Businesses on Tumblr

What is Tumblr?
Tumblr is a social networking site owned by Yahoo! that is focused on microblogging. According to the Tumblr website, Tumblr makes it "simple for people to make a blog and put whatever they want on it. Stories, photos, GIFs, TV shows, links, quips, dumb jokes, smart jokes, Spotify tracks, mp3s, videos, fashion, art, deep stuff. Tumblr is 301 million different blogs, filled with literally whatever." Once you start your Tumblr you can then follow other blogs. The Tumblr dashboard reminds me somewhat of Pinterest in that it is just a screen of never ending posts, which is a great way to kill time and find inspiring posts.

How should businesses use Tumblr?
Businesses should not use Tumblr as a place to dump all of their marketing media and promotions. According to Jennifer Beese, Tumblr is artistic, visual and a little on the weird side. According to Kissmetrics, Tumblr is more about the creative side of businesses and users are very skeptical of any marketing ploys that businesses may use. If a business is too pushy with marketing content and not just fun creative content then the business will not be successful on Tumblr. In order to do promotion right, businesses should focus on using humor and trends to gain traction.

Businesses can also consider using paid posts on Tumblr, but they need to make sure that these posts stand out. Paid posts should be exciting and draw the user's attention to them. Tumblr is a very viral platform and a post can stay "alive" a lot longer on Tumblr than on other sites because of the reblog feature. Businesses also have the opportunity to target these posts at specific demographics to get the most out of their post. Another feature businesses can use is sponsored day, which allows you to pin your logo and tagline to the top of the dashboard for 24 hours. Users can then click on the logo and see a page full of content selected by the company.

Who is on Tumblr?
Tumblr is a platform geared toward millennials. More than half of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24. The average time spent on the site is 28 minutes per visit. As of April 2016, Tumblr had around 550 million active users, which is about 1/3 as many as Facebook, but surprisingly higher than Instagram or Twitter. Tumblr is a place for humor and is driven by visual aesthetics, which are two things that millennials want from their online experience.

I didn't have much experience with Tumblr before doing research for this blog. I'd heard of the platform, but didn't know what it was all about. After looking through it, it seems like a great place to get lost. You can search for anything you want and get as specific as you want. It's a great place to see other people's creative outputs and get a good laugh. Overall, I think it is a great way for businesses to engage with their followers and humanize themselves. Businesses can be funny and follow trends on Tumblr. They can also reblog their fans creative works about the brand, which makes fans happy and allows the business to show their appreciation.