For those of you who aren’t sure what a GIF is, it’s basically a small clip or animated image from a video. They have been around since 1987, but are making a huge comeback on social media and popular websites like Buzzfeed.

Near the end of January 2014, Pinterest announced that users could upload GIFs as a pin. This is actually super exciting news. Although we don’t currently see many businesses using them, there are definitely things that you need to know.

Most Pinners Love GIFs

Even if GIFs aren’t being used a ton by businesses right now, people have been pinning thousands of them. Before the change on Pinterest you had to click on the pin that would bring you to the site where you could see the GIF.

After searching “GIFs on Pinterest” on Pinterest, I was surprised at how many people were doing “test gif” and “PINTEREST HAS GIFS NOW?!” Pinners quickly uploaded and repinned tons of pins that featured clips of their favorite characters, shows, etc. and it was pretty beautiful.

If you’re still unsure what a GIF is, this board has a great description and examples of what a GIF is in general.

So trust me, there is a market on Pinterest that wants these. The real question is “How do businesses use them?” 

GIFs are a Supporting Character

When incorporating GIFs into your Pinterest marketing plan, you need to understand that they don’t have to play the starring role. A GIF should be treated as a way to make your pins stand out, but not the only reason your pin is there in the first place.

A great example is this GIF by Chic. It was a part of an email campaign, but this could easily be used on Pinterest as well. All the GIF does is support the message and showcase more clothes than a regular image would, however, even if it was just an image, you still get the basic message.

Don’t Attempt on a Mobile Device

As I stated before, you want to make sure that the GIF plays a supporting role only. Part of the reason for this is that GIFs won’t work as seamlessly on the Pinterest mobile app. What it will do on the phone is take you to the link where the GIF is so it can be played there.

Even though it doesn’t work as well on the mobile app doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be used. Instead of going to a completely different website, all you have to do on the desktop version of Pinterest is click the pin.

This may not seem like a significant change for some, but anything that can help your pins stand out is going to benefit your business.