If you’re trying to build a presence on social media, much like eating your vegetables, it’s in your best interest to learn how to make a GIF. These beautiful animations, more emotion sparkling than images, and less time-consuming than videos, have become the public’s favorites a long long time ago and haven’t lost their charm since. GIFs are used in many ways on social. So either you need to reply to comments or to just help your brand go viral and get more followers and engagement, a GIF is a go-to.
The main reason why you want to make GIFs is because… well… They are extremely popular! Huh! Let me illustrate just a few facts.
Google trends show the increasing stability of GIFs in the United States:
In 2018, Google purchased Tenor, a GIF archive the main objective of which is to help users find the GIFs they want. Right now, Tenor has more than 400 million GIF searches per day.
As more proof, consider GIPHY, one of the web’s run-after GIF databases that claims to have around 300 million daily users. It should come as no surprise, as GIFs have become mainstream. In fact, GIFs are small in size and easy to load, and that makes them extremely mobile-friendly and responsive. Little pigeons can carry great messages, right?
According to Giphy’s CEO, Alex Chung, “A picture may be worth a thousand words, but as the average GIF contains sixty frames, then they’re capable of conveying 60,000 words – the same as the average novel.”
Static images are less entertaining when compared to GIFs, don’t you agree? As you’ll see later on here, it doesn’t take long to create GIFs from photos.
And yes, by the way:
At first glance, you may think that there’s nothing super special about GIFs. But you’re wrong – GIFs are also made to stick to certain rules and types. Some of them can repeat your favorite HBO series. Some of them can be a genuine piece of art. They can even be something that a designer would include to his or her portfolio. In fact, there are three popular types of GIFs: reaction GIFs, looping GIFs, and cinemagraphs, each performing different functions and used in certain ways to boost engagement on social. But let’s first learn from famous brands how they create GIFs.
If you want to frame a flash of emotion, consider a reaction GIF. As the most well-known genre, reaction GIFs are a way to show responses and emotions. A popular example of a reaction GIF is from Zootropolis, which shows three emotions simultaneously.
This animated clip resonates with the public in many ways and can be used to criticize someone for slowness. Generally, with reaction GIFs one can show absolutely anything – from general feelings to specific and situational specific answers. And your post or comment won’t be left unnoticed, for sure.
Reaction GIFs are better off as answers to comments, that’s true. But thanks to the latest Facebook update you can comment with a GIF that will be published in actual size. That means it can be more noticeable.
Looping GIFs are to show you a process that never ends until you stop it. The best loops will keep you watching for some time as you wonder how they were made to play so seamlessly. I bet you’ve seen him:
If you use MailChimp to send newsletters, you most likely know what a looping GIF is. It appears when everything’s ready and you’re going to push that last button:
MailChimp definitely knows the art of making evergreen GIFs and by their example, you can learn how to use looping GIFs specifically for your brand!
The value branded GIFs can bring to your social media campaigns is immense, really. “Cinemagraphs” is a strange word that even Grammarly doesn’t recognize, but it is a special type of a GIF with one or two areas of motion. Making pictures into GIFs, you can put in motion some of its parts like distant waterfalls or city streets. This type of GIFs is popular with the traveling niche, as you can visualize a serene, peaceful quality.
Even though this type of GIFs is very attractive and you might like them, cinemagraphs are quite difficult to create. If you need to create your own cinemagraph, watch this great video tutorial that explains the process you can follow, using your own footage and some Photoshop skills.
The simplest proven way would be to use Google’s Image Search. It’s possible to track down any GIF by clicking “Search Tools” under the search bar, then go into the “Any Type” dropdown and select “Animated.” Here you go. A page full of GIFs to pick through. Not 100% of the results are animated, but you’ll find a lot of gems. Don’t thank me 😉
These websites also offer ones to enhance your social media marketing:
PromoRepublic, our smart posting tool also has more than 100,000 freshly made original creatives, including GIFs. Have you seen them elsewhere? Of course, you haven’t!
Click on this image to see how you can customize it in PromoRepublic interface.
Finding a GIF is not a problem. Making GIFs from photos or videos is a breeze, too.
Let’s be honest, brands want to post unique content. They want to be ingenious. This leads us to the next set of questions:
The easiest way to create an original piece of content in motion, or a GIF from a set of images, is to start with taking photos. Take as many photos as you can from your phone, framing the moments you like. What I’ve noticed is that Google Photos can surprise you with its own animation in the form of a video. If that’s the case, jump to the next section of how to make a GIF from a video.
But there are many online tools that can easily convert both pictures and videos to GIFs. One such free tool is Imgflip. It helps you make high-quality animated GIFs from pictures online for free, with simple and powerful customization options.
You can also make GIFs from videos of any duration, using GIPHY application. The following steps will help you create one.
Nice and easy, isn’t it?
Save the GIF and upload it on your social media accounts.
You can also create GIFs from photos and videos in Photoshop. The process, however, is more time-consuming. To make a photo series into a GIF in Photoshop, you can follow the next steps.
Yes, technology has come further. There are multiple tools designed to help you create a unique GIF in just a few minutes. One such tool is GIPHY Cam, a mobile app that allows you to make GIFs on your phone. It’s user-friendly, just like Snapchat or Instagram. All you need to do is to install the app and start recording. You can either tap the photo button a few times or hold it for a longer time. While editing your GIF, you can also choose a particular filter and even add some stickers. Android users can use GIFDroid to turn their videos into animated GIFs. So you will be able to either select a video or record one and transform it into a looping GIF, for example.
After making your videos and photos into GIFs, it’s time to share them to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Linkedin.
When you create the GIF, you will have the option to upload it on the GIPHY service. You need to do this to get the URL that you will paste in a Facebook post. To post your work, simply paste the URL of an animated GIF into Facebook’s “update status” field. You can then add text as usual. Twitter offers you pretty much readymade GIFs, so you can find your GIF of choice. Alternatively, upload your own that you previously saved with GIPHY.
If you don’t have time for making unique GIFs, PromoRepublic will get you covered. Our smart posting system has a library of post ideas, including premade GIFs. You choose a GIF and schedule to share it. The tool will show you the best time, based on the time zone of the audience you select. How could it be simpler if you need to share a single piece of content to five places simultaneously?
Do you use GIFs? Have your marketing campaigns improved? Let’s talk! Leave your answers in the comments below.
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View Comments
awesome Alla ! thanks so much for this - wonderful resource information - cheers ! @FergDevins
My pleasure, Ferg!
awesome post.. btw when can we find and share gifs via promo-republic ? :)
Hello Ali! My pleasure. We at PromoRepublic do our best to provide you with the best service. For now, you can enjoy posting to Instagram with PromoRepublic! I think that's also great, don't you think so?:) GIFs are coming soon!
Top notch, Alla, thanks!
Thank you, Chris! Do you have some social media topics that you would like to learn next with me?
This was a great article - and the video is very detailed. I appreciate how thorough you were. I always wondered how to make a gif. Thanks so much for making the tutorial easy to follow
Hey Teressah! I'm so happy I could help you with GIFs creation and further implementation in your social media campaigns! What other topics I could help you with?
Great post, appreciate the details and I found a couple new resources :)
http://www.reactiongifs.com/you-are-awesome/#LQzh5WaD8lt1U2Bj.01
Thanks for the link, Sean! I'll check it out!
Thank you, Sean! They are really useful!