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What are GIFS?

GIFS have been around for YONKS. They are simple animated images. Kind of like a flipbook (you remember those, right?)

There is a hot debate about whether you pronounce it GIF or JIF (#teamGIF over here), but no matter where you stand, there is no doubt that they are gaining more and more popularity.

Some fun GIF Stats

Giphy passes 100 million daily users who send 1 billion GIFs each day.

Let me say that again; users are sending over 1 BILLION GIFS EVERY DAY.

You can find and share GIFs on almost every social media platform. Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and other social media sites connect to GIPHYs library. 

GIF viewers via GIPHY watch more than 2 million hours of GIFS per day. There are more than 100 million daily active users.

THOSE ARE SOME BIG STATS, PEOPLE.

How can Custom GIFs help your Brand?

GIFs are still a relevantly untapped marketing tool. They have so much potential, and you can use them in a multitude of ways.

You can use them to create an extension of your Brand (increase brand awareness) while also boost engagement. When used well, GIFs can add a dimension to an image and tell a bigger story.

They also give customers a way to share user-created content, extending the reach, and creating word of mouth.

5 Creative Ways to use Branded GIFs on Instagram for your Business

Imagine owning GIFs that you could use anytime a product or service of your Brand is shared. Branded GIFs in your colours and style are a great way to drive engagement and keep consistency. If you have a good handful of GIFs for your customers to choose from, it’ll keep them engaged and entertained whenever they share your products online – that’s a big win in my books.

People love winning things. You could encourage your customers to snap of pic of them with your product. Then upload it to Instagram stories and use a dedicated hashtag and GIF to go into the entry.

Doing this gets people to share your products organically. The hashtag keeps it nice, neat, and easy to find, and the GIF applies your branding to each story shared, which can help with brand awareness and engagement!

You could apply the same strategies to any giveaways that you decide to run online.

It’s no secret that people on Instagram love watching an unboxing. How much better would it be if your customers could film their unboxing and choose from a library of branded GIFs to help them level up their story?
Whether it is your logo or an animated version of your product, there is so much potential.

If you are a service-based business, you could encourage your customers to snap a pic and use one of your GIFs while utilizing your services.

An example of this could be a massage company with GIFs such as “about to relax at xxx” or “massage time,” etc.

As I mentioned previously, the GIPHY library connects to an array of platforms. One of which is Canva. You could take a static photo of your product/service and then add an eye-catching branding GIF to it.

Unlike a video, where users must watch for 15-30 seconds, a GIF creates an eye-catching engaging element to a photo. Instagram is a very cluttered space, so if you can get a user to stop scrolling and look at your post, that is a massive win.

There are endless creative opportunities for what you can create and use GIFS for.

You could take a photo of your product, remove the background, and animate the transparent image.

Alternatively, you could turn your products into an illustration (often more fun!) to showcase them in a new light.

BONUS: GIFs can keep users engaged for the whole story

IG stories are a great way to share more about your Brand. You can share behind the scenes, sneak peeks of new products, share more about the people behind the Brand, etc.

Stories are a great place to utilize GIFs to entice users to watch more of your content (aka tap through your images instead of swipe to the next one)

You could share a snippet of information, and then invite viewers to tap through your story with fun GIFs like arrows or “see more.”
You can also use branded “new post” or “tap here” GIFs when you share your posts to your stories.

PHEW!

I know, I know. That’s a lot of ideas to unpack. Remember, GIFs are FUN, and they can also be a super-powerful marketing tool when used correctly. They create an extension of your Brand, encourage users to engage more with your Business, and allow your customers to create shareable content for you!

If you want to find out more about how to get your custom GIFs into Instagram today, I’d love to help you out!

I’m super passionate about the untapped potential that GIFs have to offer and would love to work with you to level up your GIF game on the gram!

Need More Info?

I’ve dedicated a whole section that explains my process, pricing, and more!

Lets make you some GIFs!