TikTok vs. Instagram Reels: A Battle For The Next Generation
If you’re interested in connecting with your customers online, it’s impossible to ignore the success of TikTok.
TikTok was launched back in September 2017 and quickly became the fastest growing social media platform on the planet, playing a big role in video content’s rise to the forefront of the social media experience.
And it’s no fad. This boom has had a giant impact on pop culture, most notably the music industry, which has witnessed the rise of a new generation of music stars, whose work has been popularised on the platform.
It wasn’t long before comparisons were made between the new kid on the block and the last social media platform to make this kind of splash: Instagram.
TikTok vs Instagram: A Breakdown
In terms of the number of users, Instagram still dwarfs TikTok, with roughly 1 billion users worldwide, compared to TikTok’s 689 million.
From a brand perspective, TikTok’s true value lies in its popularity with Generation Z (those born from 1997-2012).
Gen Z make up the majority of TikTok users – around 42% of users are aged 18-24 years old, 17% are aged 13-17, and it’s now overtaken Instagram as the second most popular app for average time spent on by children, behind YouTube.
In response to TikTok’s unprecedented success, in August last year Instagram decided to launch its own short-form video feature within the app: Reels.
Instagram’s user base was once dominated by young people, in 2016 its largest age group was 16-24 year olds. But since then, these users have aged (🙋♂️ guilty!), even older users have joined the platform, while Generation Z – particularly under 18s – are becoming less keen to sign-up.
As of August 2020, Instagram’s largest age group is now Millennials (aged 25-34 years old), who make up just over 30% of the platform’s user base. 23% of users are 18-25, and under 8% are aged between 13-17.
Instagram’s focus on video
Just less than a year after the introduction of Reels, in late June 2021, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced that Instagram is “no longer a photo sharing app”, explaining that the company wants to “embrace video more broadly.”
While the statement was a little ambiguous, it’s expected that the development team at Facebook will continue to take inspiration from the best features of other popular social media apps. Including the new cool kid, TikTok.
Where does your brand fit in?
With two social media platforms vying for the attention of younger audiences, brands now have two relatively new platforms to connect with a whole new generation of customers.
Below we’ve put Reels and TikTok side by side, Top Trumps style, to help you see where your brand might fit best!
CategoryIG ReelsTikTokAge (Years)<15Max. Video Length (Secs)3060Aspect Ratio9:169:16E-Commerce Rating9346‘Viral’ Factor6798Video Editing5386Analytical Data240645Follower Play Rate (%)4010Engagement (%)517
Who’s winning the Battle for Gen Z?
So far, Reels has been quite a disappointment for Instagram, with it failing to see a significant increase in younger app users since the feature’s debut. In fact, the two youngest age brackets of users have become a less significant part of their overall user base when comparing August 2020 to May 2021.
The introduction of Reels did not appear to hinder TikTok’s success either, with the company more than doubling its earnings in 2020.
Despite its rival’s best efforts, TikTok remains the dominant social platform for connecting with Gen Z.
Whether you feel your brand is ready to launch on TikTok, or if you’d rather wait a little longer, it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on how other brands are mastering it.
Verdict
Instagram Reels: They are reliable and formulaic in performance. However, a lack of user interest has created a glass ceiling on the reach and impact of posts. Younger audiences aren’t as crazy about this TikTok-inspired feature as they are about TikTok itself – and while that might not matter to you now if the majority of your customers are 30+, it will matter when the current TikTok generation approach their 30th birthdays.
TikTok: It has created a platform where any account can overachieve or underachieve depending on the strength of their content. That means that post performance can be somewhat unpredictable. Users tend to enjoy an ‘anti-aesthetic’ where videos look and feel rough around the edges with feeds that don’t necessarily follow a cohesive style.
The future of TikTok
It’s predicted that TikTok will continue to grow, reaching 1.2 billion users in 2021, with Gen Z maintaining their position as the largest age group on the platform.
Although Reels hasn’t hindered its success, there are many other possible obstacles that could.
The app has already had to fend off one attempt by the US Government to ban it, due to claims that the platform is a national security threat – and it might have to prepare for another one soon.
Going forward, TikTok is planning an aggressive e-commerce expansion, to make the app more brand-friendly. But can it make this transition without turning off its audience?
What’s more likely to seal TikTok’s fate is its ability to keep up with the habits of Gen Z and stay ahead of future trends. With the current trajectory suggesting that social media users want to share less about their personal life, not more.
So which will you choose, TikTok or Reels, or both? One thing’s for sure: Effectively using this short-form, video-first format will help your brand climb that fiddly social (media) ladder. If you need help with your strategy, get in touch with one of our experts.
