Launched in 2007, Tumblr has until now been one the many social media programmes which has attracted a cult following, but never reached the mainstream heights of Twitter, Facebook et al. However, industry insiders now believe that this multi-media platform may be about to reach a tipping point of popularity, with 15,000 new users every day and, like Twitter before it, will soon explode into the next big thing.

But what is it?

Tumblr is essentially a blogging platform that allows users to post text, images, audio, links, videos, and quotes to a short form blog, known as a Tumblelog. As on Twitter, these Tumblelogs attract followers who can subscribe to your feed and there are options to both like and re-blog information, ensuring that strong postings with informative or useful content are disseminated amongst the community.

Tumblr’s creator David Karp designed the forum with ease of use and access in mind and it has also been made the subject of an app, allowing it to be accessed and used from anywhere. Therefore it is a highly popular forum for those wishing to post various types of files quickly and easily.

If Tumblr does take off as predicted, there is a strong advantage to be had in beginning to develop a Tumblelog now. The forum is especially suited to companies wishing to run a multi-format social media campaign quickly and easily. The programme combines the ease and speed of Twitter with the multi-media aspects of Facebook to create a powerful social media tool that could begin to eclipse many others in the coming months.

If you read our blog, you will understand how important blogging is; especially for small businesses. It keeps you in touch with your customer base and allows you to demonstrate your expertise.

If you are setting up a blog, read our recent article about blog domain names before you start and either sign up to a free blogsite using one of the more popular blog sites such as wordpress.com or contact us if you want help integrating a blog into your business website.

It can be a bit overwhelming at first, especially if you are not used to writing; but remember that your blog is there to keep in touch with customers, promote new products, advise your customers, improve your internet marketing and generally show a more social side to your company.

It’s important always to keep the blog relevant to your business and to write regular updates. This will ensure that search engines such as Google pick up on the blog and improve your overall ranking on the internet. The higher ranked your website/blog is, the more people will come across it when running internet searches.

Once you start blogging, you will find that it provides fresh content for your website and keeps customers coming back.  You are providing a free service for them while at the same time enhancing your own business.