Have you heard of a “gifographic”? It’s ok if you haven’t – the term is just starting to pick up steam. Gifographics are an evolution of the infographic – using motion to augment the information provided by a traditional infographic.
They are the new kid in town: dynamic, cool and always fun to hang out with. Animation is not only entertaining, but it can speed up learning – while making any dry topic a blast to discover.
So far, gifographics have flown just below the attention of many in the marketing industry. But marketers are starting to catch on, applying high-quality animation and interactivity to their content marketing to see amazing results.
If the term or its application is confusing, keep reading – we’ll cover the five keys to unlocking this new content type, and how marketers can benefit from adding motion to their content.
Gifographic = GIF Infographic
Neil Patel first used the term “Gifographic” on his QuickSprout blog to identify a new kind of infographic — one that moves. Gifographics build on three of our favorite digital forms: the GIF, the graphic, and the infographic. To understand what a gifographic is you have to understand its parents:
- “GIF” stands for Graphics Interchange Format, and was one of the earliest image formats used on the Internet. Whether or not you know how to pronounce it, you’ve no doubt noticed they still dominate your newsfeed. Buffer notes that GIFs are not around just to make you laugh —NASA uses GIFs of satellite imagery to carry information across space, and Buzzfeed used GIFs to explain the debt crisis in Greece.
- The term “graphic” comes from the Greek word graphikos, referring to visual images and pictorial representations. Graphics include a long list of content types, including photographs, diagrams, symbols, numbers, geometric designs and maps.
- Infographics marry information with graphics — we see them everywhere! They convey statistics and opinion with abbreviated clarify and visual know-how.
Source: Dezzain.com
Gifographics are infographics with motion capacity. Marketers animate visual elements so they move on the screen, entertain audiences, and impart even more knowledge than these other three mediums.
In other words, gifographics are tricked-out infographics that use the power of moving images to engage audiences.
Gifographics Add a New Layer of Visual Communication
Did you know that people do 323% better following directions when they include illustrations? We’re visual creatures — we remember 80% of what we see and do, compared to 30% of what we read and 10% of what we hear. Readers are much more likely to remember and understand information you give them in visual form.
Gifographics work because they illustrate a point with more depth and precision than a static image. Just check out this infographic on cheetahs highlighted by QuickSprout. This information in long form would read like a middle school biology report. But as a gifographic, all this data is mind-blowing, fun, and informative. Small details such as the stride automation give readers a clearer perspective into the Cheetah’s movement. Other components, such as a car barometer with the speed of the cheetah, uses a human reference point to depict an awesome feat of nature.
This gifographic made a huge impact with readers, garnering over 1,170 natural backlinks! Gifographics offer amazing customer experiences and immediate value, not to mention reminding audiences that your company is on trend when it comes to digital production. Instead of bearing down on a tedious idea in a long blog post, give your readers comprehensive look at an issue with a bird’s-eye view.
Gifographics Are a Powerful Repurposing Vehicle
A gifographic is an ace in your back pocket. When you need a boost in numbers, increased authority or brand recognition, they can give you a competitive edge. Because gifographics are still a new content form, integrating them into your content strategy will set you apart in a noisy world.
Gifographics also meet the unique needs of marketers in 2015. According to the B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks released by the Content Marketing Institute, “finding better ways to repurpose content” and “creating visual content” are two of marketers’ top four priorities going into 2016. Gifographics check both boxes, offering new visualizations of evergreen content – so take that old hit from your archive and give it new life.
Marketers can use gifographics any time — especially when you are dealing with a dry topic, big data, or a complicated process. Movement will help you unlock a positive experience with your audience no matter the parameters of the conversation.
5 Key Marketing Benefits of Gifographics
Publishers that feature infographics grow their traffic 12% more than their counterparts. If infographics reap high returns for marketers, gifographics bring those benefits to the next level.
Animated features tug at audiences, increasing engagement times and leading to strong social sharing. With more components to play with, audiences find gifographics to be effortlessly fun, quick reads.
Here are a some awesome rewards for adding gifographics to your content creation plan:
- SEO Benefits – Neil Patel at QuickSprout listed gifographics as one of the top content types to boost your SEO standing in Google rankings. They help you to build authority in rankings and pave your path as a go-to resource for your audience.
- Viral Shares – Gifographics delight readers and make a powerful impact on social media. A recent study cited by Buffer found that blog posts with animated graphics performed better in terms of social shares — just check out this graphic from Socialfresh. Once you have made your first promotional push on social, expect a bump in your numbers.
- High Engagement – Gifographics break down complex and challenging issues into understandable (and engaging) forms. That’s the kind of content readers are looking for, and will keep them coming back for more.
- Mobile User Experience – With more and more B2B and B2C buyers making purchasing decisions on their mobile devices, mobile-friendly content types are the future of marketing. Gifographics offer easy scrolling, perfectly compliment mobile access, and allow for quick but meaningful interactions.
- Content Diversity — B2B marketers, on average, share 12 to 14 different content types — that number will continue to increase as marketers continue to push into new territory. High-performing content like gifographics support broader strategic goals and offer a diversity of options for your favorite readers. Offering a good mix of content formats allows you to appeal to different users who have different content preferences.
Fancy content like gifographics used to require a fair amount of technical work. Graphic designers animated layered frames on Photoshop to create dramatic effects. We’re super excited that the SnapApp platform now includes the ability to set animations on any element in your experience – check out an example here.
Gifographics: Even More Powerful With Interactivity
How do you make a gifographic even more awesome? That’s easy — add interactive elements!
Despite similarities in name and form, interactive infographics and gifographics are two different animals. Gifographics animate content, creating visual movement. Interactive infographics use quiz-style questions to create a two-way conversation.
An interactive, choose-your-own-adventure approach to content allows you to segment users and create unique customer paths based on the answers to your questions. Interactive content, on average, yields 50% plus engagement rates and is 2x more successful at driving conversions. By mixing interactive capabilities and animated content, you double the power of digital innovation, building a super-content bound to dominate the buyer’s journey.
Why not start with interactive gifographics today? Learn more about how to design powerful interactive content with our on-demand webinar.
