insights, not robotic captions. We wish you to search out your personal circulate, create genuine and interesting content material, and develop significant connections. AI can assist you get there, but it surely should not be the top end result.
The place we’re headed
These insights aren’t complete of all the pieces we have deliberate at Buffer, however they seem to be a glimpse into how we’re interested by sure elements of the platform.
We wish Buffer to be greater than a social scheduling software; we would like it to be a social productiveness software. An area the place you possibly can brainstorm, manage, publish, analyze, and have interaction, all with out friction.
We have got some thrilling adjustments on the horizon, all in assist of constructing Buffer probably the most intuitive, pleasant, and linked social media software on the market.
And for those who ever see me submit on LinkedIn asking for a fast chat, now why.
