Demand for video sees Instagram up streaming limits

Brands are increasingly turning to video to target customers, driving up interest and revenues for mobile-first social platform, Instagram. Opening up its application programming interface to brands and developer teams last year has helped to establish Instagram as a network with strong brand performance; Brand Networks reportedly saw ad impressions on the platform climb from 50m in August 2015 to 670m in December. Ever-more-willing to monetise the platform, Facebook is now planning to extend Instagram's ad streaming limit from 30 to 60 seconds to meet this growing demand, however, as one expert points out, “Longer form content isn't always better.” eMarketer estimates that Instagram's ad revenues could quadruple to $2.39bn by 2017, accounting for 28% of Facebook's total mobile ad revenues.

Trying to keep up with consumers’ insatiable appetite for video, Instagram plans to expand stream limits to 60 seconds. For brands, the new freedom comes will greater responsibility, experts say.

“Longer form content isn’t always better,” said James DeJulio -- co-founder and chief creative officer at Tongal, an Instagram marketing partner that works with brands like LEGO, Lenovo, and Bacardi.

Mirroring more traditional TV spots, Instagram recently began letting brands run ads up to 60 seconds in length. Previously, the Facebook unit had capped video ads at 30 seconds.

The first brands to test the longer ad format included T-Mobile and Warner Brothers. T-Mobile’s ad -- a shorter version of which ran during the Super Bowl -- featured a satirical behind-the-scenes look at Drake’s “Hotline Bing” video shoot.

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More broadly, Facebook has recently been far more willing to monetize Instagram.

Brand Networks recently saw ad impressions on the popular platform rise more than 13-fold from 50 million in August to 670 million in December.

Agency executives say Instagram has become a favorite playing ground for clients.

“We've seen strong brand performance on Instagram, with a majority of our brand partners moving spend to the platform, some significantly,” Max Kalehoff, chief marketing officer of Facebook marketing partner SocialCode, recently told Social Media & Marketing Daily.

In part, Instagram’s ad surge can be attributed to its decision to offer its application programming interface to outside parties, last August. With the change, brands and their developer teams were invited to plug their software directly into Instagram’s API.

By 2017, Instagram’s ad revenues will grow more than four times in size to reach $2.39 billion, according to recent estimates from eMarketer. By then, the mobile-first social network should represent nearly a third -- or 28% -- of Facebook’s total mobile ad revenues.