4 Ways Animated GIFs Enhance Text Message Marketing

Text marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage customers in today’s increasingly noisy world. But there’s one tactic that has taken text marketing to the next level: animated GIFs. What makes animated GIFs such a powerful marketing tactic? Their power lies in their ability to tell a more dynamic story than a still picture. As Joe Puglisi, Buzzfeed’s senior creative strategist, puts it, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF is worth 10,000.”

As a leading customer loyalty and text marketing platform, we have seen the impact of animated GIFs from the customers who use our white-label software. Through our platform, merchants can tap into this powerful tool to stand out from the competition, generate interest and excitement, and ultimately increase the ROI of their text marketing efforts. In this article, we wanted to highlight some of the reasons GIFs are so powerful. We’ll also provide an overview of how you can equip merchants with our software by white-labeling our platform. 

Here are a few of the most common benefits that merchants discover by incorporating animated GIFs into the text marketing campaigns they send through textLIVING’s software:

1. 1. Animated GIFs capture people’s attention.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, attention spans are short. GIFs concisely communicate messages and capture interest without demanding too much time from the audience. They offer a dynamic and eye-catching element that can make your marketing messages stand out in a crowded digital landscape.

2. 2. Animated GIFs convey emotion and personality.

Compared to texts and still images, GIFs can compress a lot of information into a small, easily shareable form of media. But they’re often helpful in making the recipient feel something. Whether it’s joy, sadness, disgust, or shock, GIFs quickly express our feelings far better than a line of text could. This can be a powerful way for merchants to establish a relatable and friendly brand identity with their audience.

3. 3. Animated GIFs can showcase products or tell a story. 

GIFs allow you to convey a short story or message within a few seconds. This makes them an excellent tool for showcasing products in action. GIFs can give customers a sneak peek of the products merchants sell. For example, a restaurant can highlight a new menu item being assembled, or retailers can showcase a new jacket styled in multiple ways.

4. 4. Animated GIFs lead to higher click-thru rates. 

Due to their visually engaging nature, GIFs are more likely to be remembered by recipients. In fact, some studies indicate that 40% of people respond far better to visuals than text. Adding an animated GIF to a text message can enhance brand recall and recognition, which are crucial for the success of B2C marketing campaigns.

Including GIFs in text marketing campaigns can also lead to higher click-through rates. A recent study by MarketingSherpa found that using animated GIFs can increase click-through rates by 42%. From our own experience, textLIVING users experience 25% higher redemption rates when they include a GIF or picture in their text. As with anything, it’s all about context. The text and CTA you provide must work well with the GIF to be effective. 

How Merchants Can Create an Animated GIF Text Campaign in Our White-Label Platform

At textLIVING, we’ve designed our white-label platform to offer our end users the most effective customer loyalty and text marketing tools. Whether you’re a current textLIVING partner or curious about white-labeling software for B2C brands in your area, here’s a quick look at how our platform allows merchants to incorporate animated GIFs into their text marketing campaigns:

1. 1. Identify the type of text marketing campaign you want to create. 

As with any marketing campaign, it’s essential to start with strategy. What type of campaign are you creating? For example, the textLIVING platform allows merchants to develop campaigns such as new sign-up welcome messages, anniversary/birthday celebrations, new product alerts, “we miss you” offers, and more. 

Determining the overall approach for your campaign will help you identify the perfect GIF to include. It’s also important to remember that overusing GIFs can lead to a cluttered or unprofessional appearance. It’s vital to encourage merchants to consider the context and relevance of GIFs within their text marketing strategy. 

2. 2. Find or create your own animated GIF.

The internet is full of animated GIFs for your text marketing campaigns. Since most GIFs are taken from other copyrighted works, most public websites like Giphy offer a robust library of GIFs that are in the public domain. Merchants can also use Giphy to create GIFs of a product or specific brand video for free with Giphy’s simple GIF Maker tool.

3. 3. Add GIFs directly through the textLIVING platform. 

At textLIVING, we noticed how many users were interested in using animated GIFs, so we updated our software by integrating Giphy into our platform. This makes it easy for merchants to explore thousands of GIFs from the Giphy library directly in our platform when creating a textALERT or Auto-Responder campaign.

We’ve included a short video below that shows how the textLIVING platform allows users to easily create an animated GIF text marketing campaign. 

4. 4. Craft a short, compelling text message to support the GIF.

While GIFs can be visually engaging, they might not always convey all the necessary information on their own. Including a clear and compelling call to action (CTA) that tells the recipient what to do next is just as important as choosing the right GIF. The CTA is what drives the recipient to action. Offering a CTA that is compelling and trackable will help you continually refine your efforts. 

textLIVING Demo: How to Create an Animated GIF Text Marketing Campaign

Here’s a brief video that highlights how quick and easy it is for merchants to create and send an animated GIF text through our software: