The news: Instagram is eyeing YouTube creators as part of its push into long-form content.

• Instagram is offering select creators as much as $50,000 to post long-form videos to its new “Features” offering, Business Insider reported. Features are horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long, currently available on mobile with plans to extend to Instagram for TV.
• The deals do not require creators to keep content exclusive to Instagram. Creators are being asked to post any of their long-form YouTube content on Instagram on the same day of publication.

Zooming out: The Meta-owned platform has made several moves to mimic YouTube’s success with creators. Beyond eyeing long-form video, Instagram is increasingly focused on sequential storytelling that is typically only possible on platforms like YouTube that aren’t solely focused on short-form video. Instagram is already testing features like serialized Reels and linked Reels, which offer more opportunities to use Instagram’s popular short-form product as a means of telling longer, multi-part stories.

Why it matters: While compensation could incentivize YouTube creators to repurpose content, Meta will likely still struggle with getting creators to prioritize long-form content on Instagram over YouTube. The bigger challenge may be convincing audiences who already watch those creators on YouTube to engage with the same content on Instagram.

Whether or not moving to TV viewing options will be successful is another consideration.

• YouTube viewers already gravitate toward CTV, and the company has been incredibly successful in positioning itself as the new TV.
• Long-form content isn’t native to Instagram, making this shift particularly challenging.
• And Instagram will also have to convince marketers that IG for TV can deliver TV-like outcomes at scale, despite the app’s reputation as a mobile-first, short-form service—so even if creators do shift to Instagram on CTV, marketers might not be as eager to.