Instagram marketing is undoubtedly a big part of many brands and businesses’ marketing strategies. It’s an imperative tool for building an online reputation and achieving success, and Instagram is constantly implementing new features to make it even more valuable.
IGTV monetization is the newest way you can harness the power of Instagram for business growth, allowing the platform to compete with the video-sharing giant YouTube. Not only can you advertise along with your IGTV videos, but businesses that create video content will be able to monetize their content creation efforts on Instagram.
In this article, we will discuss all things IGTV monetization, including how it works, eligibility, other types of video monetization, and what IGTV can do for your marketing strategy in a world that is consistently trending towards video content creation.
Let’s get started.
What is IGTV Monetization?
The whole idea behind IGTV monetization is just what it sounds— content creators can use their IGTV content for profit through ad sharing, playing short ads along with their IGTV content. In order to do so, users must agree to the Partner Program Monetization Policies.
It’s no secret that virtually all social media networks use advertising as a way to generate revenue not only for the platform itself but also for the millions of content creators using these platforms.
Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and more have in-feed ads that run, as well as other ad formats during videos and even on sidebars of their platforms. This is something that the average social media user is likely accustomed to seeing.
Some platforms also generate income by offering an ad-free experience, including streaming services like Hulu, YouTube, Discovery+, among others.
Facebook and YouTube are among the most powerful platforms for ad monetization being available to video creators. The two most popular platforms boast over 2 billion monthly active users each, so it’s no surprise that they dominate in this area.
Extending the possibility of monetization to IGTV will boost advertising efforts through IGTV and expand the use of the feature. Instagram currently offers a variety of ways to consume videos, but this incentivizes the use of IGTV in a new way.
Bringing more influencers from other platforms to Instagram is beneficial for the app. Instagram wants to make sure that they maintain their stronghold on influencer marketing, competing against other popular apps like TikTok and YouTube.
IGTV was launched in June of 2018 to offer a more expansive way for video sharing on the platform. Previously, videos could be no longer than one minute; with the introduction of IGTV, long-form videos became available and now the limit could be up to 1 hour.
Videos posted to IGTV do not disappear like those in IG stories; they will remain on the platform for as long as you wish. You can post them to your Instagram feed, share them to your stories, or keep them available in the standalone IGTV app if you prefer.
So, can you start taking advantage of IGTV monetization right now? Let’s take a look at availability of the feature as well as eligibility.
When will it Become Available?
The revenue share model for IGTV monetization began testing in 2020 on the part of Instagram, and it’s slowly expanded ever since. It began in the US and has since expanded to the UK and Australia.
IGTV monetization was only made available to select creators for initial testing of in-stream ads on IGTV videos, and because the tests went well, the feature was rolled out more expansively in early March 2021.
As of October 21st, IGTV and feed videos became one format called Instagram Video. A new tab also appeared on the profile so that all combined video content would be available there, making it easier for users to connect with their audience on the whole.
IGTV ads will continue to be expanded per Instagram in order to help support the needs and goals of creators. Due to the transition of IGTV into Instagram video, IGTV ads are now called Instagram in-stream video ads.
How Can You Become Eligible?
Because the feature is relatively new and hasn’t been made available to all regions, the criteria for eligibility is still quite unclear and unestablished. The only clear direction from Instagram is that in order to take advantage of IGTV monetization, the user will need to abide by Partner Monetization Policies.
Because Instagram lives under the umbrella of Facebook, now called Meta, the policies are likely to be similar to the current Facebook policies.
There are a range of requirements, among them, being the adherence to community standards, authentic content creation and posting, authentic engagement monetization, as well as following payment and page terms.
Instagram PMPs are likely to be similar to Facebook’s, and there are some criteria that content creators need to meet:
- Have more than 10k followers
- Make videos that are over 3 minutes long
- Have over 30,000 1-minute views over a span of two consecutive months
- Meet Facebook monetization eligibility standards
While there are no official guidelines released to date about IGTV monetization and Instagram PMPs, because they’re owned by Meta, it’s likely they follow the same standards. In the past, Instagram required users to have at least 10k followers to be eligible for the swipe-up feature, so it may be a similar requirement here.
At this point, we need to wait and see exactly what Instagram will require of its content creators to be eligible for IGTV monetization as the feature continues to be made available in the way of Instagram in-stream video ads.
How Does IGTV Monetization Compare to Other Video Monetization?
When social media networks offer monetization options through ads and content creation, the creator isn’t going to take home all of the profit. The platform will keep a percentage, just as YouTube does.
YouTube brings in about $15 billion in advertising dollars, and IGTV monetization is Instagram’s attempt to challenge YouTube through their Instagram video ad share.
Instagram already makes more money in advertising than YouTube— almost $18 billion annually. That said, the way content creators earn an income is different, and the way that influencers use Instagram could also be impacted by this monetization plan.
Both YouTube and Facebook offer video content creators a 55% portion of ad revenue that is generated on videos published to each respective platform.
Even still, some content creators have found the process to be a bit bumpy due to approval delays. If a video isn’t approved to host ads for a day or two, the video may already have a majority of views; any of those views will not qualify for monetization, making the video less profitable.
To make a true determination, we’ll have to wait to see what kind of monetization scales Instagram introduces for their IGTV monetization. It’s at that time a true comparison can be made as to which platform stacks up best.
How IGTV Impacts Your Instagram Marketing Strategy
Aside from IGTV monetization, Instagram is already a hugely popular platform— after all, Instagram brings in just under $20 billion dollars annually in advertising, and that’s forecasted to increase according to Statista.
Instagram has a user base of over 1 billion monthly active users as well, and at least 90% of all users follow at least one business account. There are tons more reasons why brands prefer Instagram over other platforms, so if it’s not a part of your key marketing strategy, you may want to reconsider.
Instagram for business will offer you many different advantages, content formats, and ways to reach your target audience and increase leads and conversions. You can increase your visibility, drive sales, build a relationship with your audience base, and much more.
IGTV monetization is a great addition to a wide range of benefits for brands, businesses, content creators, and more. Let’s take a look at three of the top benefits you’ll gain when you incorporate IGTV into your IG marketing strategy.
Additional Content Format Offering
If you were looking to post Instagram videos before IGTV, you were very limited. You could either post 15-second video snippets that would disappear within 24 hours, or post a 1-minute video into your feed.
With the addition of IGTV, you had a much more viable option for longer, more in-depth content that could attract an audience and keep them regularly coming back to your profile. Using IGTV can give your audience an interesting and captivating way to view content that is more substantial.
This can lead to regular viewers, increasing your revenue and boosting ROI. Add IGTV monetization into the mix and you’ll be able to gain from that as well, making it the perfect time to explore IGTV content creation.
When you collect revenue from ads playing on IGTV videos, you gain a passive source of income that is sustainable. People will continually gain value from your videos and you’ll also have a new revenue stream.
IGTV content is also great because you can transform it into a series, releasing new videos on a weekly basis (or as frequently as you decide) so that users know to come back and keep an eye out for your content.
This allows you to connect with your audience, give them something to look forward to, and could even engage them if you ask them to do something or submit something to you.
In order to find out what type of content your users might like to see on IGTV, you can ask your followers via Instagram stories to find out. Would they prefer behind-the-scenes content? Interviews? How-to videos?
You can use stickers to get audience interaction and check out what your followers might respond well to. You can also test out different topics and content in your feed to see how your followers respond. Then, take those topics and expand them to an IGTV video.
Reach New People
Instagram offers you a global platform that allows you to reach people in your target audience with ease. You can then generate leads and boost conversion, making sales directly from Instagram if you sell a physical product.
When you add IGTV monetization, you’ll be able to reach even more people because you’re implementing a new type of content into your offerings, grabbing users that prefer to watch long form video.
Many influencers and outside content creators will also come over to the platform, which means that the audience will expand with new users coming to Instagram, giving you more people to reach.
You can also leverage a new or different demographic and audience as opposed to Facebook and YouTube. For example, males are known to watch more YouTube videos, although the ratio of males to females on most social media platforms is almost split in half in the US.
It’s also worth noting that the top demographic on Instagram ranges from ages 18-34, so you’ll be able to reach the most active social media users on the platform. This remains consistent on platforms like YouTube and Facebook as well, but older age groups are more likely to be checking out Facebook and YouTube.
Generate Interest
If you decide to feature the right topics and formats in your IGTV content offerings, you can generate interest in your future content and get more visitors as well as increase engagement on your profile.
That will help you to continue to make money through IGTV monetization and also get more traction for your Instagram profile, helping to push forward any other goals you have for your Instagram.
If you’re looking to boost your Instagram followers and engagement, Growthoid is the premier Instagram growth service to organically get more people checking out your content— you’ll be able to connect with your target audience and build your follower count in a natural way.
This can keep people coming back to your profile, viewing and engaging with your IGTV content, and making your IG even more successful.
Final Thoughts: IGTV Monetization
The introduction of IGTV monetization and Instagram video monetization in general is quite honestly a long time coming, and with the option to monetize videos on other platforms, it will likely be a welcome addition from content creators.
IGTV content production can take a bit longer due to the long-form video content format, so get started now. Test out some strategies, post some content, and see how your followers respond. Find the right Instagram tools to help you with your performance.
That could include different third-party tools to help with simple tasks like follower growth, scheduling, analytics, photo and video editing, content planning, and more. Some of the most popular tools include:
- Growthoid: automate your follower growth through targeted interactions while you focus on more important tasks to build a strong IGTV monetization audience
- Later: visually plan out your content to make sure you have a good mix of content formats, see how it looks visually, and auto post different content formats
- Iconosquare: analyze your Instagram metrics and performance for IGTV monetization
- Instasize: great photo editor that can help you with your content production
- Canva: graphic design tool that can streamline your content production
These are just some suggestions, but it’s vital that you find the most useful tools for you to ensure that you can optimize your IGTV monetization and continue to put out high-quality content that keeps your followers coming back for more.
IGTV monetization is still a new feature that Instagram hasn’t said too much about. Going forward, it will be known as Instagram in-stream video ads. As it becomes available to more users, more of its requirements and features could still change.
We’re hoping that in addition to IGTV monetization, in-stream video ads will apply to all different formats of Instagram video, including reels and in-feed videos. Because there is now a video stream, this is a possibility.
We’re excited about what’s to come for IGTV monetization and keep your eye on our blog for future updates!
