How To Make Facebook GIFs Work For Marketers!

"A photo GIF is worth a thousand words.

Have you considered using  animated Graphics Interchange Formats (GIFs) in Facebook News Feeds?


Facebook now supports animated GIFs in its News Feeds.


What’s Animated GIFs?

You’ve probably seen an animated GIF, but may not have known what it was called. Animated GIFs are short clips of images (from movies, individual pictures, etc.) that play on a loop.

Animated GIFs have  made a resurgence in popular culture, becoming a quick way for avid social networkers to share opinions, reactions, and to relive moments on platforms like Twitter and Tumblr.


How To Use Facebook GIFs?

To try the new feature, Facebook users can paste a link to a GIF hosted on an external website like Giphy, Imgur, Tumblr, or elsewhere, into their status update box and then publish. The GIF will be animated inline after you post. You can’t currently upload GIFs directly, however, and see the same results.

The best part?

The functionality couldn’t be easier.
 
How It Works

1. Copy the link to your favorite GIF

 

2. Paste it into the status update bar

 

 

(It’s important to note that when you paste the link and the GIF populates, you have the option to delete the URL that appears in the status update box to eliminate clutter.)

3. Post

  

 In terms of choosing a GIF source, Facebook supports the whole gamut — Tumblr, Imgur, Giphy, Google Image search, etc. As long as you have the direct link to the GIF image file, you’re golden.

What This Means for Marketers

For marketers animated GIFs can  play an important role as a storytelling tool in emails. GIFs provide quick ways to tell an effective story, show off multiple products, or highlight a specific area in the email without having to deal with bulky videos or Flash.
With attention spans shrinking, these short video clips provide marketers with the perfect way to capture the attention of their audience in a otherwise noisy feed. GIFs are super easy to consume.

The Bottom Line?

It’s worth a try.

Overall, GIFs can be a valuable tool for marketers hoping to make a splash amongst consumers. In the Vine and Instagram video era, consumers are becoming more comfortable with the way these images are served up, and will likely be more comfortable seeing them appear in emails.
Apart from adding visual interest, GIFs are an excellent way to highlight products or create a clear call to action while keeping the file size down. With widespread support across platforms and preference over video and Flash, the GIF is a valid choice option for the modern day e-mail marketer.


So if you’re going to use animated GIFs on Facebook, treat them as  any other marketing tactic: identify your goals, monitor their success and fit them seamlessly into your Facebook posts’ schedule.


What are you waiting for marketers? Hurry up  and take advantage of GIFS in Facebook News Feeds to promote your products and excite followers so they take action.


How about you? Are you going to use cool animated GIFs in Facebook? Do you have ideas you’d like to share with us? Let us know in the comments below!

This article was originally posted on MarkCommPitch Blog