Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri and Vice President of Product Tessa Lyons previewed a range of new long-form video posting options on Monday that are currently being tested in the app. The updates are designed to offer more ways for creators to extend their relationship with audiences, as well as to help Instagram get people spending more time in the app.
First, Instagram is testing out Features, which will let creators post videos of up to 90 minutes, enabling expanded storytelling in the app.
Instagram said that the format is intended to provide more creative opportunities, and will enable a range of extended content forms, including podcasts, vlogs and interviews.
That will give creators all-new ways to build their community in the app, while also facilitating expanded revenue generation and partnership options.
According to a press release, Instagram has already been testing Features with creators in Brazil, and is rolling out the option with select creators in the U.S. beginning Oct. 26, with plans to expand in the coming months.
Clips as Reels, meanwhile, will provide an alternative long-form content option, with creators able to link up to eight Reels clips back to a longer video post. Instagram said in the release that it also began testing this with creators in Brazil earlier this year, and will start expanding it to select U.S.-based creators this week.
Instagram is also developing a new Series option that will enable creators to tag Reels within a dedicated topic set.
This will provide a means for creators to link episodic content within a single theme or narrative focus, in order to drive more long-term, engaged viewing. Instagram has been testing this since June and is working on an expanded global rollout of the option.
Instagram is likely developing long-form options as a way to keep up with both YouTube and TikTok, which have both seen success with longer posting options and content aligned with viewing environments such as connected TV.
According to Nielsen, YouTube is now the biggest streaming content provider in the U.S. by far, with the platform itself reporting that people now watch more than a billion hours of YouTube content on their home TV sets every day.
TikTok, meanwhile, continues to expand user viewing behaviors and has leaned into microdramas and livestreams.
Instagram likely sees these video expansions as a potential threat to its own viability. That’s probably why the platform is now also leaning into connected TV viewing, which will give its creators more ways to make money.
Though Instagram has also tried long-form posting options in the past, and that hasn’t gone well.
In 2018, Instagram launched a separate IGTV app, which focused on long-form videos, and was designed to give creators the opportunity to make money, while also driving expanded viewing behaviors.
But it never caught on, and in 2022, Instagram shut it down.
That may not be a good sign for this renewed long-form push. But maybe viewer expectations and usage behaviors have evolved to the point where this will work out.
Another challenge for Instagram on this front is the lack of monetization pathways for creators, with YouTube offering significantly greater revenue potential via its Partner Program, which enables creators to earn a share of any intake from the ads shown in their clips.
As per analysis conducted by VidIQ, YouTube's ad revenue share model generally pays creators between $1 and $10 per 1,000 long-form views. By comparison, Instagram monetization based on views alone is effectively zero unless a brand deal is attached. VidIQ said that the top creators, with more than a million subscribers in each app, earn around $50,000 per month on YouTube, and between $5,000–$15,000, on average,on IG.
Without a stronger incentive program in place, this will be another key impediment to Instagram's renewed long-form vision.
Finally, as another element of its long-form push, Instagram announced that users will soon be able to use their phones as remote controls when viewing content via its connected TV app, which will make it easier to navigate the various options.
Instagram launched its updated CTV app in December, providing another way to view IG content on the bigger screen. That was likely a precursor to its renewed long-form content push, and the capacity to control the app with more familiar in-app navigation tools could be a handy means to drive more usage and engagement.
