You’ve probably seen them everywhere now: animated or “moving” images commonly known as GIFs. Although they were invented in 1987, Graphic Interchange Formats, or GIFs, have recently become a popular social media marketing tool, allowing brands to connect with their audiences on an emotional and relatable level. Let’s look at how these visually engaging, relatable moving images can positively impact your social media campaigns.
Grab Your Audience’s Attention
Source GIPHY
“Lois! Lois! Mom! Mom! Mommy! Mommy! Mama! Mama! Ma! Ma! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mummy! Mumma!”
Capturing your audience’s attention is critical in the digital space, where users quickly consume large amounts of content on a daily basis without even being aware. If they don’t find a post funny, emotional or informative within the first second of viewing it, they will continue to scroll. Because many users prefer to consume information visually, GIFs are a compelling way to convey and absorb content. These creative animations are more effective than still images at engaging your userbase and inciting social shares.
Product Promotion
via GIPHY
GIFs can be a powerful tool for product promotion, storytelling and sharing information, so it’s important to use them strategically. GIFs can be a highly effective way to promote timely offerings and showcase different aspects of your product and services. They’re more bite-sized and digestible than video posts and more appealing than static images. Whether educational or promotional in nature, GIFs can help your business stand out in the digital space.
Show Your Brand’s Personality
via GIPHY
Animated GIFs can create a more relatable, positive connection with your audience, allowing your business to show some personality. Connecting with users on an emotional level builds brand trust and loyalty, making your audience more likely to remember and engage with your business. This can provide a competitive edge and help your business stand out. Depending on your brand positioning and tone, GIFs can be funny, emotional, serious or informative—whatever best demonstrates who you are and what you are trying to convey.
Inspire Your Audience on Social Media
via GIPHY
Using GIFs to sell a product or tell a story can be a great way to inspire user-generated content on social media. GIFs make great conversation starters and encourage users to engage and respond, sometimes even with a GIF of their own. Inspiring your audience to create their own GIFs—to be shared on your website or social media platform—can generate more traffic and drive sales or conversions.
Whether you are promoting a product, sharing a story, or conveying information, moving images are likely to increase engagement. GIFs provide a timely and relevant approach to social media marketing that encourages users to interact with your business. Consult the experts at ZAG to learn more about how GIFs can impact your marketing strategy and allow your social media efforts to be even more effective.