How to use animated GIFs in your online communication strategies?
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2024 3:08 am
In 2012, the Oxford Dictionary recognized the word “GIF” because “it is no longer just a medium of expression for pop culture; it has become a tool for research and journalism,” as stated by the dictionary’s editor, Katherine Martin.
This image format was already used years ago to create banners brazil phone number data with different sequences, since it is a very simple way to create a moving advertisement without resorting to expensive video production.
But animated GIFs have not stopped there, but have evolved as an element of communication and have ended up being used almost as much as the famous emoticons and emojis for social networks.
Such is the social revolution that the use of animated GIFs has caused, that many communication channels have begun to support their use. For example, you can include them in your Facebook and Twitter posts, or in your Whatsapp or Telegram conversations with total ease.
So that you too can include GIFs in your online communication strategy, in this post I invite you to discover how to get the most out of them, where to get them and, especially, how to use them in email marketing .
1 How to use animated GIFs in your strategies?
1.1 ► Using animated GIFs in blogging
1.2 ► Use of animated GIFs on social networks
1.3 ► Using animated GIFs in email marketing
1.4 ► Using animated GIFs on websites and e-commerce
1.4.1 Capture the visitor's attention
1.4.2 Dynamic explanation of products or services
1.4.3 Enriching blog posts and content
1.4.4 Customer Testimonials and Reviews
1.4.5 Interactive guides and tutorials
2 Specific Tips for Using Animated GIFs
2.1 ► Creating custom GIFs
2.2 ► Technical considerations (size, speed, color)
2.3 ► Best practices for integrating GIFs across platforms
3 Tools and resources to create and obtain animated GIFs
3.1 ► Tools to create custom GIFs
3.2 ► Where to download animated GIFs?
4 Conclusion
How to use animated GIFs in your strategies?
“Animated GIFs, Graphic Interchange Format or Image Interchange Format, are image files with 1 or more frames that follow one another constantly and infinitely.”
Its first use in online marketing was, as I mentioned, in web banners . These have evolved a lot and now, the trend is towards rich formats that are displayed to give way to a gallery of images or a video.
Due to the evolution of banners, the use of GIFs fell, becoming a file with very little demand. However, the use of memes by social media users has revalued it, and now it is the channels themselves that facilitate their inclusion in the content.
Users are increasingly using animated GIFs in their conversations, sometimes even communicating exclusively through them. After all, it is a format that allows you to tell a short story in seconds.
“Animated GIFs are a good ally for online communication strategies, precisely because they allow you to say a lot in a short amount of time.”
In addition, its technical characteristics are ideal for use in all digital channels:
Loading speed : Unlike other content, these files load very quickly because they are still images joined together, not a video file.
Weight : Thanks to their compression algorithm, animated GIFs weigh very little and are easy to distribute on the Internet.
Activation : You don't need to activate them manually, as they start showing their sequence of images as soon as they load. No interaction with users is necessary for them to see the story you want to tell.
Movement : Since they are a sequence of images, they attract more attention than static content.
Viewing : Can be viewed from any device and browser.
Animated GIFs have a very high viral potential thanks to these features; they are easy to share and are now more popular than ever on social media.
For this reason, more and more brands are opting to include them in their strategies and use them not only on social networks, but also in blogging and email marketing.
This image format was already used years ago to create banners brazil phone number data with different sequences, since it is a very simple way to create a moving advertisement without resorting to expensive video production.
But animated GIFs have not stopped there, but have evolved as an element of communication and have ended up being used almost as much as the famous emoticons and emojis for social networks.
Such is the social revolution that the use of animated GIFs has caused, that many communication channels have begun to support their use. For example, you can include them in your Facebook and Twitter posts, or in your Whatsapp or Telegram conversations with total ease.
So that you too can include GIFs in your online communication strategy, in this post I invite you to discover how to get the most out of them, where to get them and, especially, how to use them in email marketing .
1 How to use animated GIFs in your strategies?
1.1 ► Using animated GIFs in blogging
1.2 ► Use of animated GIFs on social networks
1.3 ► Using animated GIFs in email marketing
1.4 ► Using animated GIFs on websites and e-commerce
1.4.1 Capture the visitor's attention
1.4.2 Dynamic explanation of products or services
1.4.3 Enriching blog posts and content
1.4.4 Customer Testimonials and Reviews
1.4.5 Interactive guides and tutorials
2 Specific Tips for Using Animated GIFs
2.1 ► Creating custom GIFs
2.2 ► Technical considerations (size, speed, color)
2.3 ► Best practices for integrating GIFs across platforms
3 Tools and resources to create and obtain animated GIFs
3.1 ► Tools to create custom GIFs
3.2 ► Where to download animated GIFs?
4 Conclusion
How to use animated GIFs in your strategies?
“Animated GIFs, Graphic Interchange Format or Image Interchange Format, are image files with 1 or more frames that follow one another constantly and infinitely.”
Its first use in online marketing was, as I mentioned, in web banners . These have evolved a lot and now, the trend is towards rich formats that are displayed to give way to a gallery of images or a video.
Due to the evolution of banners, the use of GIFs fell, becoming a file with very little demand. However, the use of memes by social media users has revalued it, and now it is the channels themselves that facilitate their inclusion in the content.
Users are increasingly using animated GIFs in their conversations, sometimes even communicating exclusively through them. After all, it is a format that allows you to tell a short story in seconds.
“Animated GIFs are a good ally for online communication strategies, precisely because they allow you to say a lot in a short amount of time.”
In addition, its technical characteristics are ideal for use in all digital channels:
Loading speed : Unlike other content, these files load very quickly because they are still images joined together, not a video file.
Weight : Thanks to their compression algorithm, animated GIFs weigh very little and are easy to distribute on the Internet.
Activation : You don't need to activate them manually, as they start showing their sequence of images as soon as they load. No interaction with users is necessary for them to see the story you want to tell.
Movement : Since they are a sequence of images, they attract more attention than static content.
Viewing : Can be viewed from any device and browser.
Animated GIFs have a very high viral potential thanks to these features; they are easy to share and are now more popular than ever on social media.
For this reason, more and more brands are opting to include them in their strategies and use them not only on social networks, but also in blogging and email marketing.