Tumblr The New Social Media Platform

For years, Tumblr has been the social media outlet for photo-interested college students and creative users. With call-to-action pieces being implemented in blog posts, along with other web-based content, Fortune 500 companies are taking advantage of this social medium.

Tumblr is just now being tapped into as social media specialists are looking for new ways to differentiate their company’s audience, especially as Generation Y and the Millennials take over where their company’s posts are being displayed.

Tip: Since Generation Y and the Millennials evolve as social media does, let them take the reigns and see how your company progresses. Take a chance to come out ahead.

Here are some benefits to Tumblr and why the big guys are reaping the benefits of this less unexploited social site:

Blogging alternative:

Not every company operates a written blog, even though they should. Sometimes, people are too busy to write or are not comfortable with their public voice, so they prefer a photo blog instead! Since Tumblr is photo-based, companies manage their image and increase impressions by posting detailed, interesting, or beautifully designed images instead. Your consumers will retain the same message without having to read a description, and a photo always lasts longer in a person’s mind anyways.

Tags are still tags, no matter where they originate

Tumblr uses the same basics to connect as all other social sites. You can still tag, which shows up in Google search results. This is the primary component to finding other’s blogs to follow and directly why users are able to discover one another. Pay attention to tags that are trending and used most often.

Operations are a-go Captain

Each user can follow, like, tag and post, as well as install tools to make operating the site easy. The trick to being “popular” on social media sites in interaction! Follow people you have not yet discovered, reply to posts you favor, and post often to boost your traffic. You can also view and monitor traffic via Google Analytics!

"Tumblr is one of the most visually appealing and user-friendly platforms out there, so it was an effective way to build our community online," says Lucy McIntyre, VP Communications at Andre Balazs Properties. McIntyre also helped to set up a Tumblr account for The Standard Hotel, who’s blog is packed with content from guest bloggers, downloadable music, and product pictures, reports Mashable.

Try something different to stand out. Worst-case scenario, your name appears more frequently in Google search results!

 

What Reddit Life Is All About

Founded in June of 2005 by Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman, Reddit has become one of the top entertainment social networking websites in the world. Reddit’s global presence contains content of text, photo, video, and direct link posts.

The name Reddit (sort of) sounds like, “I ‘read it’ on Reddit.” Reddit has users in  over 190 countries with over 5 billion total page views and over 114 million visitors per month.

At first, I was a bit perturbed by how validated the content is and who was posting, thinking to myself that anyone and everyone is on the web, so how do you know what is being shared is legit?

I went to post in the Ask Me Anything (AMA) subreddit and I had to provide a link providing confirmation that I was actually who I said I was. That made me feel better, especially when I was inspired to write my first AMA post after reading a post from USA Today reporter and American astronomer Seth Shostak, known for his extensive research for search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Tips from seasoned Reddit users:

·      User temporary17: “If you criticize someone's post, do so constructively. Never attack the person behind the post, even if they deserve it.”

·      User greyclocks: “Don't just stay subscribed to the default subs. Find subreddits that you like or interest you. There's a subreddit for everything.”

·      User Mexican_mudkipz: “Reposting is not bad! If gives you free karma!”

·      User sheymyster: “You can pick up a lot of software super cheap. I recently built my first gaming computer and I picked up a Windows 7 ultimate key for $19, I think it's usually like $200 retail. I believe the subreddit is/r/softwareswap.”

Great tips, but what is all the talk about a “subreddit”? A subreddit is a forum dedicated to a specific topic. You can even create your own subreddit, but let’s not get too ridiculous that nobody would think to search for a keyword linking to your subreddit. These titles are not hashtags. Some of the popular subreddits are: Funny, Pics, Gaming, AskReddit, WorldNews, Politics, and Random. There are also unique subreddits like: TodayILearned, ShowerThoughts, AdviceAnimals and NotTheOnion.

If you really get into Reddit, you can work on your karma. Fellow Redditors can upvote or downvote a post, link, photo, or anything else you might share. Reddit states, “If you think something contributes to conversation, upvote it. If you think it does not contribute to the subreddit it is posted in or is off-topic in a particular community, downvote it.”

Reddit’s community has grown far and popular, offering something for everyone to read or laugh about. Reddit is an interactive community that can help get things accomplished!

Keeping Up With Google: The New Adword Policies

Recently Google announced that they will be updating the AdWords Policy Center for the ever-familiar motivation of enhancing user experience and ease-of-use for advertisers. The changes are set to take place around September, so now is the time to start ramping up your best practices to match the new guidelines. Here’s what you will need to know.

Many Businesses Won’t Need to Worry

According to Google, "Almost all advertisers who comply with our current policies will also comply with the new policies." The main differences will be in restrictions on certain types of products and advertisers such as alcoholic beverages, weapons, etc. Just make sure to read the new restrictions to ensure you are still in compliance.

Ramp Up Your Content Quality

We all know that Google is huge on content quality. Almost every major adjustment is aimed at weeding out spammy content. Now they are cracking down on paid content as well. For those of us who are not marketing dangerous weapons or alcohol, this is the most important update. The are adding a new “Abuse of the Ad Network Policy” section that includes the following prohibitions:

• malicious ads, sites, or apps
• ads promoting sites that offer little unique value to users and are focused primarily on traffic generation
• businesses that attempt to gain an unfair advantage in the ad auction
• businesses that attempt to bypass our review processes
• Content that is designed for the primary purpose of showing ads, i.e. Driving traffic (whether through "arbitrage" or otherwise) to destinations with more ads than original content, little or no original content, or excessive advertising.
• Content that is replicated from another source without adding value in the form of original content or additional functionality, i.e. mirroring, framing or scraping.
• Landing pages that are solely designed to send users elsewhere, i.e. doorway pages, gateways.

Familiarize yourself with the new policies, keep your ads free of user deception and spammy links and you will be fine. For assistance with your AdWords campaigns, you can always call Think Agency, Inc. and make use of our expertise.

photo credit: mark knol via photopin cc