How to Create GIFs for Twitter Using GIPHY
by Federica Rustico
5 min read
Last Updated: December 30, 2022
by Federica Rustico
If you haven’t considered GIFs for your Twitter marketing strategy, think again. It’s been almost 10 years since Twitter decided to support the use of GIFs. And ever since, they’ve unleashed the power of GIFs, allowing any user to grab the attention of fellow tweeters through engaging animations.
However, if your brand's content strategy typically focuses on images, videos, links, or even text, you may still be a noob on what GIFs can do—or why you should even incorporate them into your marketing strategy. But if you have a Twitter account, you’ve probably already noticed that GIFs are super engaging. You’ve probably noticed that as you're scrolling through your feed you frequently stop to check out tweets that incorporate GIFs. So as a business, don’t you think it’s time to express your love of GIFs on Twitter? Sure, the character restriction is what it is but hey, tweets are all about telling a story, right?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so what’s an animated picture worth? Exactly. Plus, Twitter rolled out a new feature in 2022 that allows users to post images, videos, and GIFs in a single tweet. Previously, the platform only allowed users to include one type of media format in a post, such as multiple images. Why am I telling you this? Because if you’re a marketer, this should resolve any doubts you might’ve had on whether to expand your GIF marketing strategy to Twitter. But let’s get into the details! Today I’m going to enlighten you on how to create GIFs for Twitter and especially why you should incorporate them into your Twitter content strategy, starting right now!
Numbers tell it how it is. So what if I told you Twitter discovered through an internal research of 3.7 million users that tweets including GIFs receive 55% higher interaction than tweets containing other types of content? I think that’s pretty much all we need to start using GIFs for Twitter marketing, don’t you think? At the end of the day, as a business owner on Twitter, you’re striving to get more retweets, replies or likes on your Twitter content. And guess what? Incorporating branded or well selected GIFs into your campaign can help you do just that. Twitter has traditionally favored concise material due to its 280-character tweet limit. But where words can’t get through, GIFs can do the trick!
GIFs spread brand awareness while showcasing your fun side. Including a GIF in your communication adds flair, humanizes your business, and it’s a chance to show off your personality! They are perfect for a social media channel where short and concise content is valued because GIFs normally last up to 6 seconds (yes, they can last more than that but 6 seconds is the sweet spot). Plus, they are super engaging. Think about it: the majority of videos on Twitter are not meant to loop. Users have to go through the hassle of manually replaying them after their initial autoplay because, well, they stop once they’re over! GIFs, on the other hand, loop continuously. This distinctive feature provides them with a captivating charm that helps them draw users in. Trust me, it can be a very wise move to loop a message repeatedly when you truly want to get your point through. Plus, let’s not forget about the customisation options we have when we’re creating GIFs. The first things that will probably come to your mind when considering Twitter GIFs are probably the popular viral memes that people frequently post. While this pop culture-focused material could definitely work well for your brand, it's not your only choice. Keep reading to find inspiration on the best type of GIF content to create for your Twitter account.
Ok, it’s all very interesting but how can I create a GIF for Twitter? It’s actually quite a simple process that takes just a few minutes. Let’s start from the basics: you can make GIFs from either videos or images. Once you've created a GIF, you can post it to Twitter by opening the native tweet composer and clicking the Media button, just as you would to add an image or video.
If you paid attention earlier, you’ll remember that Twitter rolled out a new feature that allows you to post four separate media items, such as images, videos, or GIFs, in a single tweet. But there’s one thing to keep in mind, you can only tweet one GIF at a time, so choose with care. Before we get into the specifics on how to create a GIF using GIPHY, know that Giphy is a useful tool regardless of the type of file you have because it can convert both videos and images into GIFs. To begin creating a custom GIF, follow the simple steps below.
To create a GIF from a video, simply click the upload button on your Giphy dashboard and enter your YouTube or Vimeo link. If you don’t have a link, no worries, you can also select a video file. Just a head’s up – videos have to be under 100MB and less than 15 seconds long to be uploaded to GIPHY.
Now that you’ve uploaded your video, it’s time to trim it and create a short, attention-grabbing GIF. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and make sure to include the best parts of your video! But before you turn your GIFs into Instagram Stories keep in mind that while GIPHY can generate GIFs that last up to 30 seconds, to achieve the best results, it’s best to keep your GIFs down to 10 seconds or less. After Giphy has processed your video, you'll be prompted to either upload or download the GIF to your desktop. When you're finished, click the Download button to save it to your computer and then voilà, you can upload it to Twitter. Piece of cake!
But this is just one of the two options, after all, we live in a world of options! The other way to do it is to upload your GIF to your account and make it public. How? Once you’ve uploaded your GIF, check out the sharing options and click on the paper airplane icon. Instead of leaving the GIF to private, make it public. That’s all you’ll need because you can tweet any publicly available GIF by pasting the URL at the end of your tweet. You can then share to Twitter directly or copy the URL to tweet when you’re ready.
To make a GIF for Twitter, start by creating a short video or animated image. Then, use a GIF maker to add text, filters, and other features to the image. Once the GIF is complete, upload it to GIPHY or another GIF library and use the URL to share it on Twitter. Alternatively, you can use the Twitter GIF library to search for and share GIFs directly from the app.
Twitter uses both GIPHY and Tenor for its GIF library. Users can search for GIFs on either platform and share them with their followers. GIPHY is the default GIF library for Twitter, but users can also switch to Tenor by enabling the setting in the GIF search bar. Both GIPHY and Tenor offer a wide variety of GIFs, making it easy to find the perfect one to share.
