If your company has been taking advantage of the visual marketing power of Instagram, you should be pleased to learn about its latest offering: an app called Boomerang that loops five images for a one-second animation that repeats backward and forward and is similar to a GIF. Brands started using it within a day of its release last month, so if you want to be an innovator, now is the time.
Brands Taking Advantage of Boomerang
Timberland, one of the first brands to try out the app, put out a Boomerang animation showing someone flipping through the shoe company’s catalog pages; Elle flipped back and forth between its magazine cover and an inside page. Purina shared a dancing dog. And Benefit, a San Francisco cosmetics brand, showed a model putting on a quick swipe of mascara.
Not quite a GIF, not quite a video loop, Boomerang animations are bringing GIF-like creation to the masses through a mobile app and making it relatively easy. The videos are created within the app and then downloaded for the user to save or share on social media, or both.
Simple as Pressing a Button
To create a video, hold your finger down on a button within the app and act out whatever you want to get across. If your company is celebrating a milestone, you could have several images of staff members tossing confetti in the air. Or if you have a big sale coming up, how about a one-second video showing a moment of exaggerated excitement? You might also like to show a quick animation of charitable work, such as wrapping gifts for needy children.
Give Your Company a Boost from Boomerang
Instagram already enables you to present your company the way you want, showing the behind-the-scenes fun, creativity and planning that go into producing your brand, as well as the people who represent the brand. Boomerang kicks the sharing up a notch and gives you even more ways to grab attention.
You don’t even need an Instagram account to use the app, but you really should be posting regularly to the platform, including holding Instagram contests and seeking photo submissions that engage your fans and create an atmosphere in which trust and brand loyalty can grow.
GIFs, which are collections of photos that loop (but restart rather than go forward and backward like Boomerangs do), are nothing new, nor are GIF creators. Even though you can get a surprise GIF from Google Plus created by images you’ve uploaded or automatically shared from a camera or tablet, GIFs have never been in the mainstream. They’ve been created by tech-savvy people who use programs the average person probably isn’t aware of and may have trouble mastering.
Boomerang has the potential to change all this through its ease of use and its connection with youth-dominated Instagram. Even if you’re already engaging with customers and prospects on Instagram, Boomerang enables you to take the connection further, maybe making those one-second videos even more fun, modern or creative so younger people will find your company not only relevant, but also highly creative with cool ideas for these small captures.
Some ideas for getting your company started on Boomerang involve showing employees engaged in activity, whether it be dancing, singing, decorating or engaging in discussion. You can also involve upper management, showing that management can be fun and creative, too. And if you don’t get it perfect the first time, just try again; you’re bound to find your niche through trial and error and feedback from others who are using the platform. You only need a moment, so make it count.
You have all sorts of potential to make Boomerang the next major tool in your social media marketing toolbox.
