TikTok’s rapid rise to fame has been primarily due to the compelling appeal of videos posted on the platform, making it an ideal choice for influencer marketing campaigns. Often people talk about Instagram and TikTok in the same breath because both are visual platforms. But the similarity ends there only because, unlike Instagram, that uses images and videos, TikTok exclusively uses short- videos only.

The story of TikTok

TikTok is a video sharing app launched in 2016 worldwide after making its maiden appearance in China in September the same year. The app is available in 75 languages globally and has a presence of 150 markets where it enjoys high popularity. The app gained instant popularity and, in 2018, merged with another short-video sharing platform Musical.ly that helped TikTok move to the next level. The merger led to the formation of a vast community of young users who are just too fond of the platform.

TikTok enjoys 800 million app installs as of 2018 and 500 million monthly users worldwide, which speaks about the dominance that helped it earn the crown of the most downloaded app on the iPhone globally. Its popularity among Android users is also remarkable, having touched 9 million downloads from Google Playstore. In the first 6 months of 2018, TikTok was the frontrunner ahead of Instagram and other social media apps with more than 100 million downloads, crossing the distinctive 1 billion mark by the end of 2019.

The story of Instagram

Instagram is a photo and video sharing app that is the first to achieve global popularity since its first launched for iPhone users in 2010 and then for Android users in 2012. The app has evolved over the decade into an all-inclusive media-sharing app. It has moved ahead of stylized profile feeds and photo filters of the early days to include Instagram Stories, IGTV, direct messaging, and Instagram shopping to meet marketers’ varied needs. You can now set up a shop and sell your products on Instagram. With 1 billion active users, among which 400 are active daily, and many of them keenly following businesses, Instagram has always been a preferred choice for marketers.

However, TikTok is fast outpacing Instagram, as evident from fewer downloads of 59 million in the first half of 2018 compared to 100 million downloads of TikTok. The same trend continues for Android users, where Instagram downloads were 4 times less than TikTok and clocked only 2.5 million downloads. TikTok enjoys undisputed dominance in the Asian markets, vide its Chinese version named Douyin.

For whom it is meant (Demographics)

The visual media attracts younger people the most, and it is not a surprise that young and teens dominate the TikTok user base. Almost 65% of TikTok audiences are in their early twenties or younger, and overall, 40% of users are teenagers. Clearly, Generation Z is the biggest fan of TikTok, but its engagement rate is as low as 28%. However, the gender divide among TikTok users is even

Millennials and Gen Y constitute most of the Instagram audience base with 67% users belonging to the age group of 18-29 years, but females prefer the app slightly more than males. However, Instagram has a stupendous engagement rate of 95%, which is a strong indicator of its ability to support marketing activities.

Revenue models

A significant difference between TikTok and Instagram is that the former does not carry advertisements and is free to download, which has been a reason for its massive and rapid growth in a short time. However, there is scope for purchasing digital gifts and emojis within the app, and It helped TikTok earn $3.5 million in October 2018. Revenue earned from in-app spending during 2017-18 increased by 275 percent.

On the other hand, advertisements are the source of revenue for Instagram. The advertisements purchased by advertisers run on user stories and feeds. You can target the ads based on demographics, age, location, and interests. The revenue model was a massive success, as evident from its revenue projection for 2018 only was $6.4 million

What creators think about Instagram and TikTok

Instagram has been a significant force behind the influencer movement with thousands and thousands of followers earning considerable fame and reaching a massive audience of faithful followers. However, there has been a constant stream of migration of Instagram users to TikTok, which has fueled the envying popularity of the new platform.

While the ‘Discover’ page of Instagram is comparable to the ‘For You’ page of TikTok, the latter’s algorithm is far more engaging and advanced. The ‘For You’ page creates magic for TikTok creators that keeps people hooked to the platform like flies making a flight towards the fire. The page is immensely powerful, to say the least.

However, there is some distinct difference between the apps’ communities as there is palpability among TikTokers as the app allows them to create friendships and collaborate with others with easy connectivity. New things keep trending every week that gains virality, which increases the popularity. The environment of TikTok is highly conducive to attract followers and is a reason for Instagrammers moving to the new platform.

The fantastic support that TikTok provides to creators helps them build a broad audience very quickly and is attracting Youtubers within its fold. The option of linking to your YouTube account from TikTok bio gives vast opportunities of gaining subscribers by tapping into the young user base of TikTok. However, there is another similarity in that you can real TikTok likes as you do for Instagram to enhance authority.

Both platforms are powerful in meeting the marketing needs, but your marketing goals should help choose which one is right for you.

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