How to make Tumblr's 5.5 billion monthly page views to work for your business

You want your business to be successful, and you know that social media is a great tool for achieving that success. But when it comes to specific social media platforms, did you know that Tumblr can be just the thing you need to take your company to the next level?

If you aren't familiar with Tumblr, perhaps the fact that it's ranked as one of the 15 most popular sites in the U.S. will make you interested in learning more. Tumblr is a social media platform and blogging tool, and it's home to the blogs of over 132 million people and business worldwide.

According to the social platform's website, 'Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music and videos from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors to your theme's HTML.' With all that Tumblr can do, it's easy to see why it's become so popular: during May of this past year, it's page views numbered more than 5.5 billion. With numbers like these that are only expected to grow higher, Tumblr has established itself as the perfect tool to successfully market your business. Here are some tips to get started:

1. Set up Your Account 2. Make a Good First Impression 3. Get Out There by Interacting and Sharing

You can easily sign up and create your account in just a matter of minutes. All you have to do is type in your email address, select a password and create a username. If possible, try to go with a username that exactly matches your brand's name or the primary URL of your website. Or, if you've already established a presence on Twitter, you could use your Twitter name if it's available. Next, you select what will be your Tumblr avatar. For the sake of consistency, you should use the same one that you use on your Facebook and Twitter pages.

In order to present your brand well on Tumblr, you should design your page to have lots of visual appeal. All kinds of themes are available on Tumblr, including ones that are free and ones that you have to pay for. You can choose a format with one or two columns, depending on your preference, or you can go with a grid layout and choose a complimentary design for your image. Look through the themes that they offer, choose one that's appropriate for your business, and get it installed instantly.

Obviously, you should be using Tumblr to post your content, but in addition to doing that, you should search for blogs with material that appeals to you and follow them to get their latest posts delivered into your feed. You can use Tumblr's unique reblogging tool to share the content those bloggers have posted, allowing you to cultivate an original image of your brand. Just keep in mind that whatever you're posting and reblogging with Tumblr significantly shapes others' perceptions of you.

On that note, you want to select content that shows your softer, more humanistic side and that builds trust and loyalty. For example, a 1966 Mustang parts dealer could build trust and loyalty on Tumblr by posting videos of car remodelings, tune-ups or fun facts to both engage and build trust with their followers.

Once you start using Tumblr, you'll quickly find that pictures rule. Want proof? Over 50% of the posts displayed on Tumblr feature an image. And when you consider that a significant portion of Tumblr users are from countries outside the U.S., using images to convey a message makes sense. Possible ideas for your image include:

Pictures showing your product in the process of being packaged Pictures of someone using your product Pictures that show someone performing the services you provide Pictures of your employees at work or at a fun outing 7. Get Active and Keep it Up

With the tagging system that's featured on Tumblr, your content can easily get discovered. Below every post, tags appear showing a hashtag at the front. Tags can easily be created in just a matter of seconds, but for something so simple, they pack a powerful punch: using tags can dramatically raise the odds that your content will be discovered, which will in turn result in you accruing more followers.

Just remember that relevance and moderation are key when it comes to tagging. Regardless of what you're posting, 12 is the maximum number of tags you should have. Inc.com has explained that 'between seven and 12 tags is the optimum number that will not look like spam but will also draw a net wide enough to catch a lot of searches... and that's the key.'

If you want to get connected, it's essential that you're interacting with other people on Tumblr. Another great thing about this site is the way it allows you to follow as many people as you want to without seeming spammish, thanks to the fact that it doesn't display a count of how many people you follow. In addition to following, you should be reblogging, posting comments or liking the new posts you see within the blogs that you're following. Interaction is key to building relationships and that's as true on Tumblr as it is in real life.

You probably already know that posting often is important, but you might be surprised to learn that the posting rate is significantly higher on Tumblr than it is on other social platforms such as Facebook. Some companies post on Tumblr as often as 15 times a day, however most average around one to five posts daily. With this in mind, you should keep the content coming, provided what you're offering has entertainment or educational value. This way, you can keep your followers interested and minimize the risk that they'll choose to unfollow you.

If you want to market your business well, the above tips are worth your consideration. After all is said and done, when it comes to social media power players, you want Tumblr on your team.