GIFs – A Method For Video Preview
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GIFs inserted into posts, Twitter and webpages are short animations of a portion of a video clip or images stitched together to entice users to click. The Internet is getting busier and busier with images, video , text, and users are getting lost in it. Hence the emergence of technology to encourage clicks with moving images: GIFs
Embedded video is static until a user clicks to watch. This results in the “lost content” on a page. Publishers are searching for ways to grab those eyeballs to see beyond the image thumbnail that represents the video.
Advertising revenue is much greater for Video pre-roll than any other form. This is why clicks on videos are so important to publishers.
GIFs are created using a software program to convert some of the video frames into an animation. It is a bit jerky depending upon election of how many frames per second. A traditional video utilizes almost 30 frames per second. GIFs typically are 12-20 frames per second depending upon the quality desired.
There are other preview products on the market, including the Videobar, which offers real video clips from a video at the 30 frames per second. The preview panel is smaller but clearer, and include audio, begging for that click through.
Research shows that users respond more to video, period. They stay on a website longer, purchase more, and it increases the enjoyment of the experience.
Also, the attention span of users has been dropping, down now to less than 10 seconds. So, what can a publisher do in 10 seconds? Add some animation – but not corny animation (the old GIF application). Start some video preview for users to stop and watch… enticing that click.
There are a number of companies offering GIF creation, including imgflip.com, gifmaker.me, and giphy.com.
Twitter has added the ability to insert a GIF to its Tweet feature. This is proof of concept for previewing video content for business.
Google Play has utilized this feature extensively: https://twitter.com/GooglePlayMusic and I vote that its effective. One image thumbnail covering a video player does not tell a story. Video frames tell a story. With the advent of users reading less and watching more video, it seems obvious that making video move is the next big thing for video discovery, ad revenue increase for video, and a better user experience.
So if you have video, look into bringing your video to life by adding a form of video preview. There is preview for every other medium of communication. It’s time now, for video to have it, always.