How to Use GIFS/Animation on LinkedIn Stand Out & Stop the Scroll

Sometimes you discover something super simple that creates a significant impact.

And that's EXACTLY what I've got for you.

Let's face it, on any social media platform one of the biggest challenges is getting your prospect to STOP scrolling and read your post.

This little trick I'll show you is all about...

How to Use GIFS on LinkedIn Stand Out & Stop the Scroll

I’m going to show you how you an create an attention-grabbing gif with Canva and use it on your LinkedIn posts and articles to get more views of your posts and articles.

Read on and watch the video here.

First of all if you’re not using https://canva.com for creating post, YouTube thumbnails, your LinkedIn banner, Facebook banner and so much more you want to be!!!

Canva is a tool I use almost everyday, and often multiple times a day.

I use the paid version and it’s worth every penny.

Here Are The Simple Steps To Create A GIF For Your Social Media Posts

I’m going to show you how to specifically create a gif for your LinkedIn articles & posts.  The same process applies for Facebook or any other platform.

STEP 1:

Go to Canva and from the search function at the top type in YouTube Thumbnail. 

Choose YouTube Thumbnail for the template you want to use.  This template is the perfect size for LinkedIn article banners and LinkedIn posts.

The dimensions of the template should be 1280 × 720 px.

STEP 2:

I usually choose one of the designs Canva has.  It’s really easy to change the colors, font size, font, images, etc. 

Here’s just one screen of designs to choose from.  There are literally pages & pages of possible designs you can modify.

Create your design for the post or article you want.

For this purpose, I’m going to choose this yoga design.

I can easily delete the photo they have and insert my own. 

All you do is upload your own photo.  Click on your photo and it will drop into the center of the design.

You can then drag the corners of your photo to resize it, you can crop it, and move it where you want it. 

Then using the “Position” option from the menu in the top right, you can move your photo into the background.

By choosing “To back” I get the screening of the color and the text on top of my photo and the photo is now in the background.

Now I can delete the logo they have and insert my own logo in a different place.  Simply click on the logo and hit your delete key.

Then click on the text that’s already there and delete it.  Start typing your own text.

You can easily resize your text by choosing a different font size in the top left menu.

Choose the font size you want by clicking on the number.  Test out different sizes to see what you like best.  Remember there’s always the undo arrow on the top left menu. 

STEP 3:  Animate

On the top left above your design choose “Animate” from the Canva menu.

Choose which animation you want to use from the options that pop up on the left side.

You can see how each one is going to animate your design by simply clicking on it.

Once you’ve chosen the animation you want, adjust the time to 3 seconds.  This will keep the gif almost constantly in movement so whenever your prospect sees your post it will be moving to grab their attention.

You can adjust the time from the top menu bar.

STEP 4:  Download Your Design as a GIF

On the top right I recommend renaming your file.  The design name the Canva gave it will automatically appear in the box, and you can simply choose your own name for the file.

I’ve named this Texting for Network Marketers.

In the top right corner choose the Download option.

MP4 Video is the suggested download format.  We do NOT want to use this format.

Instead, click on the down arrow to see additional format options and choose GIF.

Save the gif file on your computer.  I usually save these in my pictures folders.

STEP 5:  Upload Your GIF into LinkedIn

You can use this size file as the article image, or in posts on LinkedIn.  You can also use it perfectly on Facebook.

When you’re creating a post, just click on the image icon on your post and upload your gif file.

When you upload your gif by clicking on the photo icon you’ll see your gif moving.

Click the blue Done button on the bottom right corner to upload your gif.

Then click the blue Post button on the lower right corner and you’re post with your gif will be uploaded to the newsfeed.

You can use your gif as the main image for your LinkedIn articles, or as images in article.

When you use a gif as the main image for your article, the gif will appear in the post in the newsfeed, grabbing your prospect’s attention.