Is Your Business Ready for Tumblr?

Lauren Owens - December 14, 2012

Tumblr’s rise has been colossal. In four years, it’s grown from just over a million monthly visitors to more than 53 million. And that’s just in the U.S. Globally, Tumblr receives 148 million monthly visitors in the key 18-35 demographic. To reach these individuals, top brands have taken to Tumblr in droves. The question is – should you?

Tumblr Basics

Tumblr combines the versatility of a blog with the hyper-sharing of a social network. Brands currently using Tumblr effectively include JCrew, Universal Music and Standard Hotels.

When using Tumblr, it’s important to post often, interact with users, follow influencers, and reblog others’ content where appropriate. Luckily, Tumblr allows users to post quickly and easily via a mobile app, and a social sharing app called the Tumblr Bookmarklet, so, while it doesn’t take a lot of time to create a Tumblr post, it does require dedication in order to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Tumblr’s Advantages

Aside from the ability to reach a key demographic, Tumblr offers several advantages for businesses struggling to get found in a crowded marketplace.

To begin, Tumblr blogs tend to rank well in organic search engine results. This is a boon for anyone focused on landing on page one. And, thanks to the availability of Google Analytics tracking code for Tumblr, your efforts within Tumblr are easy to track.

Plus, Tumblr’s tagging conventions make it easy for users to find your Tumblr blog in the first place.

Using Tumblr for Business

Like any other social platform, how you behave on Tumblr will determine your success. As with Pinterest, businesses should think of Tumblr as a tool for characterizing their brands – not as another platform from which to sell.

This is why the best brand pages combine a mix of product images / links back to their site, bite-sized informative content, aspirational musings and entertainment.

Is Tumblr Right for You?

Whether or not Tumblr is right for your business largely depends on your brand’s target demographics, and how much time you have to devote to the channel.

If you’re trying to reach the coveted millennial demographic, it’s in your best interest to give Tumblr the time of day. If you’re not, you may still want to consider jumping on board – if you have the time and energy to devote to it.