Gone were the days when GIFS were only seen in direct messages and comments on social media. These days, marketers have found creative ways to make use of this fun image to promote brands and businesses.
It’s becoming popular to present brands or products on social media. They can be used in many different ways and are also a great way to get creative with your marketing campaigns.
If you’re new to this trend, don’t worry. We’ll walk you through this ‘new cool’ in marketing.
Not all marketers know how to use them properly. So we’ve compiled some tips for you. We’ll show you how other marketers are using GIFs, how you can also use GIFs in an interesting yet effective way, and a few points to help you perfect your GIF marketing strategy.
Let’s get to it.
Table of Contents
The Meaning of GIFs
GIFs are a type of image file that can be used for marketing purposes. They are often short and looped, giving them more staying power than other types of images. They’re also fun and engaging, making them a great option for any campaign that wants to show off your brand’s personality.
GIFs can be used creatively to express emotions like happiness, sadness, surprise, or excitement. You could use one in an email newsletter to tell readers how excited you are about an upcoming event or product launch.
Or maybe you’ll want a GIF with humor as part of your next social media post advertising a sale on merchandise at your store.
Already thinking about some creative ideas? Here are some ways that marketers are using GIFs.
How Can Marketers Use GIFs?
Marketing GIFs have several uses. They can be used to convey a message, promote a product or service, promote an event, and even promote a brand.
If you’re not sure how to start using GIFs in your campaigns, here are some tips on how to get started:
Use GIFs as emojis. This is the simplest way to use them. Instead of using the standard emojis that everybody else has, use the more engaging GIF versions to express your brand’s personality and values.
You can also use custom-branded emojis for contests or giveaways so participants know which ones are theirs when they enter.
Create eye-catching social media posts with GIFs that highlight key points of your content. This would draw people into reading more about it and also help you gain more attention and engagement.
Use GIFs to create engaging social media stories for your brand. This is a great way to get people excited about your content, especially if you’re using an animated video that’s longer than 15 seconds. It keeps viewers interested in what happens next and prevents them from getting bored too quickly.
Where can you get GIFs?
There are many websites to find animated GIFs, but GIPHY is by far the most popular. You can also use Google Search to search for relevant keywords like “marketing” or “advertising”.
GIPHY has an extensive library of GIFs that cover a variety of topics like sports, music, and lifestyle. You can filter your searches based on popularity, upload date, and even the file size you need.
The site doesn’t have a ton of GIFs, but it’s the best place to find animated GIFs that are relevant to your niche.
It also has a social media plugin that lets you add GIFs to your website and blogs. You can even share them directly on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms.
Marketing with GIFs is easy and fun
GIFS are a fun way to get creative and connect with your audience. They’re also an excellent tool for creating marketing campaigns that are engaging, and memorable, and will help you achieve your business goals!
The first step is deciding what type of GIFs you want to use in your campaign. Are they going to be used as part of a product launch? Or are they just for fun? If it’s the latter, then there’s no right or wrong answer.
You only have to make sure that whatever GIFs you choose aligns with the message of your brand overall and aren’t offensive.Â
Here are a few things to guide you select the most suitable GIFs for your brand and your marketing campaigns;
Know your audience.
The first step to creating an effective GIF is knowing who you’re trying to reach, and what kind of message they’ll respond best to.
This requires having a firm grasp of your brand’s target market and understanding how they think and feel. If you don’t know this already, then it’s time to do some research.
Once you’ve identified who your ideal audience is, try brainstorming ways that they might respond positively when shown a GIF that resonates with their needs.
You can also try thinking about what makes other brands’ marketing campaigns so successful; for example, the Quaker Oats man has been using the same spokes-GIF since 1963 because it works!
Now that you have a solid understanding of what type of platform images work best for different types of people within your demographic, let’s take a look at how being timely will help boost engagement rates even further.
Be timely.
To get started, you’ll need to figure out what type of GIFs will resonate with your audience and fit into the context of your brand. And while it might be tempting to use whatever GIFs are trending right now, this can backfire if they’re not relevant enough.
For example, if you sell baby clothes and toys in a maternity store or online shop, then it’s probably not wise to use a meme that says “I just had a baby…and now I’m depressed.”
This may seem like a funny joke for some people, but for others who are experiencing postpartum depression or other mental health issues, this could be triggering or upsetting.
The same goes for using memes that involve suicide or self-harm. These topics should never be used lightly or without consideration for those who have been affected by them.
Go for emotions
One thing you can do to make your marketing GIFs more effective is to focus on emotions. Emotions are powerful and help you remember things better.
Positive emotions create a contagious state of excitement, which means people around you will be more receptive to your message as long as they feel good when they look at it.
The best way to connect with people is through their emotions. So make sure yours drive them in the right direction.
Be relatable.
Relatability is a key to successful marketing campaigns. Your audience will be more likely to engage with your GIFs if they can relate to them in some way.
Showing someone who looks like them performing the task you want them to perform, or using your product or service, is an excellent way of doing this.
Remember, people are more likely to engage with relatable content in any form and so you must create a strong connection between themselves and whatever it is you’re trying to sell them.
Be relevant.
The first thing to consider is whether your GIF will be relevant to the content you’re sharing. For example, if you’re posting a link to an article about how to reach out to customers on social media, then it makes sense that your GIF should be something like this:
[Image of happy customer shaking hand with business owner]
When they see that happy customer shaking hands with their business owner, they know exactly how important it is for them and their company to reach out as well.
They’re also more likely to click through because they can imagine themselves in that same situation.
Final thoughts on using GIFs in your marketing campaigns.
Before you start creating GIFs, it’s important to understand who you’re trying to reach and how they’ll react.
You want to be relevant so that your messages are received in a positive light by your customers.
As we mentioned above, marketing with GIFs is a great way to connect with your audience, but don’t overdo it.
They should be used sparingly as a way of enhancing your brand message. When done right, they can be an effective tool for reaching out and connecting with potential customers, and that’s pretty cool
