In a world where everyone is seemingly leaning further into visual mediums online, particularly with video shorts, how do you ensure your visuals stand out, especially around the holidays? Consider using GIFs in your financial marketing strategy.

Visual learners make up 65% of the population, so if you’re not already relying on some form of imagery as part of your marketing efforts, it’s time to seriously reconsider. Visuals can not only help maximize the understanding and retention of your marketing messaging; they can also set your content apart. A well-designed GIF has the power to evoke an emotional response or illustrate complex ideas in seconds, compelling users to act and resulting in higher engagement on social media, your blog, or through your marketing emails.

Why We Love GIFs

GIFs (graphics interchange formats) are memorable, fun, and easy to use—they let us convey a lot of emotion without having to use a single word. And, it turns out, there’s actual science to back up why we love them so much.

Researchers that analyzed the engagement of over 3.9 million social media posts found that animated GIFs are significantly more engaging than other kinds of visual media. In particular, GIFs with faces and containing higher motion energy, uniformity, resolution, and frame rate were among the most popular. This research also determined that what makes GIFs so popular is their immediacy, their storytelling capabilities, and their ability to visually express emotions easily.

As neuroscientist Dr. Christian Jarrett explains it, “When communicating via devices, we often want to convey complex feelings in an instant, and we don’t want to faff about with fiddly little keyboards. With their dynamic images and amusing straplines, animated GIFs allow us to do just that – in a sense, we’re using other people’s reactions to represent our own.”

The GIFs that Keep on Giving

GIFs have become a natural part of how we communicate—whether with friends, family, or even coworkers. But they’re not just for casual chats; GIFs can also be a valuable asset in financial marketing. When used strategically, they capture attention, keep your content visually engaging, and enhance your brand’s personality.

In the financial industry, where conveying seriousness and precision is essential, it’s easy to default to a traditional tone. However, that can make it harder to connect with modern audiences who expect quick, personalized, and engaging communication. Incorporating fun elements like GIFs or video shorts can help your brand stand out while still maintaining professionalism.

This approach becomes even more crucial during the holiday season, when audiences are overwhelmed with competing marketing messages. GIFs offer a creative way to cut through the noise and recapture attention, bringing a touch of fun and energy to your campaigns. It’s no wonder so many brands embrace GIFs as part of their marketing strategies—they’re quick, effective, and resonate with today’s audiences.

Marketing with GIFs: Do’s and Don’ts

When incorporating trends into your brand voice, focus on authenticity over trendiness. GIFs have been around for a long time and have evolved significantly, giving you plenty of opportunities to use them authentically as part of your brand identity. When done right, they can add a touch of fun without feeling forced. Here’s how to quickly pulse-check whether they might make sense for you: if a GIF (or meme, etc.) effectively conveys your idea, it’s authentic. If you’re using it just to follow a trend, it’s not.

As with any new marketing ideas, consider the pros and cons to determine whether this makes sense for your strategy.

Do use GIFs to:

• • Stand out. Even the best promotions can fall flat if they go unnoticed. GIFs naturally draw attention, and their motion and endless loops can keep viewers engaged longer.
  • Add humor. A funny image can grab attention and drive engagement, making GIFs a natural and easy way to add a light touch.
  • Add emphasis. Trying to convey a specific tone in a marketing campaign? A GIF can help reinforce that. Plus, its animated nature makes it easy to draw attention to the action you’d like your audience to take.
  • Get your point across quickly. Say you have a great video of a product demo that you want to draw attention to—make a GIF of it, add that to a marketing email, and link it to the full thing. (More on creating your own GIFs below.)

On the other hand, not every message needs an animation. Don’t use GIFs that are:

• Low resolution or difficult to understand. While imperfections can be part of the charm, avoid using GIFs with poor resolution or unreadable text that distracts from your message.
• Off-brand or off-message. Just because a GIF makes you laugh doesn’t mean it’s right for your campaign or brand.
• Overdone. Used sparingly, GIFs add a nice surprise and make messages feel special—but overdoing them can dilute their impact.

Choosing the Right GIF

If you decide to use GIFs in your financial marketing efforts, you’ll have two options: either find and use existing GIFs or opt to make your own.

Find GIFs

The Internet is full of GIFs galore. But if you’re looking for an easily searchable starting point to find any GIF you can imagine, we recommend Giphy.

Keep in mind, though, that there are compliance considerations to make when using copyrighted content. According to the Digitial Millenium Copyright Act, you should obtain approval from the copyright holder, the GIF creator, and anyone featured in the GIF to avoid legal complications. While some experts say it’s relatively safe to use GIFs that are already widely used and available on major platforms, the recommended best practices would be to use them more conversationally (think: comments or non-promotional social posts) to avoid issues. After all, in a world where there are billions of pieces of content being created daily, maybe it’s okay to be part of a conversation rather than starting it every single time with original content.

But, if you do want to be a conversation-starter, we recommend…

DIY GIFs

…making your own! This gives you free reign over how you employ your GIFs and allows you to incorporate your brand identity, products, and logos. There are several ways you can make your own GIF using tools you might already have, including Canva, Vimeo, or (of course) Giphy.

The Bottom Line

If executed correctly, GIFs can add energy to your outreach, offering fresh perspectives, sparking laughter, and capturing attention. They’re easy to find, simple to use, and still evolving after 37 years. This is important year-round but especially during the holidays when clients and prospects can be preoccupied or inundated with other promotions.

So, this holiday season, spread joy and cheer by delighting your audience with some good GIFs in your financial marketing efforts!

How else can visuals enhance your marketing? Contact Gate 39 and let’s discuss how we can help improve your strategy.

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• Why Visuals are Essential in Your Marketing Strategy [Video]