Instagram Reels vs. TikTok: where should you promote your brand?

Understanding the Audiences: TikTok vs. Instagram Reels

A crucial step in platform selection for brand promotion lies in understanding your target audience. Instagram Reels and TikTok, despite their similarities, cater to distinct user demographics based on age, geographic location, and content consumption habits. 

Age

TikTok: TikTok primarily captures a youthful demographic, with 41% of its active users under the age of 24 as of 2024, according to Statista. This platform is a stronghold for teenagers and Generation Z, who are drawn to its emphasis on highly entertaining content, viral trends, and interactive challenges.

Instagram Reels: In contrast, Instagram Reels caters to an older demographic. Over 60% of its users fall within the 25 to 34 age bracket in 2024, as reported by Hootsuite. This makes the platform particularly appealing to millennials who gravitate towards more “mature” content, often focusing on lifestyle and aesthetic appeal.

Geography

TikTok: TikTok holds a significant market lead in both Asian countries and the United States. Notably, prior to its ban in India, the platform boasted over 200 million active users [TechCrunch, 2020]. In the U.S. alone, TikTok continues to engage a massive audience with over 150 million monthly active users [Business of Apps, 2024].

Instagram Reels: Conversely, Instagram Reels demonstrates strong popularity across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Given its generally older demographic, Reels is frequently leveraged by brands seeking to connect with financially capable markets [We Are Social, 2024], making it a prime channel for reaching consumers with purchasing power.

Engagement

TikTok: TikTok boasts remarkable user engagement, with individuals spending an average of 95 minutes per day actively switching between videos [Sensor Tower, 2023]. This high level of immersion is driven by TikTok’s sophisticated algorithms, which rapidly adapt to individual user interests, delivering a highly personalized content feed. The platform’s culture of viral challenges and trends further fuels this elevated engagement.

Instagram Reels: Conversely, Instagram Reels typically sees lower watch times, averaging around 30 minutes daily [Hootsuite, 2024]. However, Instagram’s audience demonstrates a stronger loyalty to brands. Users on Reels are more inclined to actively engage with content through likes, comments, and saves, indicating a deeper connection and potential for lasting brand relationships.

Content

TikTok: Entertaining content like funny videos, challenges, dances, and storytelling is popular. Users value originality and content that creates an emotional reaction [Influencer Marketing Hub, 2024].

Instagram Reels: Content on this platform is more aesthetically pleasing and “perfect”. Lifestyle videos, how-to guides, fashion, and branded content are common [Later, 2024].

Ideally, a brand should be on both TikTok and Instagram Reels for the widest reach. However, it’s very important not to post the exact same content. Instead, adapt it for each platform.

For example:

• TikTok: Great for creative, emotional, and engaging videos that can go viral. Focus on the younger audience. Challenges, humor, and originality are especially valued here.
• Instagram Reels: When posting here, focus on high-quality, visually appealing content with an emphasis on lifestyle, expert tips, and branding. The audience here is older and prefers a more traditional approach.

By being active on both platforms and tailoring content to each, businesses can reach different groups of people and make their promotion strategy more effective.

Understanding the Algorithms: TikTok vs. Instagram Reels

To promote successfully on TikTok and Instagram Reels, you need to understand how their algorithms work. While both platforms share short videos, they have different ways of ranking content and deciding what people see.

TikTok Algorithm

TikTok is known for its unpredictable but powerful algorithm that can help even new accounts quickly become popular. Here are its main principles:

1. Personalized Feed: The algorithm looks at what users do – how long they watch videos, likes, comments, saves, and how much of a video they watch. Based on this, it creates the “For You” feed.
2. Watch Time: One of the most important factors is how much time a user spends on a video. The longer a video holds attention, the more TikTok promotes it.
3. Engagement: Likes, comments, and shares are strong signals to the algorithm about how popular content is.
4. Content Posting: How often you post affects reach, but for content to go viral, TikTok values video quality and originality more.

TikTok’s Special Feature: Even accounts with no followers can appear in recommendations and go viral. The algorithm gives every video a chance, no matter the account’s history, which is very appealing for new content creators.

Instagram Reels Algorithm

Instagram uses a more structured way to promote content. How visible a Reel is depends more on your existing followers and account activity:

• Follower Priority: The algorithm first shows videos to your existing audience. If the video gets a lot of engagement (likes, comments, saves), it then starts to be shown to a wider audience.
• Ranking Factors:
  • Audience Retention: The percentage of the video watched until the end.
  • Engagement: Active reactions to content.
  • Regular Posting: Consistently posting Reels increases visibility.
• Content Format: Instagram prefers aesthetically pleasing videos that match the platform’s overall visual style.

Instagram’s Special Feature: Promotion requires a more stable base of followers. It’s harder for new accounts to “take off” because the algorithm pays more attention to quality engagement from existing followers.

Comparing TikTok and Instagram Reels Algorithms

Content Type: TikTok vs. Instagram Reels

TikTok and Instagram Reels both use short, vertical video formats with similar technical features, but how they are created and how audiences see them are very different.

TikTok: Creativity and Virality

TikTok became popular due to its dynamic and entertaining content. Successful videos often revolve around trends, humor, and engaging the audience.

Features of content for TikTok:

• Entertainment Focus: Dances, challenges, comedy skits, and storytelling are the main types of videos that create an emotional response. Content should be energetic and grab attention in the first few seconds.
• Trend Relevance: Use popular music, effects, and challenges. Trends on TikTok change quickly, so it’s important to keep track of “hot” topics and adapt them for your content fast.
• Minimal Editing: Videos on TikTok look less “polished.” Audiences value naturalness and creativity over a perfect picture.
• Interactivity: Content that encourages viewers to join discussions, repeat challenges, or create their own video versions has a better chance of going viral.

Instagram Reels: Aesthetics and Branding 

Instagram Reels is aimed at a more mature audience and brands, making its content visually appealing and structured.

Features of content for Instagram Reels:

• Aesthetic and Stylish Approach: Videos are often designed in a consistent style, focusing on high-quality filming and editing. Color correction, a clean image, and attention to detail are important.
• Educational and Expert Content: How-to guides, educational videos, and tips work especially well. Examples: “How to do X,” “5 steps to success,” mini-lessons.
• Branded Content: Many companies use Reels to show their products, lifestyle, and values. Videos fit seamlessly into the overall visual style of the account.
• Lifestyle Focus: Content related to fashion, travel, health, and beauty resonates with the Reels audience. Examples: How-to videos (“How to use product”), lifestyle and “day in the life” videos, product demonstrations.

Optimizing Content for Each Platform 

Content That Won’t Work Well on Both Platforms

1. Animated Creatives with Text: Static animations with text don’t hold audience attention, especially on TikTok. It’s better to film real people and find someone to be the face of your brand. Real faces and emotions build trust and look natural.
2. Stock Videos: Impersonal stock footage isn’t interesting and looks unnatural. It’s better to create unique content with real situations and people. Even a simple video shot on a smartphone looks more genuine.
3. Overly Cluttered Visuals: Too much text and too many effects make a video chaotic. It’s important to keep it simple, focusing on the main idea and flow.

Features and Tools: TikTok vs. Instagram Reels

TikTok

• Music Library: A wide selection of popular tracks and sounds available for free. Music is often a key part of viral trends.
• Effects and Filters: Built-in AR effects, masks, and visual filters to make content varied and personal. Users can use trending effects to make their videos fit popular challenges.
• Duets and Reactions: The “Duet” feature lets you create videos in response to other content, which increases engagement and reach. Reactions allow you to comment on and add to existing trends.
• Interactivity and Challenges: The ability to participate in and create your own challenges. Brands often start hashtag challenges that quickly spread among users.
• Hashtags: Content is promoted through popular hashtags and trends. TikTok’s recommendation system actively uses hashtags.

Advertising Tools:

• TikTok Ads: Advanced ad formats from in-feed video ads to sponsored challenges.
• Branded Effects: Brands can create unique effects for promotion.

Instagram Reels

• Video Editing: Simple built-in tools to trim, speed up, and add effects to videos.
• Music and Audio: A library of sounds and music tracks, though access may be limited by copyright in some regions. You can also use original audio from other creators’ videos.
• AR Effects and Filters: Instagram offers various filters and AR effects to create aesthetic and branded videos.
• Remix Feature: Similar to TikTok’s “Duets,” it allows you to create joint videos with other people’s content.
• Integration with Instagram: Reels easily fits into Instagram’s overall content plan: you can share videos in the feed, Stories, and on the Explore tab. It also syncs with other platform features (like Instagram Shopping for brands).

Advertising Tools:

• Ad Campaigns: Ability to promote Reels as ad videos with targeting for specific audiences and optimization for different goals.
• Analytics Tools: Advanced metrics to analyze video performance, including reach, retention, and engagement.

Effectiveness of Advertising and Organic Promotion

Organic Promotion

TikTok offers high organic reach and the chance for quick growth, even for new accounts:

• Viral Potential: TikTok’s algorithm strongly promotes videos based on engagement and audience retention, not just follower count. Even new creators can get millions of views.
• Trend Focus: Participating in popular challenges and using trending sounds and hashtags significantly increases your chances of success.
• Ease of Interaction: TikTok actively encourages shares, duets, and reactions, which expands the organic reach of content.

On Instagram Reels, organic reach depends more on your current follower base and audience activity:

• Focus on Followers: Successful promotion often requires an active and loyal audience. Virality is possible but less common than on TikTok.
• Engagement Over Quantity: Likes, saves, and comments are more important to the Reels algorithm than just views.
• Quality Content: Instagram promotes visually appealing and stylized videos that match the platform’s overall look.

Advertising Opportunities

The advertising tools on TikTok and Instagram Reels are quite similar: both platforms allow precise targeting based on location, gender, age, interests, and can use data collected from websites, apps, or CRM systems. Differences show up in ad formats and content approach.

TikTok: TikTok focuses on user-generated content (UGC) for ads. The audience on the platform responds better to videos that look like organic content made by users: live, dynamic, and creative. Standard ad videos or formal creatives don’t work well here – it’s important to create ads that fit TikTok’s style and trends.

Instagram: As a more mature platform, Instagram allows the use of traditional images and videos for advertising. This gives brands more flexibility in creating content and adapting existing materials. It’s suitable for businesses used to classic advertising methods.

Several Words In Conclusion

Choosing between TikTok and Instagram Reels depends on your promotion goals, audience, and content strategy.

• TikTok is perfect for quickly getting viral reach, creative content, and reaching a younger audience. Here, it’s important to follow trends, create emotional videos, and actively use interactive tools.
• Instagram Reels is an excellent tool for brands with visually appealing content and a more mature audience. The platform allows you to build long-term relationships with followers and use precise targeting for ads.