(Today’s guest post comes from Bernadette Coleman, who shares some of the benefits of using Tumblr along with tactics for getting the most from this platform.)
With so many social media and blogging platforms available, it can be overwhelming for businesses to decide which should be used to showcase their brands. While Facebook and Twitter are often the first places brands turn to, Tumblr is also an effective channel for many small businesses. This 77 million-strong blogging platform attracts an average of nearly 4.5 billion impressions on a weekly basis.
Tumblr is a free micro-blogging platform that can serve as a powerful tool in promoting brand awareness. Tumblr’s primary users are young people around the age of 25. If your brand focus is on this market segment, you can’t afford to miss out on this channel. Because the content is indexed by major search engines, Tumblr can help increase your search visibility. It integrates well with Facebook, and it’s also a very mobile-friendly interface.
Getting Started on Tumblr
Your first blog on Tumblr becomes your default blog; deleting this is a complicated process, so take care while creating it. Tumblr has references to help out new users, and there are plenty of guides available online. It’s a good idea to install the Tumblr ‘bookmarklet’ on your web browser; this will let you quickly add new posts without having to log in separately. Add the app to your smartphone or tablet to make sharing even easier.
Engaging with Other Blogs
Search and select blogs related to your business and brand – blogs relevant to your customers. Follow people in your niche who post important and engaging posts on a regular basis. Reply to posts from other bloggers and share their posts on your Tumblr blog with attribution. Like other social media platforms, your primary goal should be to post a variety of content that will be interesting and/or useful to your market.
To be really effective, create new original posts at least three times per day. These can be noteworthy images, videos or links; you don’t necessarily need to write long blog posts.
Working on Your Theme
Unlike Facebook, Tumblr is very customizable. Design your page to be consistent with your brand. There are thousands of free and paid themes available, and you can create one of your own with a little knowledge of CSS. Even the existing themes allow for plenty of customization.
Tagging for Visibility
It’s important to understand how tagging works. Look for tags in popular posts from bloggers you follow. Track those tags so that you know of new relevant updates. When preparing new posts, use tags that you want the post to be marketed under. Now, people searching these tags are more likely to find your blog. This is an easy way to increase readership.
Advanced Features
There are a number of advanced features and tools that let you get the most out of your Tumblr use:
- Tumblr integrates with Goggle Analytics, letting you monitor traffic to your blog.
- You can also add a custom domain name to your Tumblr blog, which can help with search visibility if you’re using targeted keywords.
- Users can integrate Tumblr with Disqus to enable commenting.
- If you’re promoting events or milestones, you can create “event” blogs within your Tumblr account to showcase different events; these can then be deleted at any time.
- Tumblr allows you to post based on a pre-determined schedule; if you don’t have the time to post regularly throughout the day, you can schedule posts ahead of time.
Regardless of which tools and features you use, keep in mind that when using Tumblr as a marketing channel, it’s always a good idea to stay within your niche to gain a meaningful audience. While posting on every other topic or happening will dilute your identity, a clearly defined brand image and content mission will help you to stand out and gain a loyal following.
About the Author
Bernadette Coleman is the CEO of Advice Interactive Group.
