Buffer and CoSchedule are often compared because they provide a similar service. They are both software aimed at helping marketers manage their projects and streamline administrative processes. Because of this, many people are often torn between which service to go for.
Today, we will briefly review these two different calendars and marketing management systems, look at each one’s highlights, and compare their various pros and cons. Let’s see which one is the decisive best between Buffer and CoSchedule – if there truly is a best in the first place.
Buffer vs CoSchedule Comparison
Both Buffer and CoSchedule are management software designed to be used primarily in a marketing line of work. However, they also cater to smaller projects, such as larger blog websites. The two different groups were founded not too long after each other, with Buffer launching in 2010 and CoSchedule launching three years later in 2013.
Since then, both have undergone many updates, revamps, and retoolings of their software to reach the point where they are today. Buffer had the stable launch of their software in 2015.
Who are These Tools for?
As we stated earlier, both Buffer and CoSchedule offer management software to allow you to better manage your social media and marketing campaigns for your website or business. Thus, you can probably surmise that this product is primarily targeted towards those working in marketing and who would require a “virtual manager” to help manage and plan your projects.
However, both services also help cater to those who want to share a story or news, such as running something like a blog site. You can employ either software to engage an audience further using marketing tools.
What’s Included?
Buffer offers five different packages that have different variables between them, each with different prices. The first three are basic plans, and they range from Pro to Premium to Business level. Other than the price differences, they also offer you increasing amounts of benefits. There are also two analytic plans that provide you a more analytical look and method of setting up and preparing your marketing campaigns.
I've been using CoSchedule for YEARS! It's the only tool that lets you write a blog post, schedule it out, and create a customized campaign to promote it. Spend 10 minutes filling out the promotional template, schedule it and forget it.
CoSchedule has three packages available: Blog Calendar, Marketing Calendar, and Marketing Suite. Starting with the first option, Blog Calendar, you gain access to various tools that optimize the way you can manage your blog and link your socials to it. Marketing Calendar is perfect for a marketing team to manage their projects, deadlines, and calendars better.
Marketing Suite takes this to the next level by providing many tools to optimize and streamline the management processes. Additionally, you get free training on how to use these different tools, and the training is integrated into each of the three packages.
Overview of Features
With the packages from Buffer, you can expect to see tools and software designed to help create and plan your social networks. Buffer links all your social media together in a central location so that you can easily manage and control your accounts.
The Publish packages allow you to plan and publish posts for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn from one simple and intuitive dashboard. You can quickly build an online presence on social media by scheduling posts, including automated comments, setting reminders, and working together in a team to draft posts, review, and edit as a marketing group.
The Analyze packages allow you to check your performance and analytics using a similar dashboard as the previous one, so you can properly gauge how well you are doing and what needs to change for the better.
CoSchedule is slightly different in its functionality. It too allows you to manage and plan your social media posts, but they are more directed towards managing marketing projects as a whole, not merely on the social media front. Their packages only differ in the amount of functionality they provide in proportion to their design.
Blog Calendar allows you to manage blog posts by planning posts and syncing alerts to send a message to your social media. Marketing Calendar takes this a step further by integrating project deadlines and centralizing marketing projects for easier management.
Marketing Suite streamlines this process further by offering better ways to manage and control your projects, manage social media, catalog and control assets and files, and better delegate work. All of this comes with free training in their tools, too.
Pros and Cons of Buffer
Pros
- Intuitive Layout: An easy-to-use layout is necessary when creating a management software that will be used to control something like social media. Luckily, they have a very well-designed structure that will be easy to use once you figure it out.
- Separate Packages: By including different packages with different functions and prices, a buyer can get the package that pertains to them without worrying about wasted money and functionality.
- Regular Updates: While regular updates may get annoying, more functionality can be added with time, and improvements are continually being made.
- Centralization: By creating a central location to manage your social media, you not only make it easier to manage and view your social media posts, but you also create an additional platform to mass update your social media should you make updates.
- Easy To Use: You can easily use the Buffer layout without any technical background or extensive understanding of coding and website creation or management.
Cons
- Instagram Integration: Instagram is not as strongly supported in the basic packages, so if you are Instagram-based, you will have to get a more expensive package.
- Blogger Support: There isn’t much support for bloggers like CoSchedule has.
- Pricing: Buffer can be more costly than CoSchedule, depending on the package you choose.
Pros and Cons of CoSchedule
Pros
- Centralization: CoSchedule centralizes social media and all marketing projects that you might have in the works.
- Automatic Messages: Because everything is synced via a calendar, everything synced together will update as you make changes to deadlines and projects.
- Scheduled Posts: You can easily set posts and projects to launch at scheduled times and dates from your main dashboard.
- Easy To Use: Once you get past the learning curve, you’ll soon learn that the interface is relatively easy to use with some know-how.
- Separate Packages: The difference in their packages allows you to split up your choice based on your exact needs perfectly – whether you run a blog, a marketing business, or a marketing team.
- Streamlined Efficiency: By streamlining the process of maintaining admin and time management for your projects, you can focus better on delivering a better product at the end of the day.
Cons
- Learning Curve: While it may be easy to use in the end, you will have to get used to a complicated UI before you can navigate the features easily.
Conclusion
Buffer and CoSchedule are comparable in terms of what they can help with managing social media, but that is where the comparison stops. Buffer is better in that regard, as it specializes in that type of management, but CoSchedule provides more functionality as an actual marketing manager beyond social media.
