Internet memes and banner ads dominate the world of animated GIFs. Let’s face it most of us think of them as noise, only to be tuned out and ignored while looking for the content we want. Don’t let that discourage you from attempting to use them for commercial and professional use. Being creative, but tactful goes a long way to capturing short attention spans.
Social Networks
Social networks are the way to announce and share blog posts, articles, newsletters and whitepapers with your audience. Attributing visual images to text heavy static content is a great way to promote your brand.
All the major social networks support GIFs. Technically, Facebook does not support GIFs. However, you can get around this by using Giphy. It’s as simple as uploading the GIF and sharing a generated link.
Email Marketing
Email is still the most direct way of reaching your audience. Using an animated GIF will enhance your message with your recipients.
All email clients except MS Outlook support animated GIFs. Outlook will only show the first frame of the GIF, so it’s important to express critical information here.
Product/Service Demonstrations
The challenge with many new products/services is educating consumers on how to use them. Animated GIFs are a great way to demonstrate your new product/service. It has more impact than a photo and not as lengthy as a video or commercial.
Personally, I love discovering new mobile apps. However, finding more information and seeing them in action without having to download leaves a lot to be desired in user experience.
Cinemagraphs
It’s a fancy way of describing animated GIFs. A cinemagraph is an individual photo enhanced by motion of one or more objects. They can engage the viewer to looking at it longer than a static photo and hence drawing them into your product/services.
