When it comes to blogging, there are a lot of options, but two stand out: WordPress and Tumblr. WordPress is by far the most popular and widely used. It comes with more features, more flexibility, more templates and more ability to customize.
Tumblr, however, is easier to set up, and takes much less effort, expertise, and experience to launch and maintain. It is this ease of use, designed for the novice, that has fueled the recent takeoff of Tumblr as the go-to choice for businesspeople who want to expand their brand without devoting too much time or resources to a blog or hiring outside help to do it for them.
There are several reasons why Tumblr could help your business and your brand. Consider the following:
Demographics
Tumblr is wildly popular with one of the most coveted demographics in all of business advertising: young people. It’s been reported that more than half of Tumblr users are under the age of 34, with more than 30 percent of the remaining users falling in the 35- to 44-year-old age range.
Also, Tumblr has a remarkable international following, with more than half of its daily users coming from outside the U.S. In a country that becomes less and less white with each year that passes, it’s worth noting that Tumblr is especially popular among minorities – specifically Hispanics and Asians. If your business is targeting young, diverse groups, Tumblr could be a great place to aggressively promote your brand.
Visual Arts
There are certain niche categories that dominate Tumblr. Fashion, food, art, and photography are among the top. One thing they all have in common is a lopsided amount of images. More than half of all Tumblr posts are visual.
If your branding or promotional strategy is based in imagery – whether you’re selling fishing poles or used cubicles – a photo-rich display is screaming out for a home on Tumblr, especially since so many uploads are cross promoted from Tumblr to Instagram.
Social Media Strength
Tumblr has tens of millions of blogs and billions of posts, and one of the reasons is that its guiding principles are intuitive to anyone familiar with Facebook and Twitter. Part blog-hosting site, part social media platform, Tumblr allows its users to go through the familiar processes of sharing, liking, and reposting content they find compelling, interesting, or valuable.
For a business concerned with branding, this is a monumental leg up. Each re-post can be considered free advertising.
Hashtags
Another concept Tumblr borrowed from social media is its use of the hashtag (#) system revolutionized by Twitter. By using hashtags as keyword/phrase indicators, Tumblr allows users to search for words that can reveal conversations about their industry, brand, or business. This tool can become a powerful search mechanism that lets users break the millions of users down by demographics, interests, and niches. As with Twitter, it can be used to filter the masses and also to engage customers and create dialogue.
Tumblr for Business
As businesses catch on that Tumblr is a legitimate and underutilized tool, the platform is making a concerted effort to attract and lure entrepreneurs. Their business spotlight page profiles the business blogs of everyone from independent wedding photographers to Forbes. These blogs can be used as inspiration and an artistic jumping-off point for your own adventure into the business blogging world, and they stand as living proof that there is true branding value in using the service.
Connections
Because of its hybrid social-media format, Tumblr is great for building connections and networking. It’s not the biggest site, but it’s big – one of the top 15 most visited websites in the world, actually. That’s a huge number of daily visitors, and with the filtering mechanisms, they’re all there for the taking. As with Twitter, the more you participate (repost, comment, follow, etc.), the more Tumblr will work as a brand-building mechanism for your company.
Whether you’re building a community of current customers, potential customers, or other similar businesses in the industry, Tumblr puts the “network” in social networking. It’s free, it’s simple, and it’s a great way to get and stay connected.
Integration
Tumblr can quickly and easily be integrated into your website and other online endeavors. It is designed to work flawlessly with Facebook – both your business and personal pages. Cross promotion with Twitter is as simple as tweeting your updates to direct people to your Tumblr page (definitely don’t recycle content across platforms), and simple widgets provided by Tumblr can point visitors to your website to your blog and vice versa.
Mobility
The world has gone mobile. Each month, more and more web traffic is sent and received by people using mobile devices. Tumblr flows flawlessly between tablets, PCs, and smartphones. For businesspeople, instant mobility is the key to staying relevant. Tumblr is free and has an app that people selling to people on the go can not ignore.
With all the best features of Facebook, none of the character limits of Twitter, and the visual and video appeal of Instagram, Tumblr is a true hybrid. It isn’t the best social media site, and it isn’t the best blogging site, but it is the undisputed jack of all trades – one that was designed with the novice in mind.
For businesses, this versatility can provide instant diversification into your social-media and online marketing scheme. A strategy that includes Tumblr is a strategy that immediately provides a multi-layered online presence.
Photo Credit: Flickr/Wicker Paradise
