It’s really tempting to think that because you can grow so quickly on TikTok these days that it’s automatically better than Instagram. But does getting eyeballs on your Tik Tok videos make it a better platform for your business?
Both Instagram and TikTok have over a billion followers, offering businesses of all sizes a golden opportunity to market their products and services. Therefore, figuring out which platform is the best fit to market your business can be daunting.
Today, we will embark on this showdown between Instagram and TikTok, the two heavyweights dominating the digital world. This comparison will help you analyze the pros and cons of each of these platforms as we find out which offers more value for your business and marketing needs.
6 Key Comparisons To Determine Which Is Better For Marketing
Here we will compare Instagram and TikTok based on 6 different categories. Each of these categories plays a significant role in social media marketing strategies. After the comparison, we will give a verdict on which of the two takes away the crown of the best platform for business marketing.
1. Size And Exposure
As of right now, Instagram has a whopping 2 billion plus monthly active users. On the other hand, TikTok has 1.06 billion monthly active users. Instagram is a clear winner here, being the world’s most widely used social networking app.
But wait a minute. Instagram has been a lot longer here than TikTok. So, TikTok, having reached over 1.5 billion users, shows how quickly the platform has grown. If it continues to grow at this speed, it will soon leave behind Instagram.
Now, how does this impact a business? The number one goal of any business is rapid growth and expansion. Since TikTok is all about evolution and growth, it has shown to be a better fit for growing businesses.
But platform size alone is not enough to determine the reach and growth potential. We need to consider exposure to see how well your marketing efforts will perform. Well, based on research, the same video posted as Instagram Reel performs better when posted on TikTok. Thus, TikTok gives more organic exposure and views. However, this does not apply to all businesses. Some actually perform better on Insta.
The Result
Overall, Instagram offers a much bigger pool of audience and potential customers as it has more users. That said, if your goal is greater exposure and visibility, then TikTok is better.
2. Platform Demographics
Identifying and finding your target audience is your business’s first and most important marketing task. This is because everything you do comes down to your ability to clearly define who it is that you’re trying to reach. This Is why you need to consider platform demographics to effectively market your business.
● Age
If your demographic is older and falls from 25 to 60, then you might be better off with Instagram. On the flip side, if you have a younger target audience like Gen Z or young millennials, then you’ll have better success on TikTok. Why?
TikTok is most popular with younger generations, as the majority of TikTok users are aged between 10 to 29. In comparison, the majority of Instagram users fall between the ages of 25 to 44 years old.
● Gender
While other social media platforms tend to have a much higher percentage of male users, Instagram keeps things pretty even. 48.2% of Instagram users are female, while 51.8% are male.
When talking about TikTok, the majority of users are female, at around 57%, while 47% of users are male. So, if you have a product or service that is marketed towards women, TikTok is where you need to be.
● Location
TikTok is available in 150 countries, while Instagram is accessible in 170 countries. Since Instagram has more options and depends on where your target audience lives, Instagram is a much better option here.
Overall, Instagram offers better demographics when it comes to location preferences. But based on users’ gender diversity and age gap, TikTok offers more variety.
3. User Engagement
User engagement can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of your marketing content. You can share the most amazing video, but it’s useless if it’s not getting any engagement like likes, comments, shares, saves, follows, etc.
Additionally, engagement is a key metric that algorithms consider when running your content or profile on the feed and in search results. This is why it’s important to choose a platform for your business where users will engage and interact with you.
From an engagement rate perspective of TikTok vs. Instagram Reels comparison, the former is an indisputable winner. Did you know that TikTok gives 2x more comments than Instagram? Other statistics show that TikTok’s engagement rate is significantly higher than Instagram Reel’s average rate of engagement of 4.36%.
Moreover, TikTok also offers a better view rate and watch time. Statistics also show that the average time spent on Instagram is 28 minutes, while the average time spent on TikTok is 52 minutes. So, users are spending double the amount of time on TikTok as they do on Instagram.
The Result
Based on the statistics and engagement metrics, TikTok is a better platform. You can leverage the viral trends to increase brand awareness and promote your business.
4. Loyal Followers
As a business, you should keep in mind that Instagram is a follower-based channel while TikTok is views-oriented. What this means is that active followers make or break your marketing campaigns on Instagram. However, on TikTok, your success is measured by the virality potential of your marketing efforts and how many views your video gets.
Furthermore, on Instagram, a user’s home feed contains content from people or brands they follow. Whereas, on TikTok, your feed contains an endless collection of content from random users on For You feed. To check out the content from their following, users have to go to the Following feed. This makes us wonder if getting followed on TikTok is worth anything.
So, what does this mean? Well, for businesses to build a loyal following, Instagram is the platform. Instagram allows you to get long-term followers genuinely interested in your brand. It also allows you to build long-lasting relationships with these followers, resulting in brand loyalty.
The Result
You can go viral on TikTok and get a lot of exposure, but it’s not the same as people following you. Thus, Instagram stands out when it comes to fostering relationships and building a loyal following that can potentially turn into long-term customers for your business.
5. Features Comparison
Instagram launched as a photo-sharing app, but over the past couple of years, it has emerged as a video content platform. However, TikTok, previously known as Musically, was launched as a short-form video and lip-syncing app. Now, it is also a video-sharing app. While both Instagram and TikTok have evolved into video-sharing platforms, their features are very different.
Let’s take a look at the key features of both these apps that businesses should know about:
● Video length/duration: After TikTok’s latest update, users can now create long-form videos as well, going up to 10 minutes. Instagram videos can be up to 60 minutes long. When it comes to short-form videos, the minimum video length on TikTok is 3 seconds; in contrast, Instagram reels are 15, 30, and 60 seconds long.
● In-app purchases: Both TikTok and Instagram offer the in-app purchase feature. But what sets TikTok apart is the virtual currency, TikTok Coins. Users can use this currency for various in-app purchases.
● eCommerce features: Both Instagram and TikTok offer an eCommerce shopping experience within the app. But Instagram has upgraded features like shoppable posts. TikTok is still pretty basic when it comes to eCommerce capabilities, like businesses can link products from their websites (something Instagram has been offering for years).
The Result
When it comes to the overall features comparison, Instagram has a lot more to offer than TikTok. Businesses can leverage multiple tools specially designed for business profiles, such as ads campaigns, auto publish, Instagram insights, and much more.
6. Marketing Cost
What’s the golden rule of running a business? Spend less, make more. While both Instagram and TikTok marketing campaigns can be beneficial for your business, they both come at different costs.
The cost per click (CPC) on both these platforms is quite high, but Instagram ads are still relatively cheaper compared to TikTok. The CPC of Instagram is $28.08, and $35.72 for TikTok. Moreover, a branded hashtag challenge on TikTok can cost more than $150,000.
So, in comparison, the cost of running an ad campaign on Instagram is much less than that of TikTok. However, when we talk about the cost of a marketing campaign, we need to discuss its cost-effectiveness as well.
Both Instagram and TikTok are worth running ads on. If you have a large budget, investing in a TikTok campaign can make you go viral overnight, giving your business an instant boost. While investing in Instagram ads can deliver more potential leads and sales, it may not lead to an instant boost in exposure and brand awareness.
The Result
Marketing on Instagram is much cheaper as compared to TikTok. So, if you want to keep your marketing budget low, spend on Instagram ads. At the same time, work on growing your TikTok organically to make the most of it.
TikTok vs. Instagram: The Final Verdict
So, this wraps up our comprehensive comparison of TikTok vs. Instagram. After comparing the two platforms in 6 categories, we have come to conclude that both Instagram and TikTok have their own unique value propositions for businesses. So, it’s hard to pick a single one.
As a business owner or marketer, you have to look at all these comparisons and then decide which one has more to offer you. So, given all the information above, which of the two are you leaning towards?
TikTok or Instagram, which platform is more beneficial for your business?
Wrapping Up
In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, businesses need to be everywhere to make the most of their marketing efforts. So, it’s not a matter of choosing between Instagram or TikTok. The truth is, you have to leverage both these platforms if you want exponential growth.
However, depending on the audience you want to reach and your overall marketing goals, some businesses get higher ROI from one as compared to the other. So, if your business performs better on Instagram, focus your marketing efforts here. But if you get better results on TikTok, spend more on TikTok.
● https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-demographics/
● https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/tiktok-vs-reels-vs-shorts/
● https://www.statista.com/statistics/578364/countries-with-most-instagram-users/
● https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistics/
● https://www.k6agency.com/instagram-ads-cost
● https://admiral.media/faq-items/how-much-do-tiktok-ads-cost-in-2022/