They’re memorable, current, and applicable to any scenario. Also, brands have started using them to make more individualised posts and content for Instagram Stories due to their exceptional ability to capture the spirit of the moment.
However, the virality of GIFs isn’t the whole story. Instagram marketing app Later, for instance, amassed over 16 million views in only one week thanks to a collection of 24 original GIFs.
But how simple is it to make GIFs for your business?
And how might GIFs be used to improve a company’s Instagram stories?
This page will instruct you on both processes. You’ll find out how to make stunning GIFs and employ them in Instagram stories to generate buzz for your business and its offerings.
Distinctions Between GIF Varieties
It’s probable that you’ve seen a wide variety of GIFs throughout your time online. There are essentially two distinct kinds of GIFs. That would be:
The Average Picture GIF
Multiple images are used to make this kind of GIF.
The moving picture exchange (GIF): there are two kinds of GIFs, with and without a backdrop.
Background animated GIFs are typically made from videos, although animators can also make their own. The data is then used to create GIFs.
In the case of the animated GIF without a backdrop, the original video or animation is still turned into a GIF, but the original video or animation’s background is removed or rendered transparent.
Make your own GIFs
The method of making a GIF is straightforward, and there are several free services available on the internet for doing it.
Here’s what you’ll need before we get into the specifics of making your GIFs:
A short description of the GIFs you want to make and their intended use. Your brief will be a priceless resource as you create your GIF library. Make your GIFs a part of a campaign and use them in your narrative to maximise their effectiveness. This way, you can monitor the impact that GIFs have on a campaign’s level of interaction.
A set of materials intended for use in creating GIFs. This can be video or still photos that will eventually become GIFs. Copyright concerns may be avoided if you as a brand stick to content that you own.
Making a regular GIF picture
Most websites have four standard procedures for making GIFs. Here, we’ll use EZGIF.com as an illustration. To personalise your GIFs with text, filters, overlays, frames, and more, we recommend using EZGIF.com, one of the few online GIF creation tools.
First, find the material you want to use. This might be a link to a video or a set of photographs. The next step, after gathering your materials, is to publish them online.
Two pictures used in this example were obtained from the public-domain image hosting service Pixabay. Select the photos you want to use, then hit “Upload and make a GIF!”
the second step: You may customise your GIF’s playback speed, duration, and starting frames. The features available to you in your free GIF creator may vary.
Images may be rearranged, loops can be customised, a global colormap that applies to the whole GIF can be used to save file size, and effects can be added using EZGIF.com.
Third, examine your work in progress and make any necessary adjustments. The above-mentioned editing tools will come in helpful if you find that your new GIF need some tweaking.
Stage four: After making any necessary adjustments, save your newly created GIF to your hard drive.
Making a GIF with No Background Colour
What if you simply care about the topic of a picture and not the surrounding context? This may be accomplished with the help of a web-based image editor. There are plenty of alternatives, but we’ve had the most success using Remove.bg.
Remove.bg uses AI to let you quickly crop out unwanted backgrounds from your photos. The precision of the editing also took us by surprise. Achieving such polished results with professional photo editing tools can be time-consuming, but the final photographs we produced were well worth the effort.
Making Backgroundless Animated GIFs
Unlike regular GIFs, backgroundless GIF animations need a bit more work to create. The bulk of the effort goes into laying the groundwork for the material you’ll be employing.
Since animated GIFs are derived from videos, cutting out the scenery can be difficult if you aren’t familiar with video editing software.
We suggest doing a quick search for a video editor on Fiverr if you need a quick and easy solution to remove the backdrops from your movies. If you don’t have a budget to hire a graphics designer or filmmaker, this is a great way to save yourself a lot of time.
Summary
The branding possibilities that GIFs provide are practically endless. Brand recognition and customer involvement are two of the most important goals of any business, and GIFs may help you achieve both.
However, you should study up on making GIFs before you start. Have a clear brief and goals in mind. Only the metrics that are actively monitored may be considered success in marketing. Use your imagination as you use GIFs and stickers into your advertisements to stand out to your target demographic.