What do you get when you mix two cups of online editorial, three cups of microblogging and six cups of awesome? Tumblr, no doubt. The popular blogging platform that has been around for a few years is becoming a popular content platform for business. Even though the platform has 39.3 Million users across the world, companies seem to be having a hard time adopting this culture of blogging.
Blogs have been writing about the benefits of Tumblr for years. At first the niche community of artists, Tumblr has expanded not only to the masses but to brands. Some popular brands on Tumblr are; Travel Channel, Mashable, The New Yorker, FourSquare and Life to name a few. Memes are very popular on Tumblr and very popular ones have even grown to land book deals.
Why should Brands consider using Tumblr for their blog platform?
1. Themes can be created from scratch or picked from hundreds offered.
2. Users can post text, photos, quotes, links, dialogues, audio, video, slideshows and “Tumble” other posts.
3. Tumblr provides the option of custom domains.
4. You can auto-syndicate to Facebook and Twitter.
5. Users can track stats with Google Analytics.
There are many other reasons why a brand or a person should consider using Tumblr. Many brands shy away from joining another network and attracting a new community. We find that with Tumblr, there is a community that absorbs it throughout the community and others who consume the content like any other blog or site through an RSS feed. Tumblr is easy to use with their simple dashboard and network. This makes it easy for people in-house to be able to help and contribute.
When weighing out the pros and cons to using Tumblr as a social niche / micro-blogging platform, do the research. Your company may have little time and management for a blog – therefore, using a simple platform that has reach and audience is essential. Many of Tumblr’s features are hidden; instead, the network has only become popular for the silly meme type blogs that are published on it. Discovering Tumblr’s many features that facilitate a brand and their blogging efforts can help make blogging and micro-blogging across platforms simple.
Has your brand embraced Tumblr? And what have been the results?
Hi Stephanie,
I’ve been considering using Tumblr alot recently. But with sites like Posterous, Amplify, and of course good ole WordPress I am still left wondering what all the hype is with Tumblr? All of those other blogging services do the same things that Tumblr does. I guess I am wondering if you can clarify for me the real difference between Tumblr and the others.
You mentioned the Tumblr community, but is that just on Tumblr hosted sites, similar to Blogger? I’m wondering how one can leverage the specific “Tumblr” community if you have your own domain?
@Miguel – That is a great question. As with any thought process for deciding what Blog platform to use, the first question you need to consider is what kind of blog does your target engage in. The Tumblr community ranges from 13-25 Trendy bloggers who are very active in Responding, commenting, and Sharing.
The community on Tumblr is built in, but it takes exposure as with anything to expand the visibility to the community.
If your brand has fun, exciting, and sharable content that is quick and to the point, Tumblr might definitely be a place for you.
I use Tumble but I prefer Amplify.com. It offers the same features plus a few more and it’s much easier to build your community there.
Obviously I meant Tumblr but my trusty and over zealous spell checker didn’t know that.
I haven’t used Tumblr yet as I’m quite a fan of WordPress but I may give this a shot for my next niche website. I just sort of glanced over the “way tumblr” page but it looks like they provide hosting if you purchase your own domain. If I didn’t have an account with HostGator that allows me to host as many websites as I want, then that would definitely make me switch over to Tumblr.
I started toying with Tumblr a few months ago and agree that it is a very simple, easy to use publishing platform. (my linked blog is driven by Tumblr)
In terms of using it for a brand or corporate blog, I have several reasons that I would NOT recommend Tumblr:
- no SEO functionality – can not control meta data, including the post title. I have found that my organic search rankings and associated traffic have taken a significant hit since moving from WordPress to Tumblr
- seemingly very young audience within their community, leading to many infantile topics and vulgar naming conventions (i.e. http://fuckyeahgiantpanda.tumblr.com/)
- difficult to search/navigate posts within most Tumblr blogs
- limited interaction points, especially for non-Tumblr users
@William
Those are really great points and I definitely agree that Tumblr is not for all brands. However, showing that a light hearted brand can be fun and keep up with the blogging trends is a huge hit in my book.
Unfortunately, I don’t have many light hearted clients – mostly pharma/healthcare related. Once I land a “Skittles” account, Tumblr will be in my mix.
I think Tumblr’s especially great for the marketing industry. It makes it very easy to reblog soundbites from other blogs, and seeing how marketing campaigns range from all different types of media platforms, Tumblr’s idiot-proof interface makes blogging for brands both convenient and easy.
@JunAtSmilely – I agree. I love the interface and how simple it makes things.