Instagram Introduces Longer Videos to All Accounts

Instagram has now rolled out 60 second video ad units for all accounts. This means that users and brands will have the ability to share longer videos, shifting away from the traditional 15 second video model.

This is a total game changer for the image based platform. Since its introduction in June 2013, social video been a huge success. According to the official Instagram blog post announcing the update, the time people spent watching video increased by more than 40% in the last six months, a statistic that is set to dramatically increase with this update.

So why would you want longer video on Instagram?

“Longer videos mean more diverse stories from the accounts you love,” says the company, citing celebrity @selenagomez as a prime example. The artist recently started posting videos in the longer format of her working in a studio. Longer video could also keep users from using other platforms such as YouTube and Snapchat post longer video content. Just like its parent company, Facebook, Instagram wants people watching more video, which means it wants more people posting videos, too.

To go hand-in-hand with this update, Instagram is also bringing back the ability for users to splice multiple video clips from a camera roll on a mobile device. This means that users and brands will be able to shoot all video and edit the video all from the Instagram app.

This isn’t the first update Instagram has introduced for its videos; the company recently rolled out view counts in February to encourage more posts. With this latest update, businesses now have the ability to share stories and more engaging content about their brands in front of their audiences.

What do you think of Instagram’s new video update? Do you plan on using this feature to share more engaging content with followers?