Is it pronounced “jif” or “gif”? With differing opinions, the world may never know. But there is something about an animated loop that can add a little life to your content beyond a still image.
Whether it’s a scene from your favorite movie or a relatable reaction, Graphic Interchange Formats (GIFs) can help explain what words can’t. GIFs resonate with younger audiences and can help your followers recall your content. After all, humans are 65% more likely to recall information when it’s paired with an image.
For entertainment company, Starz, their tweets that contained GIFs out performed their tweets without GIFs by 49%. One of the most popular sites for GIF sourcing, Giphy, reported serving 1 billion GIFs per day in 2016.
At GAIN, we love our GIFs and there’s no doubt that using GIFs as part of your social media marketing strategy can have significant benefits. However, it can be difficult to hunt down all of the awesome platforms to source your GIFs. That’s why we’re sharing 10 of the best GIF apps and tools for marketers.
1. Giphy
For all of your pre-made GIF needs, Giphy is the ultimate GIF search engine. The #1 GIF website offers links for each animation in multiple formats, making it easy to embed GIFs on any social network, website, or blog. Marketers also have the option to create and upload their own GIFs and generate a public link to share GIFs anywhere on the web.
2. Serious
Complete with a Google Chrome extension, Serious provides a comprehensive GIF library and allows marketers to view GIFs in full screen. Serious also allows you to favorite GIFs so you can save them for later and provides recommendations for faster GIF discovery.
3. Legend
Sometimes it’s difficult to find the perfect image, so why not animate your words? The Legend app converts any text into an animated GIF. This is a great way to customize your marketing messages by turning them into animated phrases with catchy colors, filters, and animated backgrounds.
4. Party Party
If you want to make GIFs but don’t have any video footage to work with, then Party Party app is a great option. The app allows you to upload 1,4,9, or as many photos as you’d like to create stop-motion GIFs that can be shared on social media. The app allows you to customize your stop-motion GIFs with filters, frames, and even allows you adjust the speed of your animation.
5. GIFs.com
GIFs.com allows users to remove watermarks from media and create GIFs from YouTube videos, Twitch streams, and more. The easy-to-use web editor is also loaded with effects, making it simple to add stickers and captions to your creations.
6. GIFPaint
Just as the name implies, GIFPaint allows you to paint your own GIF. The HTML5 application is a great option for marketers that want to create their GIFs from scratch with a creative edge.
7. GIF Line
If you’re looking for a unique way to boost email engagement, the GIFLine chrome extension makes it easy to incorporate any GIF into your emails. Similar to the Giphy Slack app, once you install GIFLine, simply type “/gif me whateveryouwant” and GifLine will automatically plug in a GIF for you.
8. Glitch Wizard
For marketers that like the non-traditional GIFs, Glitch Wizard offers some advanced editing tools to create your own glitch-inspired animations. There are 30 “glitching” options available to create unpredictable, beautiful GIFs.
9. DSCO
For the fans of VSCO’s minimalist photo editing tools, DSCO is the perfect choice for all of your GIF needs. As a branch of VSCO, the DSCO app allows your brand to edit your GIFs with clean, beautiful VSCO-like aesthetics.
10. GIFs Art
For an artsy option, PicsArt’s GIFs Art app is the way to go. With customizable options and hundreds of stickers to choose from, GIFs Art helps bring life to your otherwise lifeless GIFs. Add animated masks, effects, and text, and then share your creations with the world – all without ever leaving the app.
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then is a GIF must be worth a billion. Did we miss your favorite GIF app or tool? Tell us about your favorites in the comments.
