TikTok VS Instagram: Influencer Marketing for Businesses

TikTok vs Instagram: Which is better for influencer marketing?

Marketing is without a doubt one of the most important parts of any successful business. Without it, companies would struggle to grow and expand their reach beyond their current customers. It helps attract more customers, better serve existing customers, and helps your business grow. While there are a variety of different types of marketing to choose from, one of the most popular options is influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is all about companies paying certain individuals (influencers) to tell their audience about a product. This can be a social media post, a blog post, a Youtube video, or anything in between. Not all influencers are paid monetarily, however, as some can simply be given a free product for them to check out, use, or review.

This is especially true today with the mass popularity and prevalence of social media. Billions of people use social media, and plenty of major influencers have built their audiences on various platforms. Influencer marketing can help you get your product or service in front of your target, through a person they trust or love. Also, working with influencers saves you from having to spend a ton of time crafting your own videos and building up an audience on the new platform. If you simply partner with someone who has that established audience in your space, it can be much more efficient.

While influencer marketing can work on many different platforms, in 2020, two stand out as leaders in the space. These are TikTok and Instagram. But what is the difference between the two, how do they work and which is a better option? Well, that is exactly what this blog post on TikTok vs Instagram is going to take a closer look at. 

You will find this post useful if you are an influencer or business owner who wants to learn how to make money on Instagram or TikTok with influencer marketing. You will learn how to use these social networks individually or together.

TikTok Influencer Marketing

TikTok is currently taking the social media world by storm. While it has been around a while, it has grown immensely during late 2019 and into the middle of 2020. It is a platform where users can create their own short videos to share with the world. While all demographics use it, it is dominated by the 16-24 age range, making it a perfect place to market or advertise for companies with a younger target.

Influencer marketing on TikTok is all about brand authenticity. Less about photoshop and unrealistic expectations, and more about fun, casual and relatable content from creators who don’t take themselves too seriously. TikTok is about showing real people who are relatable using and enjoying your product or service. Also, because of how the algorithm on TikTok works, anyone can go viral and have the potential to be an influencer. This provides companies of all sizes the ability to find the right influencer for their needs and budget.

Of course, if you are using influencer marketing on TikTok, you need to learn about proper TikTok video length and format to make sure the videos are received well. While you yourself won’t be making the videos, you want to make sure your idea can work within the confines of the platform. This goes for any platform, as you want to make sure you understand the platform before reaching out to influencers there.

While it is still a new platform, TikTok has already shown promise in the influencer marketing game. There have been several different examples of influencer marketing on TikTok being hugely successful for businesses. For example, Chipotle has utilized several different TikTok campaigns, which have led to a dramatic increase in their online sales, which were up 99% in 2019 compared to 2018.

Another great example of the potential of TikTok for influencer marketing was shown by the cosmetic company Too Faced. 

They worked with a couple of influencers on TikTok to launch their new “Damn Girl” mascara. The campaign led to well over 800 million views of videos with their hashtag, and certainly led to a lot of sales.

Of course, be sure to choose your influencer wisely. While you want to look at things like followers, views, and comments, you also need to make sure their content is a fit with your brand. Their audience should be in your space and should show interest in your type of products.

Instagram Influencer Marketing

Tried and true, Instagram continues to be one of the best ways for brands and companies to use influencers to market. It has a ton of users and millions still check it each and every day. While it doesn’t have the new excitement and potential that TikTok does, it is still a popular choice and is much more established.

Throughout the years, there are countless examples of influencer marketing working well on Instagram. For example, in 2018, Dunkin Donuts decided to enlist the help of several nano-influencers to help them raise awareness of their beverages. The campaign was quite simple, having these influencers go about their day, holding a drink from Dunkin Donuts. 

It was authentic, relatable, and remained true to the content the influencer usually posted. This campaign helped them sell $300 million in coffee alone in 2018.

Another great example of using Instagram when it comes to influencer marketing is REI. The outdoor recreation company uses several unique tactics to grow their business. They repurpose content, provide helpful guides, create hashtag challenges, and do a variety of other things to help build up their community. They feature content from many influencers and do it in a seamless and authentic way.

As you can see, whether you simply want to sell products and go viral, or if you want to build a community and nurture them, Instagram is a great place to go for the influencers that can aid you in reaching your goal.

Instagram also allows for some shoppable tags, which changed the game in influencer marketing. They make it easier than ever to drive consumers to a particular page. Also, the demographics on Instagram are more balanced, which is great if your product is targeted at a wider or older audience. 

Also, Instagram has grown from a photo-based platform to feature everything from videos, to IGTV long-form videos, to stories, and more. This gives brands a bit more flexibility in how they want their influencer marketing material to be created and shown.

TikTok vs Instagram: Which is Better?

So which is the better platform for the company looking to participate in influencer marketing? Well, the answer is that it depends. It depends on the product you are trying to sell, the messaging you are trying to convey, and your brand. If you are a brand with a younger target who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, TikTok could be worth a try. It could also be the place to try if you want to experiment with unique and abstract ideas.

But if you have an older market, or have more professional and groomed content in mind for the marketing material, Instagram is still a logical choice. However, companies in many cases should be taking advantage of both of these platforms to truly take their influencer marketing to the next level.

In conclusion, we hope the information in this article has been able to help you learn about both TikTok and Instagram influencer marketing, and which is a better fit for your needs. There are many examples and stats that back up the effectiveness of each platform, so you can’t go wrong either way.

Who do you think wins between TikTok vs Instagram? Which social network do you prefer for influencer marketing? Please leave your comments below.

About the author

Ashley Lipman is an award-winning writer who discovered her passion for providing knowledge to readers worldwide on topics closest to her heart – all things digital. Since her first high school award in Creative Writing, she continues to deliver awesome content through various niches touching the digital sphere.