Social Images: Animated vs. Static? Which Drives Better Viewer Engagement?

August 18, 2022 3:54 pm

Today, social media platforms are becoming omnichannel resources. People use social media to get their world news, learn new skills, and they even do their shopping, all on one platform.  This is true for both business and consumer users, as the lines between the two have become increasingly blurred.

A question we’re often asked is, “How do we get more people to engage with our social content?” One fast way is to include animated graphics in your posts. Fighting through all the noise on social news feeds is challenging, but a moving image can grab attention. This will give viewers that moment of pause to digest the information you’re sharing and engage with your post, instead of mindlessly scrolling past were it a static image.

After seeing higher engagement on our posts using animated graphics for our clients, we decided to run a test across ten social posts across multiple social platforms. Five of the next ten posts we published were animated content. Those posts gained 59% more total impressions than the other five static posts. It proved that a little animation goes a long way.

This does not mean that static images are obsolete. But clearly, animation in social will elevate visibility, and subsequent engagement with viewers.

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About The Author

We specialize in b2b, supporting the clients who are the "The Brands Behind the Brands." These are the supply chain partners of brands, either in Tier 1 or Tier 2 positions, who drive value through the delivery of goods, services and technologies. We enjoy blogging about all things related to Branding, Marketing, Inbound, Tradeshows, etc... And we're always happy to talk about any ideas you may have that might Get You To Your NEXT!