Since launching eight years ago, Tumblr has catapulted to success, earning more than 420 million users and adoption by 113.6 million posts per day. Its highly visual format and young audience base (most are under the age of 34) has made it an easy fit for a number of fashion and lifestyle brands, but the platform has grown up considerably since being acquired by Yahoo! for a reported $1.1 billion.
In late January, Tumblr announced establishment of Creatrs, a creative agency that will link the platform’s best bloggers with brands to generate content. As marketers struggle to source quality content and find trusted partners, this is a big move that will benefit all parties, giving brands access to up-and-coming content creatives and expanding audiences for artists who want to go mainstream.
The basics of Tumblr and why it matters for content marketers:
- Average of 120,000 sign ups per day
- Average visit length is 28 minutes, more than twice that of Facebook
- There are a number of native analytics and ad products available, ranging from simple sponsored posts to syndication on Yahoo to reach 800MM unique visitors per month
- Revenues per visit ($1.10) are considered second only to Facebook ($1.22), but only 150 brands currently advertise on Tumblr (31 of which are considered top tier)
To get you inspired to start a smarter content play, take a look at a few top global brands currently using Tumblr:
Coca-Cola on Tumblr: Where Happiness Lives Online
In its three years since inception, Coca Cola’s page has been a repository for all things happy, creating fun, shareable photos, videos and GIFs and reblogging positive content from the community. It strikes a balance between brand messaging, UGC and simply feel-good clicks. While most of the brand’s Tumblr content lives here, the page also links out to Doc Pemberton’s World Adventure, a clever chronicle following the fictional modern day hijinks of the brand’s anachronistic founder.
GE on Tumblr: Exploring the Changing Worlds of Science and Technology
King of corporate content and mastermind of digital innovation, General Electric has built a number of Tumblr properties that pull together the creative from a number of campaigns (6 Second Science Fair, Gravity Day, Factory Floor and Badass Machines, to name a few) in one single, easy-to-navigate destination. Tumblr allows users to discover GE’s content playfully, keeping visuals at the forefront while giving users an easy way to quickly share and reblog.
Lexus on Tumblr: The Signal. Make a Statement Without Saying a Word
The luxury auto brand takes a very fashion-forward approach with its Tumblr presence, using highly stylized, striking images and GIFs to lure luxury seekers. What is so surprising about this example is the fact that it proves a car brand can mimic a high end fashion brand with considerable edge, speaking to a youthful audience more interested in design than performance. The brand used obtusely-related hashtags (#fashion, #b&w, #architecture, #photography) to allow Gen X/Yers to discover GIFs, photos and videos more organically and keeping branding subtle throughout the experience. It’s a clear example of form before function, placing beauty in front of brand to create more shareable conten
AT&T on Tumblr: Mobilizing Your World + The Mobile Movement
The mobile brand has taken a one-two punch with Tumblr. Its first venture in the channel is Mobilizing Your World, a catch-all destination that pulls in campaign content, device info and shareable quotes in GIF format. Its second page, The Mobile Movement, was born out of a collaboration with Vice Magazines in-house agency, Virtue, to celebrate mobile living in all its forms. As a result, AT&T published the most popular sponsored post of 2014, a cryptic message without any branding that earned almost 450k notes (comments, like, reblogs).
As brands continue to seek content channels and partners with dedicated audiences and huge potential, Tumblr can be a powerful addition to any visually-driven content strategy.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: The Best Brands on Tumblr (and What They’re Doing Right)
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