Social media can often feel like a tough marketing nut to crack. It’s ever-evolving by nature, but that’s exactly what makes it enticing for brands looking for new opportunities.
Two of the world’s most popular social platforms, TikTok and Instagram, have thriving influencer communities that give marketers the chance to connect with customers like nowhere else.
But what do those opportunities look like in reality? How can brands break into the trends and challenges of TikTok and the grids and reels of Instagram?
Here, we’re taking a look at the differences between the influencer cultures on the two platforms so brand managers like you can decide which one is a good match for your marketing goals.
Audience Demographics
Firstly, it’s important to understand the demographic breakdown across the two platforms, but bear in mind this will inevitably be different from industry to industry.
TikTok is generally considered a platform for a slightly younger audience, being popular with Gen Zs, while Instagram appeals to more millennials than the former.
According to Statista as of April 2024, the global audience breakdowns for TikTok and Instagram aren’t that wildly different, in fact:
| TikTok | ||||
| Female | Male | Female | Male | |
| 18-24 years | 17.3% | 18.9% | 15.2% | 16.5% |
| 25-34 years | 14.6% | 19.3% | 14.2% | 16.4% |
| 35-44 years | 6.9% | 8.9% | 8.1% | 7.9% |
| 45-54 years | 3.7% | 4.2% | 4.8% | 3.9% |
| 55+ years | 3.1% | 3.1% | 4.4% | 3.1% |
While there may be a slight skew towards male users, general global usage of both platforms is quite consistent, but that doesn’t mean they should be tackled in the same way from a marketing perspective. The differences between content consumption and distribution are what set the platforms apart.
Content Formats: TikTok vs Instagram
The Dominance of Short-Form Videos on TikTok
We all know TikTok for its video-forward approach to social, with a heavy lean towards short-form content.
Spending five minutes on TikTok will show you just how much freedom and creativity this format unlocks for content creators. It can be fun, authentic and quickfire, so instant engagement is the name of the game.
The Versatility of Content Creation on Instagram
Instagram, by contrast, is more suited to creators who might take a bit more time to polish their content. It’s heavily driven by the visual, but also offers static images as an alternative to video so influencers can engage followers in different ways.
There are significant crossovers between videos on TikTok and the likes of reels and stories on Instagram. If an influencer is active on both platforms, they might post slight variations of their content on each channel to cut down on editing time, but it’s not uncommon to see different styles between the platforms to appeal to various audience interests and behaviours.
How Do Engagement Metrics Differ Between TikTok and Instagram?
On the one hand, owing to the video-heavy nature of TikTok as a platform, you won’t be surprised to hear that it puts great emphasis on views, likes and shares when assessing content performance.
Its algorithm builds a ‘For You’ feed based on your interests, viewing history and engagement behaviour—a machine learning (ML) model uses this data to show you more relevant content the more you use the app.
You might say it knows what you want to watch before you know you want to watch it, so you’ll rarely have to go digging for great content yourself.
This algorithm works well for new creators by offering them a quick path to virality if they post high-quality content.
On the other hand, Instagram rewards long-term engagement-building activities that form communities around content creators. It similarly focuses on likes, shares and comments, but the prospect of going viral with a new account is much lower.
Instagram stories and reels are great tools for creators to engage their followers with video content, with views, likes and shares rewarded in a similar way to those on TikTok.
Both TikTok and Instagram have a ‘Collections’ feature that allows users to save content for later—a strong incentive for influencers and brands to create genuinely useful content for real-world customers to consume whenever they want.
How Do Influencers Work on TikTok vs Instagram?
While they share a lot of characteristics and social personality traits, influencers on TikTok can be quite different to those on Instagram.
TikTok creators can build communities around trends and challenges quite quickly if they’re reactive and consistently posting engaging content.
They also have the capacity to interact and collaborate directly with their followers in the comments or via Duets and Stitches, which can send their engagement through the roof if they land on the right topics.
Duets allow users to publish videos alongside one another in the same post, so they’re ideal for jumping on dance or mime trends or serving up helpful tips and advice.
Stitches allow portions of existing videos to be sewn into new ones, so they’re often utilised for reaction clips or getting creative with green screens.
They’re both great ways for people to forge closer connections with each other on the platform, since the content creation becomes a two-way conversation.
On Instagram, influencer-generated content generally tends to be more one-way in nature to begin with, as a creator will post the likes of product reviews or expert insights to provide value to their followers. People then make use of the Direct Messages function on Instagram to connect with influencers they know and trust.
Influencer audiences on Instagram are typically amassed over a longer period of time through carefully crafted content that’s perfectly matched to their interests, so users on both sides rely more heavily on the use of hashtags there.
Browsers will use them to search for content that’s relevant to their needs and interests and influencers will use them to make such content more visible to said browsers (easy as that, huh?).
Over time, certain hashtags grow in popularity and communities are built around them, allowing influencers to cultivate loyal followers of their opinions on a range of topics, from cooking delicious vegan meals to composing original new music.
Influencer culture on Instagram is much more established than it is on TikTok, but they each offer unique ways of engaging with others.
What Monetisation Opportunities Are There for Influencers?
Both platforms are set up to incentivise content creators to stay at the top of their game by offering financial gain for their efforts.
Instagram influencers rely on the more traditional model of sponsored posting to collaborate with brands. Similar brand collaborations are possible on TikTok, but the latter also offers a Creator Fund, which users can apply for once they’ve essentially become an influencer (AKA gained enough followers and engagement from their content).
TikTok’s Creator Fund
The TikTok Creator Fund is an initiative that aims to share revenue generated by the platform with the best content creators who help it grow.
It’s an incentive to craft top-quality content on the regular and turn TikTok into a revenue stream as an influencer, but, as you can imagine, it’s an extremely competitive arena.
Instagram’s Sponsored Posts
Influencers on Instagram don’t have a revenue-sharing programme to lean on, but they zero in on sponsored posts and brand collaborations to make their money instead.
Sponsored posts, which must be labelled as such when live, allow brands to team up with leading voices in communities that are closely linked to their industry.
Say a sports brand like New Balance, for example, connects with 50 influencers in the trail running community and gifts each of them a pair of new shoes to trial. They’d gain 50,000 engagements from a wider combined following of 525,000 people they might not have ordinarily reached, right?
Right—you can read the case study here: New Balance x Gifta
It’s not easy to establish a brand-influencer partnership on either platform, but the rewards can be plentiful if both can bring value to the table.
Which Platform Is Best for Influencer Marketing?
There’s no hard and fast rule for picking ‘the best’ platform for any given influencer marketing campaign because the decision has to come down to individual circumstances.
If your content style as an influencer or a brand is more focused on the eye-poppingly creative and digestible, then TikTok is probably a good place to start.
If your tone of voice is more about providing added value to your followers’ lives through expert advice, then Instagram is likely a good way forward.
If your immediate needs are to gain visibility quickly and cost-effectively, then TikTok’s algorithm will probably be kinder to you, but only if you can commit to creating regular, high-quality content.
If you want to maintain a higher production value with carefully planned campaigns that establish you as an authority in a space, then you might want to go all in on Instagram influencer marketing.
Whether you’re a brand or an influencer, both TikTok and Instagram have pros and cons and they’ll differ from product to product, campaign to campaign and, indeed, person to person.
Consider all your options against your ultimate objectives, from immediate sales to long-term engagement, and don’t be afraid to test and learn as you go.
At Gifta, we can help you leverage social media to your advantage and ensure that you’re on the right platform for you and your audience. Interested in finding out more? Get in touch with us at hello@gifta.co.uk today.
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