If short-form video was the previous content buzzword, in last months people have been raving about cinemagraphs.
Essentially they are individual instants of motion are isolated against a static image, “living photographs” so to speak. They have been around for a while though, invented originally by Kevin Burg & Jamie Beck. Because they work perfectly in visual mobile platforms (Facebook, Instagram), they have been generating more buzz in recent months.
As everyone is raving about cinemagraphs, here is a short cheat sheet to showcase that you know what you are talking about in meetings:
- Good cinemagraph should be hypnotizing.
The goal of a cinemagraph is to keep audience longer watching your ad. Same way as fire is hypnotizing, great cinemagraph creates a loop you end up watching longer than you intended.
- Good cinemagraph starts with great photo.
You cannot create an effective cinemagraph out of crappy picture. The movement will not capture your attention, photo will. The movement makes you watch it longer.
- Ideal for Facebook and Instagram.
The recent looping video in Instagram and FB autoplay are perfect vehicles for cinemagraphs. Cinemagraph is elegant format, which works perfectly to feed-based environments that do not use sound that much.
- You buy it like a video.
When considering the ad cost, you have to factor in that cinemagraphs are considered as a video instead of a photo.
- It is not necessarily always faster to produce than ordinary video.
It can take weeks to produce high-quality cinemagraph.
- Cinemagraph is great vehicle for product advertising.
Because you end up watching the video longer, ensure that your product is there to be seen. Besides ability to increase your brand recall, you can actually show the actual product inside the bottle as well (see below)
- Currently they are more viral than ordinary photographs
They have 71% more organic reach than regular photos.
- Ensure that you make the loop seamless.
Nothing looks more clunky than cinemagraph that does not loop properly. You want to create the hypnotizing effect (point 1)
- They will become more commonplace
As your profile image in Facebook can nowadays be 7 second video instead of just a static photo, people are becoming more adapt at creating their own
- Be creative
With relatively new format, we have only scratched the surface of the creative possibilities it can provide (like vertical videos). Experiment and test different cinemagraph ideas, the rules have not yet been set in stone.
Our digital world is getting more mobile and visual and the rise of cinemagraphs is just a one manifestation of that.
Stand-Up Strategy 