ARE GIFS 2017'S BEST FORM OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION?

If we told you the significance of GIFs like they are, this would be short, packed with emotion and leave you wanting so much more. First developed in 1987, the GIF today has taken over the internet in every form. Whether it’s a 3-second clip of a cat or the rotations of the earth, the GIF makes you watch it over and over, because the one time was just not enough. They’re trendy, packed with emotion and get your point across in the matter of a couple of seconds- a marketeer’s dream come true.

Inculcating a new marketing strategy with GIFs will show you how GIFs have evolved our visual language. It favours sharp-edged line art- such as for logos- with a limited number of colours, it’s small resolution format can pack animations using minimal data, the video sources can be edited and paired with contrary content and it can be used to emphasise a minor detail by juxtaposing data. And on a more humanised end, GIFs can make people laugh and connect with small, relatable content. A small file of engaging information makes the viewer want more, which makes them follow the trail to your brand and unknowingly connect with your brand. It does ALL of this, in just a couple of seconds. So now you also know how to leverage GIFs to humanize your brand!And if that isn’t convincing enough, The New York Times reported that 23 million GIFs are posted on Tumblr every single day and the biggest social media platform- Facebook- sees over 5 million GIFs on a daily basis!

GIFs are EVERYWHERE. These little charming clips pop up on our feeds on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and possibly every other social media platform there is.

10 ways to use animated GIFs on social media are-

• Use your GIFs to post reactions and make your content relatable
• Convey small bits of information through them, make your audience want more
• Post GIFs in such a way that better the overall appearance of your feed
• “How I Feel When” GIFs can humanize your brand and make you connect with a larger audience over time.
• Use GIFs of popular sitcoms to garner more attention
• Use related tags with your GIFs to make content more wholesome
• Post GIFs of memorable world events, always stay relevant
• Make your own GIFs, go crazy! (You can use programs like Imgflip to make GIFs)
• Post GIFs relevant to the mood and target audience to maintain your connect with your users.
• Animal GIFs. Need we say more?

Brands connecting with audiences through GIFs almost always make the brand more likeable, for eg:

1. When Ben & Jerry’s used a tantalizing GIF of fudge drizzle wrapped in a waffle on top of two scoops of ice cream and chocolate chip cookie crumbles on their blog to announce that the BRRR-ito was back!

2. Starbucks makes gorgeous GIFs on their social media to tempt audiences to come in, and tempted we are.

3. The Stuart Weitzman is using aesthetic, colourful GIFs on the homepage of their website to showcase collections has us wanting to know more and more about the brand.

4. Denny’s uses hilarious GIFs of their food in various forms on their blog that make us think that Denny’s might just be another food-obsessed guy like us!

GIPHY, Reddit, Gifbin, Reaction GIFs and What Should We Call Me are 5 places to find GIFs, no matter what mood you are in and what kind of content you might be looking for. Open your brand to these delightful bits of visual content that enable us to precisely condense our multiple thoughts and feelings in a limited amount of time with virtual communication. It’s pretty darn fun, and you won’t know how successful it is till you try it!