Dive Brief:
- Instagram has added videos to its swipeable—and successful—Carousel ad format.
- Advertisers can now include five videos, five images or any combination of the two for viewers to swipe through in Carousel ads.
- The photo sharing app recently increased duration of videos to 60 seconds and videos in Carousel ads will also be able to take advantage of the minute-long time frame.
Dive Insight:
Facebook has been actively testing new video features on its namesake app as well as its other properties, including Instagram, in an effort to make video a core part of its brand. With users spending more time on social networks as a whole, these companies are working hard to find ways to grab their attention.
The addition of a video component to Carousel ads should come as no surprise to marketers given the explosion video ads have recently seen both in popularity as well as effectiveness, particularly on mobile devices. The move by Instagram gives advertisers another format to test video ads out on and a way to couple those videos with static images that have already proven to be effective.
Airbnb, Taco Bell, Hollister, IBM and W Hotels are among the brands in the launch group testing out video Carousel ads.
"The reason why we're excited for video carousel ads is this format gives marketers creative flexibility to tell richer stories on Instagram," James Quarles, Instagram's global head of business and brand development, told Adweek. "We consistently hear from businesses that the hardest thing for them to do—particularly as people spend so much time in digital and on mobile—is to capture people's attention."
According to Quarles, the Carousel ad format overall outperforms single static images with internal research finding a 58% increase in conversion.
Instagram has more than 400 million active users who spend an average of 21 minutes a day on the social media platform, and more than 200,000 companies advertise on the platform monthly.
