Why Your Business Should Care More About Tumblr Than Google+.

When Google+ was first introduced, social media managers for small and big brands alike were instantly worried about how they would incorporate the management of yet another social network into their time and financial budget. Social media is often part of a larger marketing team, which allocates resources across multiple people and campaigns beyond just Facebook and Twitter, which — it may surprise you — are not 100% free for business use. While consumers may only be leveraging one or two social platforms to keep in touch with friends or family, businesses and brands must realize that their consumers are scattered across each and every one of these brands. While the majority are likely on Facebook, it is possible that a large portion of your consumers utilize another social network — and perhaps a social network that you as a business or brand has yet to adopt as part of your marketing campaign. Some brands try to cover the bases with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and sometimes a blog. But you’re likely missing another critical social network.

Think this platform is Google+? It could be. Google’s newest attempt at developing a social network recently saw its third best week in terms of traffic. However, to fight SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), Tumblr noted that over 87,834 calls were placed to representatives, and the average call lasted 53 seconds (the longest was 31 minutes). Tumblr said a total of 1,293 total hours were spent talking to representatives. It’s also been found that Tumblr users spend more time on the site per day, on average, than Twitter users.

A general rule for social media mangers is to go where your audience is. If you’re in charge of social media marketing for a business, it is debatable whether or not you have an audience at Google+. If you don’t know if you have an audience on Google+ — or you definitely know you don’t — you probably do at Tumblr, as there are currently over 35,693,396 total blogs on the blogging platform. However, just as Tumblr users utilize Tumblr much differently than other blogging platforms, brands and businesses will need to as well. Just look at how the New York Times is using Tumblr (and yes, those posts do get commented on or reblogged over 600 times)!

Is Tumblr your brand’s answer to finding the holy grail of missing customers or clients, thereby achieving such success that your entire team can retire before most even get married? Probably not, but utilizing a platform with an active and passionate user base that is ready to share interesting ideas is likely in your best interests. However, before you and/or your marketing team devote resources to another social platform, be sure to consider your strategy and consider your competition. Not only should you ask how are they using Tumblr, but how you want to use it, too.

Do you represent a business using Tumblr, or do you use it personally? What do you think of this microblogging platform as a place for brands? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.