Tumblr Marketing: Social Media For Businesses In 2016
Tumblr Marketing: Social Media Tumblr to most consumers is a microblogging site where they can find pretty, funny pictures with quotes overlayed on top of them. But to businesses it’s an untapped marketing resource with huge potential for personal customer engagement. Tumblr is currently the world’s largest microblogging site, boasting over;
- 280 million blogs
- 129 billion posts,
- 110 million global users.
It is the 6th most popular social media site by user base in the world; and with nearly a third of the sites users residing in the United States, the microblogging behemoth is picking up traction here in Australia. With 4.5 million users as of January 2016, it is Australia’s 5th most popular social media site just after Instagram.
The social media site’s success comes from the simple fact that users can post images, gifs, videos, short posts and blogs with relative ease. The easily digestible content and universal appeal of the content has led to some fanatical followers. Tumblr’s Content Engagement Study shows:
- 33% would rather use the platform than sleep
- 34% would rather be on Tumblr than eat
- 36% would rather be on Tumblr than hang out with friends.
As the social media network continues to grow in Australia, the potential it holds for small and large businesses is astronomical. Tumblr is the perfect platform to engage with the 16-24 year old demographic which makes up nearly 50% of the sites users.
Several brands are already taking advantage of Tumblr to target the youth market. These early adopters know the importance of staying new and fresh when targeting a younger market. Tumblr provides businesses the potential to promote themselves and their products in a unique way to a demographic that are becoming harder to reach through traditional media.
As a case study, The New Yorker presents an example of an organisation that understands Tumblr’s market and adapts itself to its content. When it comes to marketing or promotional material, consistency in messaging, theme and styling is crucial, but equally so is adapting your branding to the medium you’re engaging with. The New Yorker has managed to make the Tumblr space their own, with bold banners and amazing images, it doesn’t only promote the brand but it resonates and connects with the Tumblr demographic and community.
As Tumblr is geared towards creativity, having bold and unique images is important. The New Yorker has understood the need for bright, eye-catching imagery whilst still sticking to their usual branding.
The New Yorker’s Tumblr page is consistent with the quality of their content; their recent article on Kygo would be engaging to the relatively young demographic that uses the site. The use of timely and relevant content is crucial to capturing the attention of the youth market in a fast changing medium such as Tumblr. In the lead up to the Oscar’s, the topic of Leonardo DiCaprio’s attempts of winning an Oscar was a controversial and yet perfectly engaging topic for discussion.
Tumblr’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP) truly is unique, as the site sets itself apart from other social media by not focusing on search functionality. Deliberately making content difficult to find is an interesting advantage, but Tumblr’s key lays in having a deep understanding of what its audience is using the site for.
Tumblr users usually want their close friends to only be able to find their page or blog. In having small intimate social circles, the influence each user would have on their network would be far greater than it would be on other social media sites. According to the 2012 report by Nielson, 92% of consumers trust earned media or word of mouth whereas only 33% trust ads.
Not only would the users have more influence on their peers, but the audience that the page would attract would only be the ones who are genuinely interested in the brand and could potentially be loyal consumers or early adopters.
Despite the difficulty of finding pages and blogs, consumption of content is fairly high due to “reblogging.” Tumblr is geared towards sharing and reblogging content, meaning that content can be exposed to millions of users over and over again.
As the Tumblr community is fairly large, there could be people discussing or posting about a brand that is not on Tumblr; missing a great opportunity to engage with devoted, long term customers.
Although some brands are starting to use Tumblr, it is still not being utilised by all that many companies. As of 2014, only 31 of the top 100 global brands had a Tumblr account, whereas all 100 of them have Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Tumblr could be the diamond in the rough some companies have been looking for. As the site provides a unique and creative way to target younger audiences; being an early adopter yields many benefits such as improved market positioning or, in this case, creating a substantial loyal following.