CONTENTS 3 •••••••••••••••••••••• What is Tumblr? 3 •••••••••••••••••• Tumblr for Business 4 ••••• Zeroing on Your Demographic 4 ••••••••••••••••••••• Featured Content 5 •••••••••••••••• Tagging Your Content 5 ••••••••••••• Curating Your Followers 5 ••••••••••••••••••• Using Tumblr Tools 6 •••••••••••••••••••••••• Getting Started 6 •••••••••••••• Tips, Tricks & How-To’s 8 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Conclusion WHAT IS TUMBLR? Tumblr can be described as hybrid between Twitter, Facebook and Wordpress. It combines the swift, habitual nature of Twitter, the interactivity and variety of Facebook and the blogging aspect of Wordpress into a unique, social blogging experience. Since its launch in February 2007, Tumblr has grown to host about 67 million blogs, and attracts roughly 17 billion page views monthly. With its increasing popularity and less saturated market, many businesses view Tumblr as a possibility for their next social media venture. Tumblr allows its users to quickly and efficiently post text, pictures, videos, audio and other people’s posts onto a personalized feed called a “Tumblelog”- an Internet scrapbook. Essentially, Tumblr is what blogging should be: a simple, clean way for users to post and share anything they find interesting. TUMBLR FOR BUSINESS “We didn’t build Tumblr for brands, and about a year and a half in they just started to show up, particularly in the fashion and publishing communities. They were giving us a different perspective on their world. For the last few years, we’ve really been looking to them and taking notes, trying to figure out what it is that people have found valuable. And when we see things that may be repeatable, going out and implementing those patterns.” -Tumblr CEO David Karp in an interview with Ad Age Even though Tumblr was not originally intended for brands, it can be successfully integrated into a business’ marketing strategy, just like any other social network. Tumblr can help brands gain recognition, drive traffic to their website and ultimately create leads from those visits. Let’s take a look at some ways you can use Tumblr to enhance your business’ social media campaign. ZEROING IN ON YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC One of the most important parts of marketing is knowing who your target market is. Unlike the larger social networks, Tumblr has more of a condensed demographic base. As of last year, 50% of Tumblr’s visitors were under the age of 25. Teenagers age 12-17 were twice as likely to visit Tumblr than the average Internet user, and adults age 18-25 were nearly 2.5 times as likely. Businesses that target a younger audience are more likely to succeed on Tumblr for the sole fact that Tumblr’s user base is generally a younger demographic. FEATURED CONTENT Photos and videos are exceptionally more engaging than text when it comes to social media, and on Tumblr, it’s no different. Photo-based posts generally gain the most reblogs/notes, so try to make visuals the centerpiece of your Tumblelog. Post images that are relatable to your business, and worthwhile to your audience. For product-based businesses, Tumblr is a great medium for showcasing your finest works. For example: A clothing company may post images of a new clothing line, or best-sellers. A tattoo company may display images of some of their more extravagant tattoos. In these instances, the pictures sell themselves without being overly invasive. Businesses also use Tumblr for highlighting deals and promotions through visualized ads. Tumblr is an excellent place for these, because it filters out the spamming feel that you would get if you did the same thing on other social networks. TAGGING YOUR CONTENT Tumblr users discover each other through the use of “tags.” Tags are titles for searchable topics posted on Tumblr. When you post something, it is essential that you label it with tags relevant to what you posted. For instance, if you post a picture of a new house, you might add tags like: #architecture, #house, #exterior, #new house, #mansion, etc. Look for tags that are popular within your industry, and use them. Tags are crucial for brand recognition, because it’s how Tumblr users find what is interesting to them. CURATING YOUR FOLLOWERS Just like with any other social network, you need to listen and interact with your followers. Engaging with and following leaders in topics related to your business will help you gain recognition. Take the time like you would with other social networks to “like” and reply to Tumblr posts from other users. Sharing unique and interesting posts is a great way to engage with your audience, and will help them feel more inclined to do the same for your posts. USING TUMBLR TOOLS Install the Tumblr “bookmarklet” in your browser to quickly create posts. Just click the Tumblr button in your toolbar to create a post about anything you find interesting, without the hassle of logging in, copying and pasting. Tumblr is one of the more mobile-friendly social network platforms out there. It’s a great place to start for businesses that are slow to adopt a mobile-friendly social media strategy. The mobile app automatically provides Tumblr as an option for sharing content you find online, in other apps (such as YouTube) or in your photo albums. Tumblr also has Facebook and Twitter integration. By activating Tumblr’s Facebook app, you have the option of having your Tumblr posts appear on your Facebook Timeline for efficient, cross-network posting. By adding a Twitter account to your Tumblr page, you have the option of sending your posts to your Twitter feed, allowing for greater visibility. These features are great time-savers for when efficiency is crucial. GETTING STARTED Setting up a Tumblr account is relatively painless compared to signing up for other social networks. 1. Visit Tumblr’s homepage and click the “Sign Up” button in the upper-right corner of the site. 2. Next, enter your email address. Try to enter the same email that you use for Facebook and Twitter, so that you can easily integrate Tumblr with these accounts. 3. Enter a password and a username. Your username acts as your Tumblr URL, i.e. http://xxxxxxxx.tumblr.com. Once you’ve completed these steps, Tumblr will send you an email confirmation. Confirm your email, and then fill out your profile. You can then customize your Tumblr blog. Choose “Customize Theme” on the right-hand side of your dashboard to gain access to a wide range of Tumblr themes (some are free, but others can range from $9 to $49). Once you’ve set up an account, edited your profile and selected your theme, you are ready to begin posting and blogging. TIPS, TRICKS & HOW-TO’S Once you’ve learned your way around the site and have a basic understanding of how to navigate and manage your Tumblr blog, you can start to learn more effective ways of using Tumblr. Quick Reblogging This useful Tumblr trick doesn’t even require you to install any add-ons. If you are trying to reblog something of interest, hold down the ALT key while pressing the reblog button, and the post will be automatically reblogged for you. Google Analytics You have the convenient option of using Google Analytics to track your stats. Google Analytics is great for finding out how many users visit your blog, how often users are visiting, which of your posts are most popular, which search terms visitors used to find you and where your visitors are coming from. Using Disqus Since Tumblr doesn’t include a built-in system for comments, you will want to insert the Disqus tool into your blog. Register for Disqus to acquire a “shortname” (username). Then, click on the “Appearance” tab in Tumblr, and enter your Disqus shortname. By adding this tool, you allow anyone to comment on your posts, including those not registered on Tumblr. Editing Multiple Posts at Once Tumblr allows you to edit multiple posts at once to save time. To do this, go to your blog’s name and click on the “Mass Post Editor.” From there, you have the ability to edit tags, delete multiple posts and more. Multiple Blogs In addition to your primary blog, which is only for you to post to, Tumblr allows you to create additional blogs that others can contribute to. Just click on the “List” icon at the top of your dashboard and select “Create a New Blog” from the pulldown menu. Invite others to contribute to your blog by opening the blog and clicking the “Members” button. From there, click “Invite To This Blog.” CONCLUSION As Tumblr continues to grow, you may find it useful to include it in your business’ social media efforts. The audience and purpose of Tumblr is a bit different than other social networks. Tumblr favors visualized content, and is used by a younger audience. To make Tumblr work for your business, aim to post images and videos that cater to the youth demographic. Practice good techniques to get the full Tumblr experience and maximize your social media efforts. Happy Tumbling!.