Introduction:
In the marketing world, social media platforms play a significant role in generating brand awareness and increasing marketing growth. TikTok and Instagram reels are some of the most popular social media channels for engagement and wider reach.
TikTok Vs. Instagram Reels:
Both TikTok and Instagram reels are similar tools that enable users to create and share short-form video clips. These video limits are between 15 to 60 seconds. You can use multiple video editing tools to edit your videos, such as filters, effects, and sound on these platforms.
TikTok and Instagram feed allow users to scroll and view endless videos that arrange themselves for users to watch and engage with them. Reels and TikTok are now available in most countries. But the reach and popularity of TikTok have increased quickly.
When it comes to marketing, both platforms are shoppable. TikTok has partnered with Shopify and allows brands and businesses to advertise their products to the wider public. Also, Instagram has expanded its shoppable feature to reels.
Looking deeper at both of these platforms will help businesses decide which one is more effective in reaching your business to a whole new level!
Here are 11 must-known tactics to produce short and engaging videos that enhance your brand reach drastically.
Let’s begin!
1. Algorithm
The algorithm of Instagram reels has been a riddle, especially for showing suggested posts and the reels explore tab. Recently, Instagram announced the reels algorithm would compute content that is recycled from other apps like TikTok and low-quality videos.
TikTok has a well-designed platform with a popular For You Page. TikTok FYP is unique to each other, and it includes a different factors such as,
- Video information – You can use hashtags, captions, music, and sounds of videos while creating your video. It will boost your user interaction.
- User Engagement – What type of video users like, share, and comment on.
- Account Settings – It shows your language preference, the country you like to target, and so on.
2. Duration Of Video
For every social media platform, the duration of the video is the most obvious difference, and that matters to make your content more engaging. On TikTok and Instagram reels, the length of the video is different.
- TikTok: You can create 15 second short videos to 60-second long video clips.
- Instagram reels: It allows you to create videos for up to 30 seconds only.
3. Engaged Audience Pool
Compared to Instagram reels, TikTok has a more engaged audience, specifically for short-form videos. TikTok has now reached 800 million monthly active users and 2 billion downloads. Also, it is available in more than 150+ countries worldwide.
Instagram has 100 million active users after the launch of the reels feature. And Instagram reels are available in 50 countries as of 2020.
So, TikTok is undoubtedly the best platform to reach your brand, product, and services to larger audiences. With the right marketing strategy and effective content, you can establish your brand to loyal audiences.
4. Editing Features
Filters and effects are the common features for all social networks, but they differ from each other. TikTok offers huge filters and effects, which helps to create more attractive and comedic video clips. Instagram has limited filters for reels and stories.
Additionally, TikTok has unique video features such as duet, react, and stitch videos that allow brands to interact with their target audiences in a more engaging way. At the same time, you don’t overuse all filters and effects in a single video. Based on the content, you can use this feature for the additional look and feel.
5. Easy To Access Sound Effects
One more key difference between TikTok and Instagram is music or sounds. Most content creators focus on using effective songs to enhance their TikTok video likes and visibility. TikTok provides its inbuilt music library to add killer music to its videos.
On Instagram reels, most accounts are currently locked to the Instagram music library. So, they can’t add audio files to their videos.
Hence, TikTok is the better option to add the most powerful sound clips to your videos. It shows your content more effectively and increases your audience base.
6. User Demographic
In TikTok and Instagram reels, the audience demographic is slightly different. As you can see, TikTok has the highest user base that is aged between 18 to 24 years. Also, 53% of TikTok users are male, and 47% of TikTok users are female.
Here is the TikTok and Instagram demographics:
- 18 to 24 years old – 75%
- 25 to 30 years old – 57%
- 30 to 49 years old – 47%
- 50 to 64 years old – 23%
- 65+ years old – 8%
TikTok
- 10 to 19 years old – 25%
- 20 to 29 years old – 22.4%
- 30 to 39 years old – 21.7%
- 40 to 49 years old – 20.3%
- 50+ years old – 11%
7. Paid Ads
TikTok is more popular for small businesses to promote their brand to the wider people. You can show your brand message in two different ways for each social media channel, one is organic, and the other one is paid.
TikTok now offers paid advertising options, it includes;
- Infeed native ad
- Brand takeover ad
- TopView ad
- Hashtag challenges
- Branded filters
On Instagram reels, brands and businesses can’t use paid advertising features. But, they can partner with influencers and creators to promote their branded content.
8. E-commerce
Recently, TikTok announced their partnership with Shopify, which makes it easier for users to show their own merchandise to TikTok’s younger audiences and drive traffic. Instagram has extended its advertising option to reels, which is similar to Instagram stories.
Sponsored content is usually promoted by larger brands, and it will help the brand to increase transparency, growth, and reach. Therefore, by analyzing TikTok and Instagram reels, TikTok is easier for connecting a larger number of people to promote and sell products.
9. Content Vs. Network
TikTok is a content-oriented platform, and Instagram reel is a network-oriented platform. In other words, Instagram users can see contents that are posted by their friends, family, or someone they already know.
However, on TikTok, the users can view endless videos from people they don’t know. But these videos are based on their interest and the videos they are already engaged with.
10. Community And Views
According to the study, Instagram reels content gain more views, but the likes and comments are less. The same content will be posted on TikTok, and it gains a stronger community with more engaging audiences. And the comments and shares of that video are high.
Hence, Instagram reels don’t gain the number of shares, but TikTok shows more shares as a metric. If you’re a content creator or brand, shares are an important metric to raise your brand reach.
11. Analytics
TikTok has its inbuilt analytics for both content and audience. If you have a TikTok pro account, you can access the complete information about your TikTok account. It will be divided into three main parts such as overview, content, and followers.
When it comes to Instagram reels, it shows only likes, shares, and comments of a particular video. To get the overall basic analytics, you need to have a business profile.
Final Thoughts: Instagram reels vs. TikTok
Do you wonder which one is perfect for your business?
Surely, TikTok is the most powerful and fastest growing platform for your videos. IG Reel is a good attempt from Instagram to get more audiences. But, in the future of entertainment, TikTok is the place to get incredible advantages to your brand and business.
Author Bio:
Alison Williams is a social media content writer who works at Flatfitty. She is an experienced social media analyst. Her passion is to contribute to engaging content for authority blogs and websites. You can also visit her online at Twitter.com!
