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Animated GIFs are great additions to your marketing. They’re easy to consume, provide a new way to capture your viewers’ attention, and can have a serious emotional impact.
The best part about GIFs is that they aren’t too hard to make. If you have access to Photoshop and a few minutes to spare, you can create an animated GIF in no time.
In the following tutorial on making animated GIFs, I’m using the Creative Cloud 2015 version of Photoshop, but the steps should be similar in other versions.

How to make a GIF

Upload your images to Photoshop.
Open up the Timeline window.
In the Timeline window, click “Create Frame Animation.”
Create a new layer for each new frame.
Open the same menu icon on the right, and choose “Make Frames From Layers.”
Under each frame, select how long it should appear for before switching to the next frame.
At the bottom of the toolbar, select how many times you’d like it to loop.
Preview your GIF by pressing the play icon.
Save and Export Your GIF.

How to Create an Animated GIF in Photoshop
If you already know how to create a GIF, skip to the section on how to use GIFs in your marketing materials. 
Here’s an example of an animated GIF you might make using this tutorial:
Alright, let’s get started.
Step 1: Upload your images to Photoshop.
If you already have images created …
Gather the images you want in a separate folder. To upload them into Photoshop, click File > Scripts > Load Files Into Stack.

Then, select Browse, and choose which files you’d like to use in your GIF. Then, click OK.
Photoshop will then create a separate layer for each image you’ve selected. Once you’ve done that, skip to step two.
If you don’t already have the series of images created …
Create each frame of the animated GIF as a different Photoshop layer. To add a new layer, chose Layer > New > Layer.

Be sure to name your layers so you can keep track of them easily when you make your GIF. To name a layer, go to the Layer panel on the bottom right of your screen, double-click on the default layer name, and type in the name you want to change it to. Press Enter when you’re finished.

Once you have your layers in there and you’ve named them all, you’re ready for step two.
Pro Tip: If you want to combine layers so they appear in a single frame in your GIF, turn visibility on for the layers you want to merge (by clicking on the “eye” to the left of each layer name so only the eyes for the layers you want to merge are open). Next, press Shift + Command + Option + E (Mac) or Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E (Windows). Photoshop will create a new layer containing the merged content, which you should also rename.
Step 2: Open up the Timeline window.
To open Timeline, go to the top navigation, choose Window > Timeline. The Timeline will let you turn different layers on and off for different periods of time, thereby turning your static image into a GIF.

The Timeline window will appear at the bottom of your screen. Here’s what it looks like:

Step 3: In the Timeline window, click “Create Frame Animation.”
If it’s not automatically selected, choose it from the dropdown menu — but then be sure to actually click it, otherwise the frame animation options won’t show up.

Now, your Timeline should look something like this:

Step 4: Create a new layer for each new frame.
To do this, first select all your layers by going to the top navigation menu and choosing Select > All Layers.
Then, click the menu icon on the right of the Timeline screen.

From the dropdown menu that appears, choose Create new layer for each new frame.

Step 5: Open the same menu icon on the right, and choose “Make Frames From Layers.”
This will make each layer a frame of your GIF.

Step 6: Under each frame, select how long it should appear for before switching to the next frame.
To do this, click the time below each frame and choose how long you’d like it to appear. In our case, we chose 0.5 seconds per frame.

Step 7: At the bottom of the toolbar, select how many times you’d like it to loop.
The default will say Once, but you can loop it as many times as you want, including Forever. Click Other if you’d like to specify a custom number of repetitions. 
Step 8: Preview your GIF by pressing the play icon.

Step 9: Save and Export Your GIF
Satisfied with your GIF? Save it to use online by going to the top navigation bar and clicking File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)…

Next, choose the type of GIF file you’d like to save it as under the Preset dropdown. If you have a GIF with gradients, choose Dithered GIFs to prevent color banding. If your image employs a lot of solid colors, you may opt for no dither. 
The number next to the GIF file determines how large (and how precise) the GIF colors will be compared to the original JPEGs or PNGs. According to Adobe, a higher dithering percentage translates to the appearance of more colors and detail — but it increases the file size. 

Click Save at the bottom to save the file to your computer. Now you’re ready to upload this GIF to use in your marketing!
Upload the GIF file into any place online that you’d put an image, and it should play seamlessly. Here’s what the final product might look like:

How to Use GIFs in Your Marketing
1. On social media.
Pinterest was the first to enable animated GIFs, followed by Twitter. And by the summer of 2015, Facebook had also jumped on the GIF bandwagon. Then, Instagram changed the game with Boomerang, which lets users film and share their own GIFs. On any of these social feeds, animated GIFs can be a great way to stand out in a crowded feed.
For example, check out how Calm used a GIF of a heart drawing in this quote from Samuel Beckett to add animation to an otherwise text-heavy Instagram post: 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Calm (@calm)

2. In your emails.
Animated GIFs display in email the same way a regular image does. So why not spruce up your email marketing by replacing still images with animated ones?
Not only could this help capture recipients’ attention with novelty alone, but it could also have a direct impact on your bottom line.
For some brands, including an animated GIF in emails correlated with as much as a 109% increase in revenue. Using HubSpot’s free email marketing software is an easy way to accomplish this type of increase on your own site.
Make use of GIFs by showcasing products, making event announcements, or otherwise enticing readers. Check out the GIF below from The Hustle, which showcases various prizes email subscribers can win by referring the Hustle to friends: 

3. On websites and blog posts.
Finally, consider the power of using GIFs on webpages to draw a viewer’s attention to a specific area, or engage a viewer in an otherwise text-heavy post.
Take a look at how Bloomberg uses stick figure animated GIFs in this article on the Beijing Winter Olympic Games:
Now that you’ve learned how to make a GIF, consider using your newfound knowledge to add animations to your website or portfolio.
If you don’t have one, take a look at The 12 Best Graphic Design Portfolios We’ve Ever Seen, & How to Start Your Own. 
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2013 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

 

Big Idea or Enduring Question: How can you automatically add topic(s) to a record? Objectives: After reading this blog, you’ll be able to:  Use record-triggered flow to automatically add topics to a record  Use Get element to find topic id instead of avoid hard coding of Id Use create records
The post Auto Assign a Topic to a Record appeared first on Automation Champion.

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Over the past few years, TikTok has seen explosive growth, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, by the end of 2022, TikTok is predicted to reach 1.5 billion monthly active users.
But there’s another big player in the game of short-form video — Instagram Reels, which Instagram launched in 2020 to provide a space for Instagram users to post short, ‘snackable’ content that mirrors what you’d see on TikTok.
We’ve already covered the debate of TikTok versus Instagram Reels, so I won’t go into that here.
Instead, I spoke with an Instagram influencer and consultant, Kar Brulhart, who has grown her own Instagram account from 0 to 45,000+ viewers and obtained over six figures in less than 10 months using Reels — all organically.
Here, we’ll cover Brulhart’s tips for how brands can leverage Instagram Reels to reach new audiences and acquire new customers.
But first — why Instagram Reels over TikTok?

The Benefits of Instagram Reels
“A lot of brands think they need to be on multiple platforms in order to have a voice and a presence, but it’s more important to get very good at one or two platforms, and have a voice and message and community there,” Kar Brulhart told me.

She adds, “We forget these platforms are about community, and we have to nurture our audiences in order to get results.”

Brulhart told me she’s decided to put all her eggs in the Instagram basket because she ultimately finds the platform more user-friendly, and there are more features and benefits for a business owner compared to TikTok.
This makes sense: Instagram is owned by Meta (formerly Facebook), which provides users with extensive advertising tools and opportunities. While TikTok is attempting to provide similarly robust advertising capabilities, it’s ultimately still in early stages and has a long way to go.
Brulhart does acknowledge TikTok has its advantages: It can serve as a great way to generate brand awareness and funnel audiences to your website or Instagram, land brand partnerships, and it can help entrepreneurs and brands keep up with trends. Her strategy is to use TikTok to post to TikTok for more brand awareness, identify buzzy trends and sounds, and then leverage that information to reach new audiences on Instagram.
Ultimately, Brulhart told me brands could be leaving money on the table if they aren’t using Reels. As she puts it, “I went from less than 2,000 followers in February 2020 to over 15,000 the next month through Reels, because Instagram is pushing Reels to new audiences. And 75% of the people who find my account are coming from Reels — compared to Stories and posts.”
If you’ve determined Reels is a viable option for your business, you might be wondering how to get started with it. Let’s dive into that, next.
(Note: These tips are from Brulhart — if you’re looking for a more high-level overview or curious how brands are already using Reels, take a look at Everything Marketers Need to Know About Instagram Reels, first.)

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Latina IG Educator & Coach (@karbrulhart)

5 Tips for Succeeding on Instagram Reels, According to a Reels Influencer
1. Find your niche, and post consistently.
Kar Brulhart’s niche is Instagram coaching and growth, so she told me she’s focused her entire content strategy around these two key themes.

“I repeat myself often,” Brulhart says. “People get nervous about sounding repetitive, but you need to repeat yourself often, and constantly remind people of your offers.”

It can be tempting to create content on popular or trending topics even if they’re not a direct match for your product or services, but that isn’t a good idea. Social media marketing isn’t just about attracting an audience — it’s about attracting the right audience.
Additionally, posting often and on a pre-determined schedule can help you see growth on the platform, since social algorithms reward consistency. Brulhart began seeing success when she continued to post often about similar themes that mattered most to her intended audience.
2. Add context in your captions.
“Short video works really well on TikTok — like audio trends, and lip-sync trends — and what you should take away from that is you don’t have to put your entire message into a 15 or 30-second Reel,” Brulhart recommends.
She adds, “Instead, it can be something relatable and inspirational, and then in your caption, you can add that context.”
Consider, for instance, the following Reel, in which Brulhart posts a few quick text phrases in the Reel itself (like “I was bullied by a man in my first job in NYC”), but then elaborates extensively in the caption:

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Latina IG Educator & Coach (@karbrulhart)

3. Be obsessive about your data.
As marketers, we’re already data-obsessed. Data can help you identify what’s working well, what needs improvement, and what should be ditched entirely. And your Reels strategy should be no different.
As Brulhart puts it, “I would suggest looking at your data every seven to 30 days, analyzing it, and figuring out which Reels perform well — then, take that same topic and create a carousel post, and add more context in the caption of that post.”
She says, “Half of your audience isn’t seeing your content at any given time, so be repetitive because chances are, people didn’t see it the first time.”
A brand’s success with Reels, Brulhart believes, lies in the marketing team’s ability to experiment and use data to figure out the strategy that works best for that particular brand. For instance, perhaps your audience is more into trends and relatable content over educational Reels, which is information you can only uncover through analytics.
Brulhart says, “Where I’ve seen the most success with my clients is when they aren’t afraid to pivot and change their strategies because the platform is constantly evolving, and there are always new features so it’s important to consistently test out those new features — especially because Instagram rewards those accounts that jump on the new features early.”
4. Create behind-the-scenes content.
When I spoke with Brulhart about this ‘newfound rise’ in short-form video, she reminded me it’s been a long time coming. For instance, Snapchat first came on the market with short-form video content back in 2012.
“These platforms have democratized video,” Brulhart told me, “and made it cheap and easy and fun to create videos. And it’s who we are as people — we like to overshare, and we like to create videos to share our lives.”
Post-pandemic, social media users are craving more authentic, relatable, behind-the-scenes content from influencers and brands alike.
For instance, in 2020, roughly half (42%) of Gen Zers said they wanted content described as fun— which surpassed Gen Zers’ interest in romantic content (29%) and exciting content (27%).
And, post-pandemic, 34% of HubSpot Blog Survey respondents said they still seek out more positive and uplifting content than they did pre-pandemic.
As Brulhart puts it, “It’s not about perfection or aesthetics anymore — the stories that work the best are those vulnerable, personal, behind-the-scenes content. So don’t be afraid to switch from professional aesthetic to something more approachable and fun.”
One brand that Brulhart admires for their short-form video strategy is Duolingo. The language-learning app goes viral often because they’ve begun using their owl mascot in funny, relatable TikToks (like seen below).

@duolingo apparently can’t hire Dua so here we are
#duolingo
#brandtok
#marketingtok
#DuaLipa
#DulaPeep
#dualingo
♬ original sound – kooze

Humanizing your brand is a vital component of any good social media strategy. The more your audience can relate to your brand, the more they can trust your brand.
However, it’s important to note, you don’t want to copy something just because it’s a trend — it should also make sense for your brand, and feel authentic and real. As Brulhart says, “My biggest failures is when I’m just doing a trend. It doesn’t work — people smell it.”
5. Hire someone to create Reels-specific content.
If you’re interested in taking your Reels strategy to the next level, you’ll want to consider hiring someone with expertise creating engaging short-form videos for social.
Brulhart told me, “If you have the budget, hire someone who has a resume to show you they can create content specifically for Instagram or TikTok (i.e. a Reels video editor).”
If possible, you’ll want to hire someone with a proven track record on Reels who can ensure your content is appropriate for the platform and will perform well.
If you don’t have the budget to hire someone full-time, however, that’s okay, too — in that case, Brulhart told me, “Make sure your brand is tying its Reels back to your business’ content pillars. Don’t make the mistake of just jumping on a trend because it’s funny or cute … What ends up happening is you’ll get an influx of followers, but not the right followers. It’s key to make sure everything ties back to your business objectives.”
Additionally, if you don’t have the budget to hire someone full-time, consider enrolling in Brulhart’s Social Department membership, in which she sends trending audio as well as niche-specific ideas to people every week to save them time on Reels.
You’ll also want to consider how you can leverage other content creators to help tell your story in ways you can’t think of — brand or influencer partnerships can help you with this.
Ultimately, Reels can be an incredibly powerful tool for reaching new audiences and increasing brand awareness and loyalty — but it’s not for everyone. If you’re unsure whether Reels is right for you, test it out for a few weeks and then analyze performance to figure out whether it’s worth your marketing resources.
Who knows? Maybe Reels is the missing piece in your social strategy. 
Feature Image Credit: Kar Brulhart (used with permission)

Imagine this: as a content marketer, things are going pretty well for you — you’re confident about your upcoming campaign, the ROI from your last couple were stellar, and projections for the new one looked just as good, if not better, than ever before.
And then something happened, and you need to pivot your content.
Maybe it’s a sudden trend or global event that diverts your audience’s attention. Or, perhaps a competitor’s campaign launch has everyone talking, and you’re unsure if your current content strategy is good enough to outshine theirs.
Regardless, this shift has impacted your company directly, which means, your entire campaign is impacted directly.
With that being said, now you have to decide if you need to pivot your content plan — and quickly. But how do you respond to an event like this?

We asked HubSpot managers to give their insights about how to navigate major changes that alter your content planning. The HubSpot Blog also surveyed 1,000 marketers to learn more about their content planning practices.
In this post, we’ll learn what they have to say. We’ll go over how to identify when you need to pivot quickly, and strategies you can take in order to make that transition as smooth as possible.
How to Pivot Your Content Plan
When something major happens to alter your content strategy, think about how it will affect your business goals. After all, the content you’re creating reflects the goals of your business.
“The content HubSpot creates is intended to help businesses around the world grow better by addressing their current needs. When we have to pivot our content plans quickly, it is because those needs have changed quickly,” says HubSpot’s Vice President of Acquisition, Emmy Jonassen.
Let’s take a look at advice from Jonassen, as well as tips from managers across the marketing field — including Senior Social Media Manager Kelly Hendrickson, Global Brand Marketing Manager Alicia Collins, and Content Growth Strategy Manager Karla Hesterberg.
Let’s get started!
1. Know when to pivot.
Knowing when to switch up your content strategy is never an easy decision to make. There are a couple of aspects you should consider when you find yourself needing to re-work your content strategy, but first is knowing when the right time is to do that.
“The toughest part about pivoting your strategy is knowing when,” Hendrickson says. “As a social media manager, I would ask myself, ‘Right now, can we provide value to our audience?’ ‘Can we provide content that will be helpful and welcome in the social space?’”
46% of marketers surveyed by the HubSpot Blog said they knew it was time to pivot because their previous content strategy was experiencing poor engagement.
If you’ve realized that altering your strategy will help you deliver more valuable, helpful, and timely content to your audience, then it’s a good time to pivot.
Ultimately, content plans should serve your business goals, but also deliver worthwhile content to your customer that’s timely. If your content isn’t providing a timely lens to customers, it might be time for you to pivot your strategy.
A content audit could be a good way to determine if you need a shift. Per the HubSpot Blog survey, 36% of marketers conduct content audits to identify gaps in their content strategy.
Take a look at your content plans. If your information aligns with your business’s goals, that’s great, but does it align with the times?
Instead of devoting all of your content planning to a new product launch, for instance, change up the frequency of your posts to include more content that can serve your customer’s needs depending on what’s going on in the industry, or in the world.
2. Put your audience first.
So, you’ve decided it’s a good time to pivot. How do you cater to the new shift in your audience’s lives, though?
Check your audience’s web behavior — you’ll find information that relates to what your audience is thinking about. For instance, if keyword search reports have indicated that keywords are changing from “local marketing tips” to “online marketing tips,” think of it as a clue that needs are shifting.
However, this shift isn’t exactly what you planned for — in fact, the content you’ve planned for is already scheduled, ready to go, and ultimately different from the results you’ve found from researching web behavior.
Hendrickson’s team was in the same boat. “In our case, we found we could provide our audience with helpful information,” she says. “But that information was not our previously produced and scheduled content.”
So, what do you do?
“We paused all publishing and pivoted immediately based on audience needs,” says Hendrickson. She and her team saw that they needed to rework how they catered to the needs of their audience with different content, so after some web behavior analysis, they found their answer. “At that time, an immediate need for our audience was tips about remote work and leading with empathy.”
She continues by saying, “We made that decision by looking at our audience, as we always do, and figuring out what challenges they were facing and prioritizing our changes there.”
According to a survey conducted by the HubSpot Blog, 46% of marketers have adapted content to reflect the issues going on in their customers’ lives.
When in doubt, start with your audience and put yourself in their shoes. What would you want to see from your favorite brands during certain times of year or periods of change?
If you have a large audience, it’s important to make sure your content addresses the needs of different groups you’re looking to serve. 38% of marketers surveyed by the HubSpot Blog said their biggest mistake when pivoting their content plan is focusing too much on one segment of their target audience.
As you look to pivot, take a holistic approach to addressing the needs of your broader audience.
3. Change your content lens.
We’ve talked a lot about how thinking about the customer will help guide your pivot decision and content planning. When you’ve got an idea of the type of content you need to deliver to your audience, the next step is the delivery itself.
“We need content and campaigns that are helpful and understanding,” Collins says. So while your content is framed around helping the audience, does the caption convey an understanding, empathetic point of view?
When you deliver content, you’re reflecting your brand and your brand’s goals. If one of your brand’s goals is to connect with your customer, you must change your message delivery to reflect comprehension of the situation.
Per the HubSpot Blog survey, 43% of marketers have changed the tone of their content to be more empathic and authentic in recent years.
“Companies and customers are operating in different ways — we can’t always assume that the same types of marketing will resonate,” Collins notes.
For instance, let’s say a major cybersecurity issue upends your industry and is seen everywhere, from LinkedIn posts to newspaper headlines. Rather than shying away from the issue, consider how you might provide content that focuses on IT safety and security, or more generally, tips and tricks for successful online marketing and sales strategies.
4. Connect with other colleagues.
“During major industry or global changes, it becomes especially important that we understand our audiences’ needs so we can create relevant and helpful content fast,” Jonassen remarks.
Recall that Hendrickson’s team had to recognize the new needs of their target audiences, and discovered that remote work and how to lead during hard times was increasingly popular. From there, they were able to conduct research and figure out a plan.
However, if you’ve found that your team is struggling to collect insights, or you don’t know how, reach out to other colleagues to come up with a game plan that will be helpful to you. While your customers need actionable, timely, empathetic content, you need to understand how to figure out their other needs, as well.
“We start by analyzing user behavior, talking to our Sales and Customer Service teams, and interviewing prospects and customers,” Jonassen says.
Similar to social media and branding, it’s important for team members working on customer acquisition to analyze how their customer will be thinking about their lives differently, so you can create offers that will be relevant to their new lifestyle.
If you find yourself struggling to deduce how your customer thinks because you don’t interact with them directly, think about the colleagues you have who do have a customer-facing role.
Sales and Customer Service colleagues are a great place to start — they’re in constant contact with customers, and because of that, will have a good grip on recognizing common problem areas among customers.
The best part about this strategy? It fits any business size. Even if your company is a small but mighty one, there’s at least one person constantly communicating with customers, and leading hiring efforts. They’re your front lines (and usually, talking to them is free, and less time-consuming than conducting multiple research quests).
5. Don’t overestimate your pivot.
When you recognize you need to shift, you don’t have to launch an entirely new product or completely re-identify your brand. In fact, that’s something you shouldn’t do.
Hesterberg states, “Don’t change everything at once. The worst thing you can do in a situation like this is pivot too hard and too fast in your rush to meet short-term needs.”
It can be startling to customers if a company overhauls their entire strategy overnight (Do you remember the “IHOb” fiasco?), and leave them confused.
My grandmother always used to say, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” a mantra that should apply to your pivot process planning. Changing what your brand stands for can be messy, time-consuming, and confusing for customers.
“Remember that content strategy is always a long game — your short-term strategy can’t compromise your ability to solve for the ongoing, long-term needs of your content property. Find key areas where you can be flexible to meet immediate needs, but know what you can’t budge on,” Hesterberg suggests.
Your pivot should be a balanced addition to the strategy you already have in place. Half of marketers surveyed by the HubSpot Blog said when they last pivoted their content, their content plan changed a moderate amount.
In every campaign you make, one of your goals is most likely to serve the needs of the customer. Keep these tips in mind, and stay calm throughout the storm.
6. Get ready to experiment.
Digital marketing is ever-evolving, and new platforms and features can often be a driving force behind a content pivot. According to the HubSpot Blog survey, 68% of marketers have pivoted their content plan to leverage a new social media platform. We’ve seen this play out in real-time with more brands looking to capitalize on the rise in popularity of TikTok in recent years.
In addition to emerging platforms, jumping on new features of existing platforms can be a key part of a content pivot. Per the HubSpot Blog survey, 77% of marketers have pivoted their content plan to try leveraging a new feature on an existing social media platform, such as Instagram Reels. 
Experimentation and flexibility are important for content pivots. When exploring new platforms and features, it can take some time for brands to navigate what their audience wants to see on a new medium.