Facebook GIF: 10+ Best Use Cases

If you’re yet to begin your journey with Facebook GIFs, or are looking to upskill yourself in this field, you couldn’t have come to a better place.

From explaining what GIFs are, through Facebook GIF use cases, all the way up to answering most commonly asked questions - you can’t miss this article.

So sit comfortably and get ready for an interesting ride!

First things first… What actually is a GIF?

A GIF (short for Graphics Interchange Format) is an animation designed to loop indefinitely. It can be used to express a reaction, show emotion, and more. GIFs were invented by Stephen Wilhite, as a way to provide small animations for the CompuServe system. The format has since been adopted by other media and services for use as looping video clips or images, including Facebook.

Where can you post Facebook GIFs?

You may already know that it’s possible to post GIFs in a Facebook comment under posts, as well as in private messages on Facebook Messenger.

However, such animated GIFs can be uploaded to Facebook in a few ways, not just these 2.

Facebook actually supports GIFs in the following ways:

1. as your profile picture (in the form of a 7 second loop video),
2. as a reply to a comment or a comment on its own,
3. as a Facebook Ad,
4. on your business page on Facebook,
5. as a status or a mood (on your own Facebook news feed or in Facebook groups),
6. as a message – GIF in Facebook Messenger.

Practical advice: GIF files under 1 MB work best because smaller files are easier for people to view, even with slow Internet connections.

Gifs & Facebook: how to upload gifs and post gifs on Facebook

Now that you know the ways in which you can use GIFs on Facebook, let’s get you through a highly specific guide for each of the use cases. Whenever you want to post a GIF on Facebook in 1 of the 6 ways, you can come back to this article for a detailed and helpful instruction on how to do it.

#1 How to set a Facebook GIF as your profile picture*?

Do you know what’s better than a good-looking Facebook profile picture? A unique Facebook profile GIF. This is how you get one:

Before attempting to set a GIF as your profile picture on Facebook, make sure you have the latest version of the app downloaded. Once that’s done, you may start:

1. Make an animated GIF with a resolution of at least 640×640 pixels.
2. On your phone, open the Facebook app and log in.
3. Tap on three horizontal lines in the bottom-right corner.
4. Click on your name to access your profile.
5. Next to your profile photo, click the camera icon and select a profile picture or video by clicking on it.
6. Choose the video you want to use from your camera and click edit.

A video can only be included if it is less than 7 seconds long.

So if your video is longer than 7 seconds, it will be automatically trimmed. When uploading your profile video, you can also select a certain portion of it you want displayed as an animated gif.

What’s more, you can edit the video, mute the sound, and choose your preferred cover by utilizing their sections.

7. After you’ve finished all the editing, go to the top right corner and select “Done”.
8. Lastly, click “Use” to complete the setup of your new GIF Profile Video.

Pretty easy right? Now it’s time to enjoy your new PFP (profile picture) and get some likes and nice comments.

source

*instruction based on an iPhone.

#2 How to post a Facebook GIF as a reply to a comment or a comment on its own*?

GIFs in a comment box are a great way to engage with your audience and connect with potential prospects in a light-hearted way.

Here’s how you can post a GIF as a comment in 3 easy steps:

1. Log in to your Facebook profile and find the conversation/ status/ post you wish to comment on.
2. Tap on the GIF button from the icon list on the right side.

You will now see a pop up with various trending GIFs. Simply type the relevant keywords to find relevant GIFs in the search bar and click on the desired GIF of your choice.

You can also type other text in the comment section to go with your GIF.

3. Click “enter” on your keyboard and… that’s it! Your GIF will be posted as a comment.

*instruction based on a desktop

#3 How to post a Facebook GIF as a Facebook Ad?

Did you know that you can also post a GIF as a Facebook Ad?

This is undoubtedly a great way to create an interesting and engaging ad for your audience.

By selecting the right GIF (you can also create and upload your own), your Facebook Page may gain new followers, likes and comments. Win-win.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Facebook’s Power Editor . Go to Facebook Power Editor and click the “create a campaign” button on the left side. Next, select “create ad.” (It's now called Meta Business Suite)
2. Give your campaign or ad set a name. You will need to name your campaign and ad set. After doing so, select “create”.
3. Next, select “video/slideshow.” Instead of “change video,” there will be an “add” button. Click on the “add” button to upload your GIF that you created.
4. Time for the last step. After successfully uploading the GIF, you will need to add some ad copy. This should describe your ad, as well as provide some kind of a context to your GIF.

You can also track the new Facebook GIF ad. The insights will help you understand what people enjoy watching and what’s attracting the most viewership.

#4 How to post a Facebook GIF on your business page as a Facebook post*?

As a manager of a business page on Facebook, at some point in time you may want to include gifs in your strategy. One of the possible use cases is simply publishing GIFs as posts.

Now, a GIF can be uploaded to your Facebook personal page both via the mobile app and your browser, but the business page works differently. In case of business pages, Facebook only allows you to share GIFs through the native mobile app, not the browser (website).

So here we share a simple guide on how to upload GIFs to your business page on Facebook:

1. Go to your pages in the Facebook's mobile app on your phone. Select the Facebook page you want to post a GIF to and tap the "Create a post" button. Add the copy you want to add.
2. Scroll down the options of different things to add to your post and select “GIF”.
3. Next, it’s time to select your GIF. Choose a GIF from the trending options or just search for a GIF using relevant keywords, e.g. referring to your mood or some event. Then tap on the GIF to add it to your post.
4. Your post is ready to be published, select “share” and voila!

Important note: this feature does not seem to be available iin all countries.

*instruction based on an iPhone.

#5 How to post a GIF as a Facebook status or mood on your personal Facebook profile*?

Sometimes a GIF can express more than a thousand words. This is why you may want to create personal Facebook posts with GIFs in them.

Here’s how you can do it from your desktop computer in the fastest way:

1. Open the main Facebook page on your computer.
2. Click on the “What’s on your mind” field.

3. Next, tap on the three dots - the three dot menu button.

4. After that, you’ll see a list of all the possible things to add to your post. Find and click on the GIF button.

5. Search for your GIF using keywords.

6. Once you find the gif you’re looking for, simply click on it and it’ll appear in your post.

*instruction based on a desktop computer.

#6 How to post a Facebook GIF as a message in Facebook Messenger*?

Last but not least, it’s also possible to send GIF messages on Facebook Messenger to your friends, customers and more.

Ever wondered how to do it? Here’s the answer:

1. Start by opening the Facebook Messenger app on your phone.
2. Find and click on the conversation in which you want to send a GIF.
3. Click on the “+” icon next to the camera icon.
4. Next, tap on the “GIF” button.
5. You can now search through the database of GIPHY and Tenor’s GIFs by typing in your keywords.
6. Once you find the GIF you wish to send, simply click on it and it will be automatically sent in the chat, just like this:

*instruction based on an iPhone.

Accelerating your Facebook marketing goes beyond Facebook GIFs

While GIFs are great tools used for a variety of reasons on Facebook, simply posting GIFs left and right won’t bring you visible results. This is especially if you’re running a business and Facebook works as an important marketing channel for you.

To make your content work for you and your brand, there’s a few factors that should be met, including: uniqueness, consistency, collaboration and engagement.

Now, there’s many tools that can help you achieve this.

One of them is FeedHive - the ultimate all-in-one social media management tool utilizing the power of Artificial Intelligence.

FeedHive will help you:

• maximize engagement with post templates and customizable scheduling plans,
• analyze your follower’s activity and engagement,
• engage with your audience across various social media platforms, not just Facebook, all in one place,
• collaborate on your Facebook and other social media platform strategies with other team members.

So if you're not looking to just casually post GIFs around, but want to do it effectively while measuring their effectiveness, give FeedHive a chance to help you.

Other than that, We hope you enjoyed this guide on Facebook GIFs. Should you have any questions, do reach out to us. Also, check out our blog for more social media guides.

Good luck and hopefully see you again sometime soon!

Now, time for a bonus!

Facebook GIF bonus

Below you’ll find answers to some of the most popular questions about Facebook GIFs.

Can you post a GIF on Facebook?

Yes, it’s possible to post a GIF on Facebook, using both the browser and the Facebook app in just a few seconds. You can actually do it in a variety of ways, including profile pictures, regular Facebook post and comment under a post.

How to add my own Facebook GIFS?

You do it by first uploading GIFs to one of the 3 GIF sources used by Facebook: Giphy app, Tenor or Disney. This requires setting up a profile, creating your own GIFs, and uploading them to one of the platforms. These GIFs often undergo a check to see if they’re suitable to be published.

How to post a GIF on Facebook?

Depending on where you want to post a Facebook GIF, whether it’s in a comment, as a post or a profile picture, there will be a different way to do it.

Can you post a GIF on Facebook Messenger?

Yes, it’s possible to post a GIF on Facebook Messenger. You can post a GIF like this both from a desktop computer as well as mobile devices.

Where do Facebook GIFs come from?

Facebook currently sources GIFs from the following 3 providers: Giphy App, Tenor and Disney. One of the largest ones worldwide is Gify, which Facebook actually even bought in 2020 for around $315 million in 2020, only to sell it some time later.

How to post a GIF on Facebook Messenger?

To send somebody a GIF through Facebook Messenger, you need to click on the GIF button on a desktop or mobile and simply search for the gif you want to send and send it.