Instagram To Roll Out Advertising On IGTV This Spring With A 55% Revenue Share With Creators

Source: Instagram

A few weeks ago, Instagram confirmed that it was exploring creator monetization for IGTV through an Instagram Partner Program, Now, it’s taking steps to make that a reality. According to Bloomberg, Instagram recently started reaching out to top video creators to partner with them and test advertising on IGTV.

“This is another step forward to help creators monetize with IGTV,” Justin Osofsky, chief operating officer of Instagram, said in a statement. “To be sure we get this right, we are talking to a few emerging creators to help us test this and plan to expand slowly.”

Similar to YouTube, Instagram will share 55% of all advertising dollars on IGTV with creators who enter the program. It’s expected that the program will start sometime this spring.

Insights & Analysis:

Despite making several improvements to IGTV such as adding a new Series feature that allows creators to categorize their videos into series, making it easier for creators to upload IGTV content, updating the user experience, and more, creator monetization has remained the big thing that has been missing from what was once thought to be a game changer.

However, with the recent news of Instagram proactively reaching out to creators to test advertising on its video-content hub, it looks like monetization for creators will be here sooner than later. While details are scare, based on the 55% share of advertising dollars that Instagram is offering to creators, the Facebook-owned platform is likely looking to build a program that will compete with YouTube, who pulled in $15 billion from video ads in 2019.

With Instagram generating $20 billion alone on in-feed and Stories ads, having the ability to sell advertising to brands on IGTV will certainly increase that number.

Giving creators the ability to earn money on IGTV will likely appeal to new creators who haven’t created much IGTV content as well as have creators who have been consistently posting to the hub, double down on their efforts. Even with that being said, Instagram may need to convince some creators on the value of IGTV beyond revenue as many creators are still upset over Facebook persuading them to invest in video but then changing the algorithm in 2018, which led to reduced ad revenues.

Regardless of a few hurdles that Instagram will have to overcome, being on the verge of testing advertising on IGTV is significant progress. Stay tuned.

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SOURCE: Bloomberg