Overview

“Tumblr generation — a young, bright and tech-savvy group of international users who seek what might seem counterintuitive: Genuine online connection bolstered, not hindered, by anonymity.” - Forbes


Imagine scrolling through infinite news feeds filled with all of your favorite topics, well that is Tumblr. Tumblr is the number one rated social sentiment toward brands and there are over 200 million blog posts a day! (Tumblr.com, n.d.).




The Platform in Brief

Tumblr lets you efficiently share anything you desire on a dashboard of blogs (which users have said is their favorite part of Tumblr). You can post photos, text, quotes, links, music, and videos using your phone, desktop, or email. It is simple yet customizable using color schemes and HTML themes.(Tumblr.com, n.d.). You can even call 1-866-584-6757 to leave an audio post for your followers. (Miller, n.d.).


Tumblr was founded in February of 2007 by David Karp when he was just 21. Tumblr had 75,000 users within the first two weeks of the website launching. It was originally funded by investors, but now receives revenue via paid advertisements. It was created and is still based out of New York City but has offices in Richmond and Los Angeles. Tumblr currently has 302 employees. It has had 223.9 million blogs and 104.2 billion posts. Yahoo bought Tumblr from Karp for 1.1 billion and kept him as the CEO. (Tumblr, n.d.).


Unlike many other social media networks the gender usage is split right down the middle. 13% of people ages 18-19 utilize Tumblr, with the most popular income brackets being higher income and lower income families. 8% of the families making above $75,000 per year use Tumblr; while 6% of families making under $30,000 per year use Tumblr. Tumblr is skewed towards the educated and the urban population. (“5 Facts About Tumblr”, 2013).




The Platform in Operation

One of the main companies to post on Tumblr is Coca Cola. Coca Cola attempts to target the teenagers on Tumblr, yet goes about it in a mature way. They limit the use of text use colorful pictures and GIFs that generate a lot of engaging feedback. They know Tumblr is not like many other social media networks and they use it to their advantage. Coca Cola even posts things that aren’t tied to the Coca Cola name, because they know reblog and click is all they need to sell. (“5 Brands Using Tumblr”, n.d.).


Saks Fifth Avenue also uses Tumblr, specifically their shoe department. For those of you obsessed with shoes,Saks shoes department in New York is so large that is famous for having its own zip code, 10022. They focus on the older demographic with a larger disposable income.  The Saks Fifth Avenue blog titled 10022-Shoes uses watermarks in all of their images to keep all viral content tied back to them. They also use Tumblr to promote events and contests. (“5 Brands Using Tumblr”, n.d.).


Disney-Pixar also uses clips and stills from their movies as promotions, hand sketched storyboards and questions. They give readers an inside look at the development process as well as entertain them. They offer an incentive such as products, services, or comments on a post to encourage feedback in the questions they ask. This results in a very interactive blog! (“5 Brands Using Tumblr”, n.d.).


Tumblr offers two types of advertising for companies. The first is $5 and your post stays at the top of your followers feed for 24 hours. The second is $2 and gets you a highlighted post that stands out on users dashboards, you can even add customizable stickers to your posts. (“5 Brands Using Tumblr”, n.d.).


Along with the many paid relationships Tumblr has attained, it has also done things to help those in need. For example, Tumblr partnered with Humans of New York to help raise money for Hurricane Sandy relief. (Miller, n.d.).




The Platform’s Pros and Cons

For companies wanting to use Tumblr the pro’s include:

1. Tumblr being the number one blog posting site, surpassing WordPress
   
   
2. It allows companies to use Google analytics to track metrics of ads
   
   
3. It is far more simple when compared to WordPress
   
   

The cons include:

1. Limited control over formatting and allows for very few addons
   
   
2. It does not suit every target artist
   
   
3. You can not self host, so if Tumblr goes down, so does your site
   
   

For the consumers wanting to use Tumblr the Pro’s include:

1. The infinite newsfeed of interests
   
   
2. There is always something new being posted
   
   
3. You have the option to unfollow someone you wish to stop getting updates from
   
   

The only con is:

1. It can be time consuming for those used to Facebook and Twitter being the feed is constantly updated and never ends
   
   

(The Marketing Pros and Cons of Tumblr, 2014; The Pros and Cons of Social Media Tools: Tumblr, n.d.).



Analysis

Tumblr has proven to be a very good and somewhat inexpensive media for businesses and a fun way to consume content as a user. Although it does not have as many users as most other social media networks, I would recommend using this site and I hope to see it become more popular. It is perfect for a novice or a professional.




References

5 facts about Tumblr. (2013, May 20). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/05/20/5-facts-about-tumblr/


5 Brands Using Tumblr Effectively. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-media-examples/5-brands-using-tumblr-effectively/


Miller, J. (n.d.). 12 Interesting and Business-Leveraging Facts About Tumblr. Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://getlevelten.com/blog/julie-miller/12-interesting-and-business-leveraging-facts-about-tumblr


The Marketing Pros and Cons of Tumblr - Fourth Source. (2014, June 25). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://www.fourthsource.com/social-media/marketing-pros-cons-tumblr-17431


The Pros & Cons of Social Media Tools: Tumblr. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://www.marchpr.com/blog/2011/04/the-pros-cons-of-social-media-tools-tumblr/


Tumblr. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumblr


Tumblr. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://www.tumblr.com

Contact Information

To contact the author of this article, “What You Need to Know About Tumblr: An Executive Roadmap for Social Media Success,” please email the author at [email protected].

The mission of the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University is to provide educational experiences for personal, professional and intellectual growth, enable the creation and sharing of knowledge to enhance learning and to advance the practice of business, and engage communities through service to positively impact their future. The Accounting and Business programs in the College of Business are accredited by the AACSB International.