GIFs have been sweeping the internet for years now, and we think it’s about time everyone learned how to create their own.
Not only are GIFs a great way to engage with your Instagram and social media audience, but they also put a face to your brand and make your content stand out.
And to top it all off, they’re fairly easy to make! Let’s dive in.
What are GIFs?
Chances are, you’ve come across a GIF or two in your lifetime. Their popularity has grown tremendously over the last ten years, and they are often used on social media platforms.
However, we’re going to take a moment and pretend you have never heard of them. Let’s break it down for you.
“GIF” stands for ‘Graphics Interchange Formats,’ a file that supports both static and animated images. While this image format was developed in 1987, the moving GIF has grown extremely popular more recently as we’ve seen the rise of memes on Instagram.
How to Create GIFs for Instagram
There are few different software programs that make creating these animated images very simple.
Today, you’ll just need your phone and internet access to make yourself a GIF – that’s right, we’re going to show you how to transform a video of yourself into a usable GIF!
- Position yourself in front of a plain background, and film yourself quickly performing an action (if you’re not sure what to do, we recommend a classic pointing or dancing GIF!).
- On your phone, trim the video down to your desired length. Remember that it needs to be fairly short – preferably under 5 seconds!
- Download the video to your computer.
- Visit unscreen.com and upload your video. Keep in mind, you may need to change the file format depending on what your phone video settings are. No worries, this is fairly simple if you use Quicktime Player on your computer! (File > export as > 4k > save).
- Once your video is uploaded to Unscreen, you’ll be able to remove the background and save the finished product to your computer and your phone.
- Voila! You’re on your way to social media stardom.
It should come out something like this!
Add GIFs to Instagram Stories
Now, if you’re new to GIFs, you may be wondering how to use them in general? Instagram stories and posts are the most common platforms for GIF usage.
Here are a few easy steps to add one of your custom GIFs to your Instagram story using iOS:
- Begin creating a new Instagram story.
- Exit Instagram for a moment and visit your phone’s photos and videos.
- Once you locate the desired GIF, select the download symbol in the bottom left corner.
- Select the “Copy Photo” option.
- Return to your unfinished Instagram story and paste your GIF in your story!
And that’s all there really is to it! Not so bad, huh?
Add GIFs to Instagram Posts
To add GIFs to a social media graphic, you will need a graphic design platform. We recommend Canva. It is very user-friendly, and it allows you to create a ton of different designs.
- In Canva, begin a new design using the appropriate dimensions (Instagram works best 1080x 1080px file types).
- Locate your saved GIF on your computer and drag and drop it into your Canva uploads.
- Once the GIF is done loading, you can simply drag it wherever you’d like in your Canva design!
Incorporating GIFs into otherwise stagnant content is a great way to create movement in your feed and really add some personality. Studies show that GIFs and videos tend to get higher engagement than just plain images, so including GIFs in your Instagram strategy will likely give you a nice engagement boost!
Get creative and have a little fun with it! It is social media after all! If you need any more quick tips for creating engaging content for your brand, be sure to get in touch with our team of social media experts!