Have you noticed social media platforms transitioning more and more to short-form video content? In order to keep up with the ever-changing world of social media marketing, these platforms are something you’ll need to learn about. TikTok and Instagram are two of the most prevalent apps capturing users’ attention with short videos.
In order to choose the best app to use and maximize the benefit of publishing your content, let’s look into what’s better for marketing, along with what each of these platforms offers and the differences between them!
Table of Contents:
All About Instagram and Tiktok
Difference Between Reels and TikTok Videos
All About Instagram and TikTok
Instagram and TikTok are both incredibly popular social media platforms, each with millions of monthly active users in the United States. While the Instagram app was created and popularized in 2010 prior to the launch of TikTok in 2016, Instagram was second to adopt a short video form content option.
The main difference between the scrolling-style video content on these platforms is that TikTok’s primary focus is video content. Instagram’s short-form videos (Reels) are a newer addition to the Instagram app- whose focus was originally single photo posting.
While Instagram did add a video posting option to their regular feed posts, Reels were a separate addition modeled after TikTok. Now, both platforms have adapted to offer several different mediums for posting (stories, videos, photo slideshows, etc).
In order to discover what’s better for marketing your business’ short-form video content, you can find more in-depth details here about both Instagram Reels and TikTok– including how each app functions along with an overview of the features they each offer.
Differences Between Reels and TikTok Videos
When looking at what’s better for marketing, it is also important to consider the biggest differences between the platforms. One difference between Instagram Reels and TikTok is the user demographics and subsequent style of videos on the apps. Instagram is known for having an older demographic than TikTok, whose audience is overwhelmingly occupied by Gen Z. This often means that the apps contain videos with different trends, songs, and themes.
Additionally, the content of Instagram Reels focuses more narrowly on one topic per video. Reels are known to be edited to perfection, use an organized format, and are often used by businesses and influencers for professional content. TikTok on the other hand tends to have content that includes longer videos, stories from users, lighthearted joking content, popular dance trends, and a higher volume of in-the-moment filming.
Another notable difference between the platforms is the video creation tools. TikTok and Instagram each offer ways to create short-form videos within each app in slightly different formats. These include a difference in music options, filters, effects, video length, and more.
Besides the difference in content type, culture, user demographic, and video creation tools, the platforms have various other differences in relation to what’s better for marketing. These include the availability of advertisements, monetization, and differences in app performance.
Choosing the Best App to Use
You may be wondering… Now that I know how these platforms work, what’s better for marketing content?
In order to cater to your target audience, it’s important to consider your goals with posting. Due to the differences in video type and overall user culture, you’ll want to tailor content to fit each app. Generally, the goal of posting is to maximize the number of views and engagement, and ultimately to build a bigger audience on your profile.
This means that ideally, you’ll want to use both Instagram and TikTok for posting content- along with several other social media platforms. However, with limited resources, the smartest course of action is to focus most of your attention on the platform that your brand might most closely identify with.
After deciding which platform best suits your needs, it is recommended to create your videos using that app (unless you’ve chosen to use an outside video creation tool). When you post a video that was created using the same app, the algorithm is more likely to favor your video when showing content to users.
Many marketers and creators do choose to use both platforms to promote their video content. This can be done by creating the video inside one app and then posting it on the other afterward, or even by creating your video on an outside tool altogether and sharing it on both platforms.
Once you’ve chosen what’s better for marketing your short-form video content, TikTok or Instagram Reels, you’ll want to keep track of your videos’ performance. This will allow for changes in future content planning.
Taking the Next Steps
When looking at the differences between TikTok and Instagram and what’s better for marketing, the real answer is that it depends entirely on your brand and your content. The ever-changing world of trending in-app features can be daunting to many businesses and marketers looking to stand out. Using social media as a marketing tool is a complex and time-consuming endeavor that requires consistent analysis and planning.
While this information may be helpful in becoming familiar with the up-and-coming world of social media marketing, it is only just the beginning. Here at MediaScape Advertising, our marketing experts can help to create and maintain an effective social media content strategy!
Contact us today or Learn more here to get started!