Video Carousel Ads for Businesses from Instagram

Videos are any day a better and lucrative option for ad format than still images. Trying to offer businesses precisely this edge, Instagram is bringing videos to its Carousel ad format, allowing marketers to pick five videos—or a combination of videos and photos—for users to swipe through. Each video could be up to 60 seconds long and its launch partners include Airbnb, Taco Bell, Hollister, IBM and W Hotels.

Carousel ads aren’t new to Instagram- the kinds of ads that let users swipe between different pages, often called cards. But video functionality wasn’t available until now.

James Quarles, Instagram's global head of business and brand development says the platform's video views have increased 40 percent in the past six months. "The reason why we're excited for video carousel ads is this format gives marketers creative flexibility to tell richer stories on Instagram. 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," he added.

The photo sharing app believes that the combination of video and carousel is very powerful and effective. "The immersive nature of sequential video allows people to be inspired by a business and then progressively learn more about how it fits into their life," says Quarles.

The change aligns with Instagram’s conscious push into video more broadly, a strategy reminiscent of Facebook’s video push a few years back. Instagram is adding video features and making video more prominent in search in hopes users will watch more of it. It’s essentially feeding people what it wants them to consume — and video can be good business.

Instagram is witnessing a steady growth in terms of its size and scope. It boasts of more than 400 million active users spending an average of 21 minutes a day on the platform. During Facebook Inc.'s first-quarter earnings call last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more than 200,000 businesses advertise on Instagram every month.

These new video ads are now in beta and will roll out to all advertisers in the “coming weeks,” according to a company spokesperson.