{"id":9696,"date":"2015-05-05T06:50:09","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T13:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog?p=9696&#038;preview_id=9696"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:50:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:50:59","slug":"animated-gifs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/animated-gifs\/","title":{"rendered":"Animated GIFs: A Quick Way to Boost Social Media Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What can bring an old and static\u00a0social media feed alive? A bit of animation\u00a0of course! Add emotion to your images by creating animated GIFs.\u00a0Animated GIFs can quickly communicate a feeling or concept.<\/p>\n<p>Before you say, &#8220;<em>I&#8217;m not a graphic designer. I don&#8217;t have the time, experience or talent to make an animated GIF,<\/em>&#8221; don&#8217;t panic! They are super simple to make.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_animated_GIFs\"><\/span>What are animated GIFs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>An animated GIF is just a series of still image frames mashed together\u00a0into a single\u00a0image<\/strong>. The image continues to loop.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9857 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Creating-an-animated-GIF.jpg\" alt=\"Creating animiated GIFs with 3 static images\" width=\"379\" height=\"824\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Creating-an-animated-GIF.jpg 379w, https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Creating-an-animated-GIF-138x300.jpg 138w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 379px) 100vw, 379px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The three static images are combined to create the animated GIF you see below.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9858\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9858\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9858 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chris_Craft_Wooden_Boats.gif\" alt=\"Create animated GIFs easily. Chris Craft Boat Example\" width=\"640\" height=\"424\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9858\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">3 static images combined to create an animated GIF<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_animated_GIFs\"><\/span>Why animated\u00a0GIFs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Your fans and followers scroll through endless streams of &#8220;sameness&#8221; on social media hoping a compelling headline, image or video captures their attention. <strong>With a bit of easy animation, you can stop your readers from scrolling and get them clicking on your content<\/strong>. Our eyes naturally are attracted to things that are &#8220;alive&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>A few benefits of using animated GIFs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your updates become more visible to your readers<\/li>\n<li>They make a lasting impression. The brain continues to process an\u00a0image for an additional period of time after we see it.<\/li>\n<li>Animations are quickly consumed by your readers vs. a video which requires\u00a0a bigger time commitment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Word of caution:<\/strong> Don&#8217;t overuse GIFs or you risk reader fatigue. Strategically sprinkle them into your social media visual strategy.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_I_create_an_animated_GIF\"><\/span>How do I create an animated GIF?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You don&#8217;t have to be a graphic designer to create your own animated GIF. All you need is one of these handy tools and a bit of imagination.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Animated GIF Maker\" href=\"http:\/\/makeagif.com\/\">Makeagif.com<\/a>:\u00a0Free (a small watermark is added).<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Create animated GIFs in a snap\" href=\"http:\/\/www.giffysnap.com\/\">Giffysnap.com<\/a>:\u00a0Free<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Create GIF animations online\" href=\"http:\/\/picasion.com\/\">Picasion.com<\/a>:\u00a0Free<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The GIF below is an example of how to make an animated GIF with <a title=\"Animated GIF Maker\" href=\"http:\/\/makeagif.com\/pictures-to-gif\">makeagif.com<\/a>. GIFs can be created in 3 easy steps.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9860 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How_to_Make_a_GIF_with_makeagif_com.gif\" alt=\"Making animated GIFs are easy using online tools\" width=\"518\" height=\"179\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip:<\/strong> If you are using images to create a GIF, it is advisable that all the images be the same size. Your GIF will look more professional.<\/p>\n<p>If you need some inspiration, Marketing Land put together an extensive list of the best-animated GIFs created by brands.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_social_networks_support_animated_GIFs\"><\/span>What social networks support animated GIFs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You can add animated GIFs to your blog in addition to the following social networks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Twitter<\/li>\n<li>Pinterest<\/li>\n<li>Google+<\/li>\n<li>Facebook<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>UPDATE: Facebook now supports animated GIFs.<\/p>\n<p><del>Facebook and<\/del> Instagram does not support animated GIFs. You will need to <a title=\"Gif to Video\" href=\"http:\/\/giftovideo.com\/\">convert a GIF to a video<\/a>. With makeagif.com, the tool mentioned above, you can also export your GIF as an MP4, which can then be used to share on <del>Facebook<\/del> or Instagram.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro Tip:<\/strong>\u00a0<a title=\"Introducing Q \u2013 A Smart New Scheduling Tool to Keep Fans and Followers Active\" href=\"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/introducing-q-a-smart-new-scheduling-tool-to-keep-fans-and-followers-active\/\">Share<\/a> your animated GIFs using dlvr.it. Just upload your animated GIF and share across social media. There is a GIF for that too:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9864 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How_to_share_GIFs_on_Social_Media.gif\" alt=\"Use Q to easily share animated GIFs on social media\" width=\"644\" height=\"284\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What can bring an old and static\u00a0social media feed alive? A bit of animation\u00a0of course! Add emotion to your images by creating animated&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,818,851,868],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","category-photos-and-media","category-social-media-minute","category-toolbox-tuesday"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Animated GIFs: A Quick Way to Boost Social Media Engagement -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Add emotion to your blog or social media feed with animated GIFs. 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