Micaela Wright | @caelawright12

Everybody loves a good GIF, especially if it has a cat in it. 

Pinterest announced at the end of January that GIFs will be integrated into the social media site. These moving images are now available on desktops and should be accessible on mobile devices in the near future. So what does this mean for businesses that use this social media site?

Pinterest is all about finding and saving things that you love. GIFs have always been a fun way to increase views and engagement. The creative opportunities are endless: you could have moving hair tutorials, models walking down a runway, or food steaming as it comes out of the oven. Unlike Tumblr, the GIFs on Pinterest do not automatically play; they have to be clicked to play, which could add increased involvement and awareness of your brand.

These GIFs not only add personality to your brand, they also make entertaining your followers on Pinterest easier than ever before. It's important to get creative with GIFs and consider what story you'd like your GIF to tell. You should also consider who you audience is. If you're looking to entertain, throw a few GIFs of kittens and puppies or Tom Hiddleston and your brand will reap the benefits. Tagged with the right key words, GIFs could increase views to your Pinterest page.

  Now, there are some things to remember before you overload your boards       with GIFs. Animated GIFs may not be as useful to your company if you have a small following. They won’t increase clicks to your company website. If that is your goal on Pinterest, GIFs are not your solution. But, if you have a large and loyal fan base, pin away. GIFs should be predominantly used as an entertainment tool. No one wants to watch a GIF of someone doing their taxes or laundry. It just isn’t worth watching if it isn’t entertaining. Another  thing to keep in mind is that the majority of the users on Pinterest are mobile users. Some operating systems don’t support GIFs yet, so make sure the first frame is a good one. They can still see this and might repin it to watch later.