How to Properly Use Animated GIFs for Your Social Media Marketing?

Posted By Jane Danes on Sep 14, 2015 |

Animated GIF (Graphics Interface Format) was first introduced in 1987. It was also one of the first photo formats commonly used on a web page. These days, GIFs have become an integral part of some social media marketing campaigns.

How to Properly Use Animated GIFs for Your Social Media Marketing?

Why They Are Getting Popular?

They work like emoticons or emojis. That is, they can easily and quickly transmit the message to the world of social media that have been flooded with image-based communication.

You can use them to tell the story of your company or a product in a more in-depth way.

How to Use GIFs as Part of Your Social Media Marketing Campaign? Offer a Glimpse of a Product

Showing off a product can be done using high-quality images. However, if you use animated GIFs, the introduction will make it more interesting. These GIFs will easily show off the details of your product that can surely entice shoppers.

Show Personality

Animated GIFs can help create a deeper relationship with your audience. After all, social media is all about fun. This is one of the reasons most of us love to spend our time on them.

Using this type of marketing will also help you stay human as you create endearing GIFs. You may include wacky GIFs but make sure that they are mesmerizing.

This method can also be used to highlight the culture of your company or giving your audience what is inside your company.

Show them who you are, what things that make you laugh or what you are doing every day at work.

Those GIFs can be a lighthearted way for you to share a little bit of your culture within your organization.

Your followers on social media will get to know you more. And they will know that the person who is handling your social media accounts is not a robot but a real person who can laugh and cry (or something like that).

Make Mini-Presentation

It is true that GIFs are limited. But this is the reason they are more interesting than posting long-minute videos or just images. With this method, you can make amazing micro presentation of an eye-catching story using a few frames.

The result? Your audience will be more curious about the product.  

You can also use it to explain a process, like how-to and step-by-step guide. Admit it. It is easier to explain a process using images than words.

Telling a story will also be more intriguing and stimulating using several still images.

How to Properly Use Animated GIFs for Your Social Media Marketing?

Last January, the New York Times announced that they redesigned their website. The Atlantic made animated GIFs to show how this popular site has evolved over the years.

The result? It was shared hundreds of times.

Show a Sneak Peek

Animated GIFs will also help in giving your audience a sneak peek of your future product, instead of providing them with simple video or one image. The several frames can be the perfect way to tease your audience.

How to Make Animated GIFs?

Too busy to use Photoshop to make GIFs? You might want to use web tools. EZGIF is one of those sites that will help you create your own GIFs.

Have you used animated GIFs to your social media marketing? How was it?

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Source: How to Properly Use Animated GIFs for Your Social Media Marketing?