Choosy Marketers Choose GIFs

Let’s talk GIFs. Are you racking your brain asking: 1. What the heck is a GIF? Or 2. I know what a GIF is, but why would I utilize it? If you fall into camp #1–read the next paragraph. Camp #2–skip to paragraph 3. And if you are already using GIFs, maybe you have some suggestions you’d like to share. If that’s the case, email us and we’ll share them with our readers!

A ‘Graphics Interchange Format’ or GIF, is a digital image file that is compressed to reduce transfer time. An animated GIF is a graphic image on a Web page that moves – like, a twirling icon or a banner letters that get larger. In particular, an animated GIF is a file in the Graphics Interchange Format specified as GIF89a that contains within the single file a set of images that are presented in a specified order. An animated GIF can loop endlessly (and it appears as though your document never finishes arriving) or it can present one or a few sequences and then stop. Animated GIFs are frequently used in Web ad banners. The proper pronunciation of the acronym is a soft “g” sound: like JIF. At some point someone definitely made the, “Choosy programmers choose GIF” joke…

Now that we’re all on the same page, here are two of the major benefits of using GIFs in your marketing efforts.

All Eyes Here.

An animated GIF guides the viewer’s eye along a specific path without being completely obvious. The format zooms in on a specific moment in the bigger picture. This visual guidance creates a good call-to-action. To effectively market anything, you should always be considering different ways in which you can grab your audience’s attention using new call-to-action tools.

Short Attentions Span—No Problem!

We know it is hard to capture and keep your customer’s attention, and therefore believe the tools you use to stay in front of them need to evolve-constantly. The animated GIF can be a good, inexpensive solution to assist you in capturing consumer attention and refocusing it in short timeframe.

Interested in learning how and where to utilize GIFs in your social media, email or web marketing strategies? Give us a shout! We’d love to help!