Tumblr has been the slow but steady creeping giant in the social media world. Six years after its founding, the site hosts 108 million blogs and has been acquired by Yahoo! for $1.1 billion. It has become one of the major players in social networking, and more and more businesses are recognizing its potential for marketing their brands.
If your business isn’t already on Tumblr, you should consider creating an account. With the right marketing strategy, you could quickly get a lot of new traffic and exposure for your site. Here are a few tips for how you can market your business with Tumblr:
1. Choose a Professional and Attractive Theme
Just like WordPress and Blogger, Tumblr comes with a variety of templates for your blog. However, there are also many premium themes available so you can customize the look of your blog. It’s important that you either purchase a premium theme or hire a designer to create a custom theme for you. You’ll get a professional-looking theme that won’t look like every other blog on Tumblr. You’ll immediately set yourself apart in your branding.
2. Share Short, Funny Posts and Images
Unlike other blogging platforms, Tumblr focuses not on long, expository blogs, but rather on short posts and images. The majority of “posts” are really just collections of images. However, if you do share a post in text, it should be very short – no more than a paragraph.
To get the most impact from Tumblr, it’s important that you share a lot of funny images and videos. These will be shared most frequently, which will help you to get more exposure and more traffic. Share your funniest and most interesting content with each post.
3. Link back to Longer Items
When you have meatier content to share, keep it on your own website or other blog. Then link to it on your Tumblr post. You can add a funny photo or video to accompany the link and get it more notice. By using this strategy you’re able to share your long-form content without alienating your followers on Tumblr, who are used to shorter posts. It’s very similar to the strategy you would use on Twitter.
4. Use Lots of Hash Tags
Like Twitter, Tumblr uses hash tags. Followers use these tags to find content that interests them. Make sure you use lots of hash tags on each and every post. You’ll get more exposure for your content and attract more followers. The more followers and shares you have on the site, the more exposure you’ll get for your website and its content.
5. Follow Users in Your Niche
An easy way to get more followers on Tumblr is to find users in your niche and to follow them. Your follow will be a notification to them, which will encourage them to check out your account and see if there’s anything there that interests them. If they like what they see, they are likely to follow you back. The more followers you have, the exposure you are going to get for your brand.
Conclusion
Tumblr’s unique format may be confusing for many businesses, who are used to a more formal style of fan page or profile. You shouldn’t let this format intimidate you. Tumblr is a large network, and it’s only poised to grow now that it has been acquired by Yahoo! Use these tips to help you market your business on the site to get more exposure for your brand and more traffic for your website.
Do you use Tumblr to market your business? Share your tips for success in the comments!
