Just What is Tumblr?
Tumblr is a social media platform – yes, another one. But just as each social media platform has its own unique spin, so does Tumblr have its own particular focus.
Tumblr is something of a cross between pure social sharing, photo sharing, and a blog. To complicate matters, it’s also heavily visual and tends to cater to younger audiences. Think high school and college age students, and their respective subcultures.
It should come as no surprise then that humor operates well on Tumblr: animated gifs, jokes, memes, and entertaining photos get the most attention. While it can be used by businesses for marketing, it’s generally good to keep it light and have a unique spin.
Tips for Tumblr
- Be Funny – Animated gifs are supported and are shared frequently, as are memes, jokes, and other funny pictures. You may well find a lot of llamas and woodpeckers with weasels circulating over Tumblr. Or, if not funny, then at the very least interesting and novel. Even Mother Jones has time for hamsters wearing pilgrim hats.
- Be Narrow – A niche audience is often suggested for social media but Tumblr especially caters to odd and quirky focused blogs. Tips for Architectural School is focused on a very specific audience, but still has a lot of interesting and inspirational information.
- Be Visual – While it is not required that all posts involve a visual element on Tumblr, they tend to excel. Take c|net for example. It caters to tech reviews but has both interesting photos and animated gifs.
Tumblr lets users follow other users, comment, favorite, and reblog interesting posts. You can follow recommended users, do a search for topically similar blogs. Website Magazine has step-by-step guide to setting up your own Tumblr, and Kissmetrics Guide to Tumblr has a strategic plan on using Tumblr with some tips for making it more user-friendly and marketable.
