One of the relative newcomers to the social media scene, Tumblr is a fast-moving social network where things that are popular go viral incredibly quickly. With over 50 million blogs and a hard-core of loyal users, if your content is popular it can be disseminated to large numbers of people rapidly and really raise your profile.

A Tumblr success story
One of the thematic areas of Tumblr which is very popular is that of clothing and fashion. Tumblr bloggers are passionate about following the latest trends online and pick up very quickly on things that are quirky, interesting or unusual and share them with their followers.

ModCloth, an online US-based fashion house taking its inspiration from vintage looks from the 1940s and 50s, uses Tumblr regularly to get ideas out into the online community and interact with its fans. With its regular posts, features such as its Monday stylebook and collation of looks from around Tumblr that fit with its aesthetic, ModCloth has built up a loyal following of fans that love their style and are prepared to share that love with the world.

Top tips
If you’re considering Tumbling, there are a few things you’ll need to consider before you get started to make a success of your foray into this kind of social sharing.

Why do you want to do it?
Do you want to get more awareness of your brand? Find out more about what your brand enthusiasts get up to in their lives so you can better target what you want to do? Get some feedback on your products and services? Whatever it is, be clear about it from the start. It’s also important to make sure that whatever it is you decide you want to gain from getting on Tumblr, it’s realistic and achievable. Tumblr is never going to be the replacement for any of your existing activities. It’ll only ever be an adjunct, so decide in advance what role you want it to play.

Spend some time building a presence
Before you go out and start trying to build an audience on Tumblr, spend some time putting up content that’s valuable and that your followers will appreciate. There are a couple of things that it’s important to note as you begin your Tumblr journey. Reblogs – that is, taking someone else’s post and reposting it on your site – are not included in searches. Also, tagging your posts helps people to find content that is relevant to them and show up more readily in searches than the text of your posts. Once you have your blog established, promote it in emails, Tweets, on Facebook and your website to increase your reach.

Post regularly
Tumblr isn’t a site for the occasional poster. Things on the site move so quickly, if you’re not posting content many times a day, your message will be lost in the constant stream of posts and reblogs. Use the queuing feature to line up many posts at a time and keep them short and to the point. Capture attention and don’t let it go.

You get back what you put in
Tumblr is a blogging site, but at its heart, it’s more than that. It’s a social blogging experience and people appreciate you putting in the time to engage with them and make them feel special. Thank your followers for reblogging your posts; offer them special offers and exclusive deals for following your blog and reblog the people you follow whose ideas chime with the ethos of your company. Don’t just broadcast. Collaborate.

Conclusion
Tumblr is a fast-moving environment that can bring high rewards in terms of engagement if you get it right. Just make sure it’ll be worth your while and commit to keep up with it if you’re going to dive in. For more information about SEO, Blogging and Tumblr contact Distinctly Digital, Hemel Hempstead.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

Nathan Griffiths is a frequent Tumblr user and believes it’s a great tool to use as part of your site traffic strategy.