If you have been using the internet long enough, you must have already come across GIFs on various social media platforms. And you might have also noticed how popular they have become in the last couple of years.
Graphics Interchange Format or more commonly known for its shorter-term ‘GIF,’ is a bitmap format of an image that allows still life pictures to become animated images. According to the Influencer MarketingHub, more than around 70% of individuals residing in the United States use GIFs, stickers, and emojis in their everyday communication.
This clearly emphasizes the value of online forms of visual communication and how everyone adores them- millennial specifically- simply because of how entertaining they can add more flavour to their conversations.
Eventually, their growing popularity reached the ears of enthusiastic businessmen who had sniffed out the potential of GIFs and wanted to utilize its function to help improve their brand identity on a global scale. Conversation Media a term that covers different kinds of communication visuals such as GIFs, stickers, Emojis, Memes, Avatars, etc., that are used within one on one online conversations on various social media platforms.
Seeing the potential of profit via GIFs in brands, many companies have gone out of their way to use this tactic to help improve their user engagement on their business webpages.
New Form of Communication
Due to its steep rise in popularity, many people prefer using GIFs as an efficient way of interacting with people online.
Gone are the days when people were simply restricted to dull and plain communicative messages. With GIFS, people can give identity to their messages and have the ability to express themselves in several ways.
Business webpages cannot generate revenue if no one is sticking around to see what their company products or services are all about. Companies need an engaging aspect to keep people interested in what they have- and GIFs have turned out to be the best solution for that dilemma. Adding a few relevant gifs between your business content gives your webpage more personality.
And as visual creatures, people love looking at gifs, especially the good quality ones where they can have a good laugh without needing to give something in return. And the more relatable and entertaining gifs you have, the more likely you are to catch their attention and bridge the gap between your company and your audience.
GIFs Are Replacing Ads
According to a report by the Forbes, more than 80% of millennials have stated that they don’t like nor do they trust traditional marketing. Meaning that all of those millions of dollars you invested in advertisements are only disturbing and annoying your potential customers.
Nothing good will come out of forcing your consumers to indulge in ads they don’t enjoy. If you wish to increase your business authenticity, you need to focus on aspects that your audience will enjoy- with utilizing GIFs being a prime example.
An excellent way to use GIFs to improve user engagement is to customize them according to your brand. Many platforms allow customization to GIFs as well as other forms of Conversation Media like Stickers, Emojis, Avatars. Some of these platforms are Snapchat, Holler, Genies, Bobble AI. These platforms make it very easy for brands to customize GIFs so that they represent their business products or services.
This provides users with an authentic and entertaining experience who are bound to indulge in your business services or even share your business with their friends, ultimately increasing your brand range with the help of a simple marketing tactic.