All About GIFs: A #BufferChat Recap
This week on #bufferchat our community had a wonderful time chatting about and sharing some pretty amazing GIFs. Read on to discover all of the awesome insights shared during the chat!
Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and to meet hundreds of other smart marketers and social media enthusiasts. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join whichever chat time works best for you!
4 pm AEST (Sydney time)
9 am PT (San Francisco time)
This week’s stats:
Bufferchat #1 (4 pm AEST): 16 participants; reach of 1,106,846
Bufferchat #2 (9 am PT): 42 participants; reach of 1,221,523
Q1: Do you use GIFs in your social media presence? How so?
From the community:
A1: Yes, we use GIFs on twitter to convey emotion, draw attention and create a connection. We use GIFs elsewhere like Instagram when we want to create short attention grabbing content such as promoting blog posts. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/kOJAozaaZI
— Little Tzu Marketing (@wearelittletzu) April 11, 2018
A1: In the past I’ve mostly managed social media in the public sector, so there wasn’t a lot of room for experimentation with GIFs.
But I definitely use them on my personal profiles, and I’m planning to experiment with creating some of my own personalized GIFs soon! #BufferChat https://t.co/dzucoSbzOQ
— Cameron Davis-Bean (@cdavisbean) April 11, 2018
A1 I do use em depending on the message and target audience and mostly it fits well with Twitter. It does add to a brand persona coming across as humorous and I think it’s extremely popular and should be used when crafting certain messages #bufferchat
— Michelle Francis (@mich_fds) April 11, 2018
See all the great answers to question 1 here!
Q2: Have you used GIFs in other marketing channels besides social media, such as email?
From the community:
A2: I love adding them to blog posts and newsletters. Makes the reading portion a bit more exciting. #bufferchat
— ?Codi? (@Codishaa) April 11, 2018
A2: Emails and Blog content are a great way to use Gifs. I find that in long-form content they can separate paragraphs well and bring a point home. #bufferchat
— Terry Schilling (@tschill86) April 11, 2018
A2 #bufferchat ALWAYS! Whenever a customer reaches out with a query on @TypitoHQ via email, we respond back not just with textual ‘how to’ instructions but also with explainer GIFs. And not to forget the apology GIFs when we screw up! #CustomerHappiness pic.twitter.com/vz0DPsyBJj
— Typito (@TypitoHQ) April 11, 2018
A2: Yes!
1. outbound email marketing
2. When user unsubscribes to blog updates (attached)
3. When user does a successful pivotal action in app
Making it contextual and value add is key. Not about just being funny #BufferChat pic.twitter.com/6ZECfiGE7W
— Tejaswi Raghurama (@Tejazz89) April 11, 2018
See all the great answers to question 2 here!
Q3: Have you ever made your own GIFs? Do you have tips on how to make them?
From the community:
A3: I thought they were only created by magical Internet fairies. Never learned how. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/3NGzsZrY4i
— Ashley Lorelle (@ash_lorelle) April 11, 2018
A3: YASSS!
1 – Batch create them
2 – Go through common reactions (yes, no, thinking, sad, happy, etc.)
3 – Make unique ones for people, events, other emotions (cheers, dab, etc.)
I have a great tutorial video here:https://t.co/DvepUazg5z#bufferchat pic.twitter.com/5Qh1nTqIcD
— influencerTONY ? 90 Vids/90 Days (@InfluencerTony) April 11, 2018
A3: Making own gifs is fun! If I have the video, I use @Snagit to turn the video into a gif. I use @gifbrewery if I want to be able to add text to it. #bufferchat
— Mr Kampmann ??? (@mrkampmann) April 11, 2018
#bufferchat A3. Yes! Facebook (blessedly) doesn’t allow vol on videos automatically. Gifs with text are great for posting client video links. this was the guide I used https://t.co/1QLwrnYMtN ?
— Sarah (@CaffeineColors) April 11, 2018
See all the great answers to question 3 here!
Q4: How do you make sure GIFs being used are appropriate or on brand?
From the community:
A4: Loose policy: If I wouldn’t text the gif to my mother, it doesn’t belong on my company’s accounts. I really don’t use them much professionally – maybe for a reaction. They have to be tasteful. #bufferchat
— Jessica Leeburg (@spacencashmere) April 11, 2018
A4:
Even though GIFs are meant to convey “emotion” “laughs” or a “reaction” ensues they’re in line with the brand’s look, tone and voice. Always strive to know your audience’s reaction and if it’s in line with something that will add value for them. #bufferchat
— Nureen (@nureenv) April 11, 2018
A4A: You can be creative AND still be professional so I think GIFS are a great place to experiment. I did this dancing one for a twitterchat. I was worried about it being unprofessional but in fact got sooo much great feedback so why not have some fun #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/0wNSku4fcb
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) April 11, 2018
A4: My approach: Know where the GIF came from, understand the social context of it, and carefully consider your audience—then you can make the call. Don’t use a GIF with people you aren’t familiar with or ones that clearly don’t align with your brand voice, tone, etc. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/poeccZKKmU
— Cassandra Schwartz ⭐ (@cssndrlnn) April 11, 2018
A4. Clearly define and know who your audience is. Fundamentally, would you use that tone of voice face to face with them? #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/oBU0g5dSMO
— Caroline Webb ? Socialeyes (@uk_socialeyes) April 11, 2018
See all the great answers to question 4 here!
Q5: Where do you find GIFs? Do you have a file of favorites or find them in the moment?
From the community:
A5 I tend to find them in the moment, I find it more fun ? #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/akVyWEXSRI
— Christopher Taverna (@cctaverna) April 11, 2018
A5. @GIPHY + @ebrojiapp are my favorite places to find GIFs. I usually find them in the moment but I have a secret stash so that I’m ready. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/uYF39XLUWe
— Danielle (@AboutDanielle_) April 11, 2018
A5 I have historically just found them (via the platform I’m using) on the fly, but now that I know how to make them, I’ll probably split between using ones I’ve created and just searching as needed #bufferchat
— WTF ? Katie (@WeirdTrvlFriend) April 11, 2018
A5: I either use the library on Twitter but if I can’t find a certain subject then I will search on GIPHY and download them. Have a file full of GIFs ready for use! #BufferChat
— GazPitt (@PittAlunG) April 11, 2018
See all the great answers to question 5 here!
Q6: What’s one of your favorite reaction GIFs?
From the community:
A6: Office Space.#BufferChat pic.twitter.com/hqUvct0dIY
— Raul Rovira ❄ (@RaulARovira) April 11, 2018
A6 classic #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/qnhg45mRaB
— Annoyin’ Observer (@SirKingofGifs) April 11, 2018
A6. Personally a big fan of Friday cat… #BufferChat pic.twitter.com/mfa68SIeZy
— Ben Hollom FCIM (@benhollom) April 11, 2018
A6: for the ‘ugh’ moments #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/HYj3AmnDp5
— Lauren Blake (@_lblake) April 11, 2018
See all the great answers to question 6 here!
Thank you so much to our awesome community for sharing such great insights in this chat!
Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!