Worried about finding time to update your clients’ or your business’ social media accounts while you are traveling? This guide is for you.

If you are a business owner, a social media manager or a travel blogger, chances are you know how important it is to have your brand visible on social media by posting regularly, and also being able to track what’s working and what’s not. Yet managing your online presence while traveling can be hard, especially in places with limited internet access. The quick answer: auto-schedule posts.

With the amount of social media channels for businesses to look after, social media management resources have grown to be very popular today.

Two of the most popular social media management platforms are Buffer and Hootsuite.

I’ve been using Hootsuite to help me manage the different brands I run (when you have more than 1 Facebook account/Twitter account to manage, things get a little more complicated. And who wants more complication when you could be out hiking or exploring the city?). Hootsuite enables me to keep track and regulate my various social media channels, keep an eye on what people are saying about Women Digital Nomads and allowing me to respond promptly.

It is free for the Hootsuite basic account. However, if you intend to handle several social networking accounts at the same time, business or Pro accounts are offered, starting at $8.99 per month. One of my favorite features of using Hootsuite has been the scheduling of social media posts, which comes in very handy when I know that I’ll be on the road for the next few days and wouldn’t be able to manually post.

Although Hootsuite is far more than just a tool to schedule social media posts, it’s probably the best introduction to what Hootsuite can do. Also, when there is no particular time needed, you can just allow the Hootsuite AutoScheduler to figure out the best time to publish your post.

And if you run a blog or regularly re-posting your client’s blog articles on social media, you should add your Blog RSS to the social media resource. This allows your new blog posts to be automatically posted to Hootsuite the instant you publish them.

Posting regularly is not enough - you will also need to know how well are your posts doing, best time to post for engagement and the type of posts that typically do better than the others. Without spending time analyzing the data, you would just be blindly posting daily in hope for results. Hootsuite Analytics compile and visualize your social media data based on the templates and modules selected when the report is built, and are compiled from sources including Twitter, Google Analytics, Facebook Insights and Ow.ly.

Before using Hootsuite, I’ve used Buffer, a content publishing platform that lets you publish and schedule content to social networks. Buffer offers less features/less integrations/less supported platforms/less analytics than Hootsuite, which might not be a bad thing if you want something simple.

Buffer and Hootsuite don’t differ that much when it comes to publishing and scheduling, but Hootsuite lets you engage with content on your timeline/stream (there are a few exceptions with Buffer). Buffer does offer much more flexibility in terms of automation, thanks to the likes of IFTTT and Zapier - this is exceptionally useful for digital nomads or travelers because you can now link Buffer with Instagram, Pocket, Feedly, Tumblr, Instapaper, Reddit, YouTube, and so much more.

Buffer or Hootsuite?

If you’re looking for a social media management platform, Hootsuite is for you. It is not because Buffer is a bad tool (far from it), but because it’s just not what Buffer is meant for. However, if you’re looking for a tool to help you publish and schedule content, gives you more flexibility in connecting with your existing tools, then definitely give Buffer a try.

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Disclaimer: Women Digital Nomads is a guide that aims to help all women digital nomads in their journey, and affiliate links help us keep the site running. We are an affiliate of Hootsuite, which means that we may get a commission if you click and sign up with our Hootsuite referral link. As always, we only recommend products we use and love.