Many Tumblr users visit the social network to interact with their favorite fandoms or reminisce about childhood memories. The site also attracts a younger audience who make many of their purchases online.
“Tumblr is small but mighty and offers retailers a visually stimulating environment,” Tamara Gaffney, Adobe Digital Index’s principal analyst, told AdWeek. “The fact that it produces highest revenue per visit from mobile devices is likely due to its user base, which is skewed to young, trendy and well-educated urbanites with a greater affinity for online purchases and the disposable income to spend more.”
The median household income of Tumblr’s users is $80,075, according to data provided by Tumblr to Adweek. That’s more than Twitter ($79,562), Pinterest ($78,967) and Facebook ($70,124). Only LinkedIn users make more, with a yearly income of $83,000.
Despite a smaller number of registered users, Tumblr attracts marketers because its users are more likely to make purchases based on what they see on their dashboard. More than half of Tumblr users purchased something found on their dashboards and 90 percent “have been inspired to buy something” by their dashboard, according to an August Tumblr brand report obtained by AdWeek.
“Not only do our users have the greatest spending power, but they also spend the most time on our platform,” Lee Brown, Tumblr’s global head of brand partnerships, told Adweek. “They are both engaged and active, taking that next crucial step to buy what they discover on Tumblr (and then post about it).”
Facebook has 1.3 billion registered users and Twitter has 271 million. Tumblr’s nearly 14 million users is only a fraction of their total numbers because not everyone is logged-in, according to eMarketer.
Tumblr referrals from mobile devices also bring in more revenue per visit. The social media site generates $2.57 on tablets and 67 cents on smartphones for referrals to a retail site, according to the last Adobe Mobile Benchmark report.
A Facebook referral for a retail site will only generate $1.55 on tablets and 42 cents on smartphones. Twitter comes in third and Pinterest fourth in this category.
“The customer journey begins on Tumblr with prepurchase aspiration and ends on Tumblr for postpurchase celebration, making Tumblr the ultimate destination for shopping,” Brown said.
