Brands start releasing video ads on Instagram

While some new social platforms like Ello promote the fact that they will not use advertising on their platform, others like Instagram have announced the launch of auto-play video ads for brands to use.  

Earlier this year Instagram revealed sponsored photos and videos would begin appearing on people’s feeds from brands they do not follow.

These sponsored photos on Instagram appeared a few months ago. For those of you who have never seen them, there are some examples below from major brands including Levi’s and Ben & Jerry’s.

And now, after six months of testing, Instagram’s video ads are officially here. The format chosen for brands to spread video advertising messages is 15 seconds, with automatic play while scrolling down the news feed.

The move from the Facebook-owned social network comes from the results of a study, which revealed that video ads are the best format for mobile advertising.

So far just a few brands have released video ads as the format was launched four days ago. Amongst them we can see Disney, Banana Republic, Call of Duty and Lancôme.

I believe that the challenge for Instagram is to ensure brands create content which interests Instagram users, especially if they come from brands they do not follow. The targeting must be very precise in order not to annoy Instagram users, otherwise this could be a huge advertising disaster for both the brands and the social network.

If thousands of people got so enthusiastic about Ello a few months ago because of its “no-ad” formula, I believe it is a risk for Instagram to start publishing ads , as users could quickly feel irritated and invaded by advertising.

What about you: do you think Instagram and brands take a big risk with the launch of auto-play sponsored videos?

Do you think people will react well when they receive advertising within their news feed?

References: Adweek 
Pictures form: Tech Crunch