Right before #TBScon this year I realized I wanted a fun GIF for people to be able to use. If you’re not familiar, a GIF is an animated image or graphic. When you swipe up while creating an Instagram Story, it’s an option to search so you can make your Instagram Stories more fun and on brand.
I’ve seen a few brands here and there create unique GIFs and I thought it was such a fun way to add branding. Not only could the actual brand use it, but fans of it too. I just thought it was so fun! I decided to figure out how to create this and it was surprisingly easy as pie. And yes, you can make GIFs and just save them to your camera roll and add them in as text. BUT, creating them to be discoverable in GIPHY while you’re in Instagram Stories is an easy way to brand your Stories and also allow fellow readers to use them too if they like.
How To Make A GIF For Instagram Stories
What You’ll Need
You’ll need a branded email account. Which means yourname@yourbrand.com. A Gmail account won’t work here. And if you’re a brand and you’re still using @gmail.com, use this as an opportunity to finally get your business looking 100x more professional. I almost always delete a business inquiry from an @gmail.com account. It’s just unprofessional. Period.
You’ll then need an account on GIPHY too. Just head to GIPHY and create an account (you may already have one). But you’ll need to convert it to a Brand Channel. Brand Channels allow you to upload GIFs for the public to find. You can learn more about doing that here.
Tips To Your Brand Channel Application
- It may take a few days to get your Brand Channel approved so be patient.
- You’ll want to make sure you upload at LEAST 5 GIFs. Yes, you read that right. These don’t have to be perfect either. But you do need to have content in your library to be approved.
- Email address from your BRAND, like we mentioned above
- Username must reflect your BRAND as well. For example, mine is MYSTYLEVITA see how easy that is?
- A working website. Your domain should also reflect your username AND your email address.
Once you’ve been approved, you should be able to search for your GIFs now! It is THAT easy.
Tips To Searchability For Your GIFs
Every time you upload a new GIF you’ll want to be sure to add keywords to them. They’re like hashtags to categorize your GIF. If you’re uploading something for your brand, no matter what it is, I’d always recommend adding your business name as one of them. So for example, when I created The Blog Societies #TBScon GIF I used the following keywords:
#theblogsocieties #tbscon #tbs
Be sure to also add any descriptive words to describe the GIF as well. If you uploaded a swipe up graphic, add swipe up. If the GIF is an arrow or a heart, add that in the keywords too. The more descriptive the better.
The last tip, if you add NEW GIFs once your Brand Channel is created, it still takes a few hours or days for your GIF to be available to the masses. So be patient!
PS if you need to learn HOW to make a GIF. It’s super easy. I love this tutorial.
ALSO! Find tons of blogging & content tips HERE.
