At some point, nearly every social media startup intends to make money. Tumblr has held off for quite some time, but now they are about to roll out their revenue model: ads.
Their model will have a starting point of $25,000 to be included in their “Tumblr Radar” and “Tumble Spotlight” sections. The Radar is visible on every users’ dashboard on the right sidebar. The dashboard is the starting point (and most commonly browsed portion) for members when they are logged in and promises 120 million daily impressions.
Tumblr Spotlight is an editor-curated section where the best of the best of Tumblr is highlighted. Similar to Radar, Spotlight (pictured above) offers advertisers an opportunity reach tens of millions, including the ability to have a company’s own Tumblogs followed as a result of being featured.
The site has 54 million users who publish 70 million posts per day. This generates 17.5 billion monthly pageviews and is currently ranked #12 in the US on Quantcast.
All of these figures are impressive, but is $25,000 too high of a starting point? Twitter by comparison has an entry at $15,000.
The key will be whether or not sponsors will be able to put out compelling content that is more than just the standard banner-ad style that so many currently employ. It’s about grabbing attention enough to pull visitors to their pages and will require creativity more than simple brand messaging or basic advertising.