toward a less humbl tumbl

February 2, 2010 9:26 AM

How to best get more Tumblr followers... using methods within Tumblr?

I'm one of the people in charge of updating and promoting the Tumblr feed that is connected to a new corporate website. I can do pretty much anything I want within Tumblr, although I can only advise the company on how to promote the feed anywhere else. There is a Facebook feed and a Twitter feed, and they are being used to call some attention to the Tumblr feed, but I have no control over those things.

What can I do within Tumblr itself to get more people following the feed? The two main approaches I'm taking right now are:

a) Reblog, "like," and comment on posts of tumblrs whom I would like to have as followers, and

b) Tag my posts with relevant and popular metadata tags that will make it easier for people to find them on search.

What am I missing?

posted by bingo to computers & internet (6 answers total)

The answer is the same as for any blog. Write interesting and/or useful content, update frequently, and the viewers will come.
posted by chrisamiller at 10:11 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yeah, just to be clear: I know that. I'm very, very experienced with the mechanics of social media and am not in any way looking for high-level strategic advice. I'm only looking for information about dealing with Tumblr specifically, in a purely nuts and bolts way. If no such information is forthcoming, then may the rest of this thread please be completely empty.
posted by bingo at 10:41 AM on February 2, 2010

What am I missing?

Be interesting. Interesting stuff brings repeat viewers.

Also, it helps to fit into the culture of the site; that your question includes the phrase "advise the company," it would seem this may be a major roadblock. Tumblr isn't really for companies.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:18 AM on February 2, 2010

On non-preview, uh, never mind?
posted by Sys Rq at 11:19 AM on February 2, 2010

Actually, yes, sorry, the answers above are almost the only answers. Tumblr doesn't "game" very well or perhaps at all. People won't follow you on Tumblr if they're actually not interested in your content! I suppose one thing you would want, however, if possible, is to be listed in their new directories, which are segregated by content. Or get followed and picked up by the staff blog—so I guess the best thing to do would be to befriend the people at Tumblr itself and insinuate yourself into their reblogging love.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 11:46 AM on February 2, 2010

Tumblr doesn't have an inbuilt comment system, asides from reblogs - that said, strategy #1 is really the best thing you have for Tumblr. It's how a lot of communities are formed on there - I've found so many interesting people and have actually made some friends just based on who had reblogged and liked my content (especially those with interesting commentary).

Follow people too - there's an option to be notified, and you'll keep abreast on what else is going on that's related to your interests.
posted by divabat at 10:21 AM on February 7, 2010