According to the latest report from research firm Sensor Tower, video ads are not only becoming more popular and effective, but the length of these videos is growing.
Video Ads On Instagram
Today, twenty-six percent of advertisements on Instagram are video—up twenty-three percent since January of 2016. In an attempt to attract more brand advertisers, Instagram has steadily increased the length of videos from 15 seconds at launch to 60 seconds beginning this past February. The move has paid off, with one out of every four ads on Instagram being a video in the second quarter of 2016—up 23 percent over January. The average length of video ads on Instagram is now 25 seconds, a growth of 67 percent. While video games remain the top category for iOS apps represented by Instagram ads, mobile-first shopping apps such as Mercari, SHEIN and OfferUp remained a dominant presence in the second quarter.
Top Advertisers For The 2nd Quarter 2016
Strategy game, Mobile Strike was the #1 advertiser based on impressions for Facebook, Google and Tumblr, and held the #2 spot for Instagram. The type of advertisers flocking to Instagram was the most diverse in the second quarter, with the site’s top advertisers including mobile publishers from 10 different App Store categories. While gaming was the most popular advertising, HBO NOW received a major push across social platforms, taking the #1 spot on Instagram.
The Sensor Tower study notes that Facebook advertiser rank correlated with the existing revenue of the app in question. In fact, 40 percent of the top advertisers on Facebook were also in the top 25 grossing apps for June 2016.
When it comes to Pinterest, 80 percent of advertisers represented shopping and lifestyle brands, a perfect fit for the idea-sharing platform. For the second quarter in a row, Etsy was the #1 advertiser in terms of share of voice.
The Future Of Video Marketing
Marketers are ramping up their video efforts, and for good reason. Facebook earned 84 percent of its ad revenue from mobile during the last quarter and earlier this year, Google stated that it is now serving more search queries on mobile than on desktop. According to a recent survey by Animoto, a cloud-based video creation service, 70.8 percent of respondents said they plan to invest in social video ads, including ads to boost content in the next 12 months.
