Every day, hundreds of advertising specialists launch thousands of advertising campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. And every minute, users are bombarded with a lot of information, publications, stories, and advertising offers. The immortal phrase "Stand out or die" is becoming more and more relevant every day. Therefore, it is so important to choose effective marketing tools in social networks that will make your advertising noticeable, stylish and "lively".
Choose the bright side of animated banners to make your ads stand out. Animated GIF is a popular and modern format that will make your ad stand out among other static formats.
Video advertising has been shown to have a much higher conversion rate than static layouts, as well as a higher engagement rate. Users are happy to like, repost cool content and leave comments.
Don't use GIFs in your ads? What a pity! After all, animated banners can be very diverse and contain all the necessary information. But always remember the sacred rule - the text of any ad on Facebook and Instagram must be less than 20%!
Why should advertisers use animated banners? With their help, you can:
make announcements of any events;
disseminate information about promotions, discounts, sales;
show a product or a line of products;
show a service, product or item in action;
tell about the benefits that users will receive from interacting with your company (or from subscribing to your page);
show the team, production, working conditions or some production process;
tell about the stages of product and service creation, etc.
Example of a GIF ad created in the BannerBoo banner editor
GIFs have been popular in social networks and messengers for many years and replace long complex texts with bright dynamic images. In addition, they are a good alternative to video, especially for mobile devices: looped animation shows the same video sequence, but it is lighter and works faster due to slower internet connections. This is important because videos are often viewed on mobile devices.
In addition, GIFs are cheaper and easier to create than any type of video, especially when Facebook and Instagram ads need to be launched quickly and with minimal creation costs.
Example of a GIF ad created in the BannerBoo banner editor
Using GIFs in ads has several advantages:GIFs are easier to digest and attract much more attention compared to text ads;
GIFs are shorter in length (viewing time) and have no sound (at the same time, 85% of video views on Facebook are without it https://voymedia.com/how-to-make-a-gif-for-facebook);
GIFs offer brands to stand out and engage their potential customers with something unique and attractive;
Creating GIFs is easy and simple, especially with BannerBoo.
A couple of years ago, to publish animated pictures, you had to use various third-party resources to add links to animations in your posts. Now everything has changed.
GIFs on Facebook can be published on all types of pages and in groups, added to comments, sent in private messages, and used in advertising. The social network recommends uploading GIFs no larger than 8 MB.
Example of an 8MB GIF ad created in the BannerBoo banner editor
Animated banners are defined by Facebook Ads as a video format. They are moderated and displayed without problems on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network. The analysis uses the same metrics for GIFs as for video ads. No additional settings are required, just upload the appropriate file to Ads Manager or promote a post with a GIF placed on your Facebook pages.
Facebook GIFs play automatically. They are added to a post in the same way as a regular image - via a link from another site or by uploading from a computer.
If you need to post a GIF on FB, here's the algorithm:
Select the "What's on your mind?" option that allows you to write posts.
Click the "Upload photo or video" icon.
Select the GIF file (on your computer or by URL).
A new preview window will open - add a title to it.
Write a description for your GIF (you can even tag a friend).
Click the "Publish" button.
This Facebook post can be boosted (Boost Post) and use all the features of the social network.
Bright and dynamic images look great both in advertising and on the Facebook page cover.
Show the advantages of your product or service, highlight the ease of use or additional functionality in an animated banner and increase conversion from the first contact of the user with the company in social networks - when going to the page.
According to the Facebook Business Help Center (https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1006874066021923), the cover image file size must be at least 820 x 312 pixels. Facebook recommends 820 x 462 pixels.
If you upload a cover in standard quality, for example, 1920 x 1080 px, Facebook will significantly reduce its quality and the image will be blurry.
Video duration should be from 20 to 120 seconds.
Video format is supported by mobile devices.
Remember that any updates immediately go into the news feed, and if you suddenly do not want your subscribers to see a publication that displays your actions with the cover, you need to select the "Hide from timeline" option.
The Meta Ads Manager interface changes regularly, so it's important to focus not on specific buttons, but on the general logic of the process.
Here's the current way to upload GIFs to ads:
Important: GIFs don't always work stably on Facebook.
Although Facebook allows uploading GIFs, they don't always behave like regular videos:
In practice, this means that some users may not see the animation at all.
Recommendation: convert GIF to MP4 before running ads
In most cases, all these problems will be solved by simply converting to MP4 format before uploading to the ad.
Why is this important? MP4 works stably in all Facebook placements, while providing:
So, let's remember a simple rule: GIF - for the creation process, and MP4 - for advertising.
If you need a simple and easy-to-use GIF banner maker for your Ads Manager, using BannerBoo is the ideal solution. Creating animations is easy and simple. The program's interface is absolutely clear, and there is also an excellent knowledge base with many answers to any questions.
Step-by-step algorithm:
Authorize on the website and log in to your personal account.
Select the appropriate banner size for your ad.
Add an image, effects, select the duration of the GIF animation.
Enter all the necessary information, change the text, fonts.
Add a logo, buttons or any information as an infographic (emphasize your competitive advantage).
Save layouts as a template and work whenever you want.
Export in "Smooth GIF" animated image format, save to your computer and use to create ads in Ads Manager.
You can read the complete guide to creating a GIF in our blog.
To post your GIF image on your personal or business page, just follow these steps:
Write a post (publish a post).
Click the "Upload photo or video" option and upload the GIF from your computer or using a URL link.
Click the "Publish" button.
By the way, Facebook allows you to add GIFs not only to posts, but also to comments.
The first step is to refresh the Facebook page - sometimes this is the only reason. Refresh the page and try uploading the file again.
If restarting didn't help, then pay attention to other reasons:
Check the image file size, it may exceed the maximum allowed 8 MB.
Check the animation duration and image quality.
If the GIF ad does not start, then it is definitely worth checking if there are too many dynamic effects, bright, provocative pictures and low-quality images in the animation. All these elements may not pass system moderation.
Let's summarize.
Facebook and Instagram advertising networks try to support trending social media marketing tools. For example, GIF has again risen to the peak of popularity, and here the company meets customers halfway and integrates the ability to use animated banners in Ads Manager.
GIFs can be a powerful competitive advantage for your company. Without a doubt, GIFs can significantly increase engagement in any social media campaign. Creating GIF ads is easy, especially with the BannerBoo banner creation program. In a few simple steps, your animation will be available for upload to Ads Manager.
According to statistics, animated advertising shows a greater percentage of interaction with the target audience, but it all depends on interests. Of course, you need to check, but be prepared that your audience may not interact with advertising 100%.
