Tenor knows it’s GIFs FTW in SMS

Tenor Moves to Monetize GIFs with Native Integration into Messaging

Tenor Insights™ Provides Real-Time Data on How People Use GIFs to Express Emotion in Mobile Messages

Tenor, the mobile GIF-sharing platform, today introduced Tenor Insights, a tool providing real-time data on how people express emotion using GIFs in mobile messages. It is powered by the Tenor Emotional Graph, built on data from more than 200 million daily Tenor GIF searches and mapping thoughts and feelings to the GIFs that say it best. Using these insights, marketers can now target audiences on Tenor with brand GIFs promoted in Tenor search results, activating consumers as brand advocates. (PRNewsfoto/Tenor)

You may not be familiar with the name Tenor, but if you have been texting with just about anyone regularly you certainly have seen funny animated GIFs come up in your conversation. Animated GIFs have moved into the category of emojis and memes —those still pictures with a pithy quote or comment, often in very bold type, that can be put together in moments with the Meme Generator web sites, or Bitmojis, which are popular because you can personalize your character delivering the over-the-top message.

More than 200 million people each month use Tenor to add tone to their mobile messaging conversations by adding GIFs that visually communicate their thoughts and feelings, often better than words ever could. Tenor processes more than 200M search requests daily and have used this data to build the Emotional Graph, which powers their GIF Keyboard app and GIF sharing for partners including Apple iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter, Google Gboard, Kik, LinkedIn, Kika, TouchPal and others.

Tenor, the largest and fastest-growing mobile GIF-sharing platform, today introduced Tenor Insights, a tool that provides real-time data on how people express emotion using GIFs in mobile messages. The company also announced a proprietary ad product that enables brands to promote their content to Tenor’s audience of 200 million people per month. This opportunity to natively integrate content and activate consumers as brand advocates represents an important first step in making GIFs a powerful new tool for marketers. Tenor Insights, a free web-based tool, is now available at www.tenor.co/insights.

Designed for brand marketers and content partners who want to engage consumers, Tenor Insights provides a real-time view into which emotions are running hot, what topics are trending, and how people are expressing themselves visually in mobile messages. Using these insights, marketers can target audiences on Tenor with brand GIFs promoted in Tenor search results. Tenor Insights is powered by the Tenor Emotional Graph™, which is built on data from more than 200 million daily Tenor searches and maps tens of thousands of thoughts and feelings to millions of short video clips. The new tool helps marketers understand which Tenor search terms to associate with their branded GIFs, as well as how to maximize emerging opportunities based on reactions to big events or shifts in behavior over time.

“Tenor has focused on mobile communications since day one, creating an unmatched dataset that enables us to understand shared sentiment, day in and day out as well as around big cultural events,” said David McIntosh, co-founder and CEO of Tenor. “With Tenor Insights, we’re making it easy for marketers to explore the Tenor Emotional Graph and better connect with consumers around a new dimension – emotion.”

In a pilot program earlier this year, Tenor and Warner Bros. leveraged Tenor Insights data to drive more than 110 million views of LEGO Batman GIFs in the lead up to and immediately following the movie’s theatrical opening. Promoted content mapped GIFs to search terms, including high five, whoa, let’s go, smirk, shrug, flirty and no.

Tenor Insights features:

Top emotions people express in mobile messages using GIFs, including a view into how that varies by time of day or day of the week or is impacted by an event
Trending Tenor search terms, representing a view into the intersection of pop culture and emotional expression
Tenor Emotional Graph connections, creating an understanding of how different feelings are related and providing insight into GIF search behavior

“Every day millions of people use GIFs as a way to communicate how they’re feeling,” said Jason Krebs, chief business officer at Tenor. “Up to this point, their potential as a marketing tool has gone untapped — because the value is not in the GIF itself but in understanding how people use this medium to express themselves in mobile messages. With Tenor Insights, we’re providing unprecedented insight into consumer intent and offering marketing adjacency never before possible.”