When the social media platform launched the new video feature in June of 2013, Instagram-ers everywhere went nuts. Instagram video engagement began rising immediately with the ability to share ten second micro-videos. This innovative feature, and quickly became fully  integrated into the Instagram culture of not only regular users, but also to huge publishers.

Publishers take note as Instagram Video engagement rises and their businesses benefit.

 

Instagram video engagement has been on the up ever since the release in 2013. Because Instagram has been around since 2010, engagement (likes and comments) with still photos has always been high. Technically photos are still attracting more social media engagement, however Instagram video engagement is rising at a much more rapid pace, while engagement with photos seems to plateau.

 

According to a study done by the social media analytics firm NewsWhip, the Instagram video engagement for top media publishers has increased by over 50% in the last year, while engagement with photos has only gone up 46%.

 

Smart publishers are taking note. Over the last year as savvy marketers notice that Instagram video engagement becomes more effective than videos on other social media (via The Graph) platforms, Instagram has seen a huge increase in video presence. Huge companies like the Bleacher report, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, BBC News, People Magazine, Fox News, and Time Magazine have all upped their release of video content via Instagram by a large number. Sports illustrated increased the amount of videos they released by over 300 in one calendar year.

 

Not only is the sheer amount of videos being released up, but the engagement is skyrocketing. Companies like Fox News saw a 422% increase in their Instagram video engagement over the last year, and that is not even the highest percent change.

 

Since the release of the ten-second video in 2013, Instagram has extended the allowed length of a video to a minute long, which is great news for publishers and advertisers who can have a field day with this increasingly popular form of advertising.