Instagram has announced it will be extending the standard 15-second length for videos to a full 60 seconds. The company says it is doing this to “bring you fun, flexible and creative ways to create and watch video on Instagram.”
While it’s no doubt beneficial for Instagram users who like to watch video — and statistics show there are many out there — there are benefits for businesses and brands as well.
The amount of time spent watching video on Instagram has increased by over 40% through the past 6 months. The company says it’s the longer and more diverse stories that people are latching on to. Striking a chord with users is exactly what the company needs right now as overall engagement drops to record low levels.
In addition, iOS users once again have the ability to create videos out of multiple clips from the camera roll. Both of these new features have already started rolling out and will be available to everyone in the coming months.
What This Means For Marketers
Instagram is making significant changes to an increasing popular type of content on its platform. Naturally you begin to wonder what kinds of new marketing opportunities this creates. The first that come to mind is that longer videos mean: time to tell longer stories, more time to demonstrate products, greater opportunities for documenting live events, and so on.
As another benefit; when Instagram says 60-second videos, you should be thinking 60-second video ads! Think about how much greater a story you can tell in 60 seconds compared to 15. While Instagram hasn’t explicitly stated 60-second Instagram ads are in the words, it feels like a natural offering for advertisers in the near future.
However, throwing a wrench like longer videos into the mix means marketers will have to revisit their video marketing strategies. Will users respond more to 60 second videos? Maybe 45 seconds will end up being the sweet spot. The data that comes from this change will be interesting and certainly reveal a lot about how people continue to respond to video on the internet.
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