Tumblr: Fast and Visual Marketing
Does it make sense for businesses to establish a brand presence in the tumblr community?
Diane S. Thieke
by Diane S. Thieke
Tumblr is a fast-growing light blogging platform that is very image-centric. Does it make sense for you to establish a brand presence in this community?
I’ve had several clients ask about tumblr and whether they should jump on the bandwagon. As with any social media channel, it’s necessary to understand how the service is being used and who is largely using it before integrating it into your social strategy.
What is tumblr?
Like Twitter, tumblr is a microblogging platform. But it’s an animated platform that encourages sharing of images, video, audio clips, quotes, short posts, and links. Unlike Twitter, the tumblr feed displays images and clips, allowing users to interact more quickly with the content.
Because of this, the mobile app is more appealing than Twitter’s. Tumblr users can capture video or images on the go and share them immediately with their community.
How popular is it?
With more than 96 million blogs and more than 44.3 billion posts, tumblr has a healthy fanbase. According to Pew Internet Research, about 5% of Internet users are active on the service. While that may not seem like much of a share, it’s worth noting that tumblr recently surpassed Pinterest as one of the top 10 most popular websites.
Who uses it?
Tumblr got its start among teens and young adults. A 2011 survey by Y Combinator partner Gary Tan found that roughly 60% of these age groups used the blogging platform versus 55% for Facebook. And in December 2012, Pew found that 13% of 18-29 year-olds were active on the platform.
This makes tumblr a great choice for brands trying to reach these demographics.
Why are they using it?
Because it’s so visual, artists, photographers, fashion designers, and other creative types are more active on the platform.
What’s so great about it?
For marketers, tumblr is an excellent platform for promoting products, and sharing how-to videos and creative promotions, such as animated gifs.
The platform’s reblogging feature enables users to easily share blog posts, potentially increasing the visibility of your brand. In a recent interview with Forbes, tumblr CEO David Karp said that the average tumblr post was reblogged 9 times: “So you think the average post you make on Tumblr is going to be on 10 blogs, 10 RSS feeds… it gets your stuff spread out far and wide. The opportunity for a creator is huge.”
What’s more, it’s very mobile friendly. You can blog from just about anywhere because you don’t need to be tied to your desktop to create a beautiful post.
Diane S. Thieke is the president and founder of Simply Talk Media, a digital media marketing consultancy. With more than 25 years in digital media and technology, she helps clients build stronger relationships with their customers and communities, using both social and traditional channels. Follow her on Twitter at @thiekeds or visit her blog at www.simplytalkmedia.com/blog.
Man with Computer image from Shutterstock
About the Author
Diane S. Thieke is the president and founder of Simply Talk Media, a digital media marketing consultancy. With more than 25 years in digital media and technology, she helps clients build stronger relationships with their customers and communities, using both social and traditional channels.