Stepping Up the GIF Game

By Jessica Smith On September 28, 2015 In Social Media

Early uses of GIFS for teams and leagues was limited to pop culture GIFS and reaction moments. Teams and leagues didn’t look at GIFS as content to create, but more as an opportunity to pull from existing footage to emphasize reactions. Slowly and surely though, the social media and sports industry is seeing the value of GIFS far beyond reaction content. Teams/leagues are using their own footage and creating unique GIFS that are 100 percent on brand.

I’ve been really impressed with all the different uses of GIFS so far this football season and have compiled some of the best to serve as inspiration. Before we get into examples though, keep these four things in mind when creating GIFS:

 

No. 1- Pick your moments.

While I love great GIFS, I think you can overuse them. Take the time to think through a strategy for your GIFS and figure out the moments where you can use them for the greatest impact. GIFS are a treat and not an every tweet thing.

 

No. 2- Avoid redundancy.

I love how teams have started to use GIFS to enhance their play-by-play coverage. That said, it gets extremely redundant using the exact same GIFS over and over again. If you plan GIFS for certain moments (like touchdowns, interceptions, etc.), consider creating several options to pull from so you can mix it up. GIFS can absolutely be repurposed and used again, but there’s a fine line before the content gets boring.

 

No. 3- Find the humor in YOUR brand/team.

Teams often look to find humorous GIFS outside their team, but humorous GIFS can be really powerful when they teams leverage their own footage to give us a laugh. Need an example of funny, team content that would work great as a GIF? This one will do the trick. Take the time to go through football and find those funny moments you can splice and dice.

 

No. 4- Focus on cadence.

GIFS work well on Twitter because they’re short, sweet and quick. If you go about creating graphic-heavy GIFS, make sure the cadence is quick enough to grab and keep your fan’s attention. The cadence is a bit art and science, but play around with the length and movement to understand what works best.

Now that you have these four tips in mind, it’s time to get inspired. Below is a collection of some of the best GIFS I have seen so far this football (NFL and college) so far this season. Enjoy!

 
UNIFORM GIFS

 
PLAY-BY-PLAY ENHANCERS / STATS

 
TEASE / HYPE

 
FUN / HUMOR / MISC

 
PHOTO GALLERY / SEQUENCE

 

 

 

Have you seen any stellar GIFS this season that I missed? Share them below!

Thanks for reading! 

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