According to Tumblr, the website currently has 200 million blogs publishing 80 million posts per day. It is important to note that unlike other social platforms, there are also visitors that do not have accounts. When counting both registered users and unregistered visitors, Tumblr’s number of unique visitors jumps to 300 million per month.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Tumblr has the youngest audience of all social platforms, with 70% of its users between the ages of 16 and 34. This is an exciting statistic for brands attempting to reach a younger demographic, but it also means that not every business stands to benefit from creating a Tumblr account. If you are not attempting to market to young consumers, you may be better off investing your time and resources into more diverse platform like Facebook or Twitter. Tumblr is ranked #1 in social sentiment towards brands, so if you are able to find an effective way to communicate with its users, it can be a great way to build brand loyalty.

Now that you have a general idea of Tumblr’s growth and demographics, how can you start using it for your brand? These few basic steps are essential to creating a successful blog.

Be familiar with the platform

The best way to figure out how you can use Tumblr as a marketing tool is to create an account and spend some time getting to know the platform. I’ve already stressed that it is different from other social media, but the easiest way to get a sense of how is simply by browsing the site as a user.

When you log in, you’ll be presented with your “dashboard,” or a feed of the most recent posts from all of the blogs you follow. Posts will be a mix of text, photos, quotes, links, conversations, audio clips, and videos. You will also see posts that people you follow have “reblogged,” or reposted to their own blog from other blogs. Each post has a number of “notes,” which indicates how many users have liked or reblogged it since it was posted. Most posts also include tags at the bottom that identify what the post is about.

You can find blogs to follow by searching for tags that interest you in the “Search Tumblr” bar. You can also search for other brands in your industry to see which ones already have Tumblr accounts. Following a few blogs right off the bat will give you a head start on becoming a part of the Tumblr “community.”

Once you have a feel for how other users post and interact with one another, it will be easier to thrive on Tumblr. You’ll get a sense of the casual style that dominates the site and be able to emulate it in your own content. This does not mean that you have to adopt the loose grammar and hyperbolic tendency of many users – just that you should keep those users in mind and be able to attract and interact with them.

Decide the way Tumblr can be used for your brand

Given that Tumblr is different from other social platforms,it will likely serve a different purpose from your brand’s other social media accounts. Instead of driving traffic to your ecommerce site or having direct calls to action, your Tumblr’s main focus could simply be raising brand awareness.

Determine what exactly it is you hope to accomplish with Tumblr before spending time creating your content.

What to create

Tumblr is a very visual platform, so posts that are strictly text are often ignored. Images and GIFs are more engaging than text, and tend to get more reblogs, so focus your efforts on posting content that will grab users’ attention as they are scrolling through their dashboards. Creative, off-the-wall content does well, and ideally, you should create posts that users will want to reblog regardless of the fact that they are associated with your company.

If you are struggling to come up with ideas, think about what could be visually appealing about your brand. Do you have any eyecatching products? Can you take “behind-the-scenes” photos of your employees? Do you have a cool, new office to show off? Anything that is fun to look at is perfect for Tumblr. If you are trying to create a brand identity, you don’t have to explicitly promote your products. This strategy works on Tumblr, because no matter whose blogs the images end up on, your brand name will stay at the top of the post.

Tumblr users also tend to respond well to humor. Don’t attempt to put a funny spin on everything you post, especially if it doesn’t match your brand’s identity, but if you think of a good joke that relates to your company or a humorous caption for a photo, there’s a chance that it will be well-received by your followers.

Tag your posts

Once you’ve created content and are ready to publish it to Tumblr, it is very important that you use appropriate tags on your posts. These tags are how users search Tumblr, and will help users besides your followers see your content. When used correctly, tags can be a great way to extend your reach. However, make sure that the tags you use are relevant. Don’t just add a bunch of popular tags in the hopes that more users will see your post.