Instagram now has more than 2m monthly active advertisers, doubling its advertiser base in the last six months, after reaching 1m back in March this year.

The photo sharing app has seen 180m people use its platform to interact with a business in some way in the last month, including visiting websites, getting directions, calling, emailing or messaging businesses. In that same time period, 50 per cent of the 15m businesses on the app produced a story. However, businesses that have gone live have seen 1.5 times more likes on average than those that haven’t.

The platform has seen the greatest business adoption in the US, the UK, Brazil, Indonesia and Russia, while the top verticals are eCommerce, CPG, retail, entertainment & media, and gaming.

“Our community, including businesses, is growing, and were excited to see the continued engagement with brands on the platform,” said Jim Squires, head of Instagram Business. “80 per cent of people choose to follow a business they care about on Instagram, further proving that people are looking actively engage with brands in a meaningful way.”

A major part of the advertising growth can be attributed to users spending more time producing and engaging with content, especially when it comes to video.

Users under 25 spend more than 32 minutes a day on Instagram, on average, while those over 25 spend more than 24 minutes. Meanwhile, the time spent watching video has grown by more than 80 per cent year-on-year, and the number of videos produced each day is up by more than four times compared to the same time last year.

“Our community is spending more time on the platform than ever before, and we know video is a huge part of that,” said Squires. “For businesses, motion is becoming the new filter for advertisers as they embrace Stories to connect with and inspire their customers through an immersive video experience, with 60 per cent of Instagram videos watched with sound-on. Were excited to see how advertisers continue to use video in creative ways to reach their community.”