Instagram Uses $500,000 One-Off Payouts to Court Long-Form Creators

Instagram is testing premium Explore placement and one-off payments up to $500,000 to attract long-form creators, while its payout program still trails YouTube significantly, leaving Features’ future uncertain.

What happened

Instagram is making a renewed push into long-form video through its Features format, but it is doing so without a robust payout system comparable to YouTube’s Partner Program. According to Social Media Today, the platform is using one-off payouts and premium placements to compensate for that gap.

Creator economy expert Lia Haberman posted screenshots showing Instagram highlighting long-form video in a prominent space at the top of the Explore page for some users. Instagram is also reportedly offering one-off payments of up to $500,000 to a selection of big-name creators to get them posting long-form content.

Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri discussed the challenge in an interview with YouTubers Colin and Samir published last week. He said Instagram will have to evolve its payment program to incentivize long-form creators, but the platform has not yet worked out the best path forward.

Key facts

• Instagram is using one-off payouts and premium placements to attract long-form creators because its payout system is nowhere near as lucrative as YouTube’s Partner Program.
• Screenshots posted by Lia Haberman show long-form video highlighted at the top of the Explore page for some users.
• Instagram is reportedly offering one-off payments of up to $500,000 to select big-name creators for posting long-form content.
• Adam Mosseri said Instagram’s goal in adding long-form content is to compete with YouTube, where most viewership growth now comes via Connected TV.
• An external analysis by VidIQ shows creators on Instagram generally only earn around 10% of what they make on YouTube.

Our analysis

This is not the first time Instagram has tried to win long-form creators with exposure instead of reliable revenue. The source notes that Features could eventually follow IGTV, the platform’s previous long-form play, which lost creators because there was no financial incentive to post on Instagram instead of YouTube.

Mosseri’s comments suggest the underlying economics remain unresolved. He said platform payments, performance-based incentives and creator bonuses are not a revenue driver, that mid-roll ads can be disruptive, and that one-off payments to bootstrap Features are not sustainable. That leaves brand deals and smaller creator payment schemes, which Mosseri described as historically cost-negative and a losing bet in terms of ROI.

The one-time $500,000 offers and Explore placement may generate initial high-profile uploads, but they likely create a split incentive: big creators can take the payout while the audience and monetization remain on YouTube. For most operators and mid-sized creators, a temporary payment or a short-lived Explore slot is not a replacement for reach and recurring revenue.

What it means for operators

• Treat Instagram Features as a distribution experiment, not a primary monetization channel. Use the Explore placement and any one-off offers as extra reach, but keep core long-form content and revenue systems anchored where payouts are more predictable.
• If you manage creators, test splitting long-form videos into short Reels, as Mosseri described, to give viewers multiple consumption options and to feed discovery without abandoning longer uploads.
• Build brand deal workflows into any Instagram long-form strategy, because Mosseri’s comments suggest brand deals are the more viable support model while platform payouts remain limited.
• Benchmark Instagram long-form performance against YouTube with the VidIQ finding in mind: creators on Instagram generally only earn around 10% of what they make on YouTube, so decide resource allocation accordingly.