Social media platforms, in the dynamic landscape of the digital world, are gaining increasing power every day, thereby creating fresh opportunities for influencer marketing.
We say this as we see an increase in the number of social media users worldwide. Last year, new users with an average of 1.3 million joined social media, bringing the global user count to nearly 4.2 billion by the beginning of 2021.
Deciding which social media platform can be fruitful for your business or influencer marketing program can be a choosy task.
Mostly, two social media platforms are known best for influencer marketing. One is Instagram and the other one is TikTok. So let’s dig into the details of both platforms to find out which one is best for you.
Launched in 2010, the platform offers a mobile-focused environment to interact with. Broadly, Instagram has been seen as the best platform for influencer marketing. The platform has an audience base of Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X.
Features
Instagram offers a variety of features for an influencer to create content either in terms of a static or a video. These options are available for content shareable on the feed. Social media content creators share professionally shot images and videos on the feed and maintain their grid as per their niche.
Moreover, Instagram has a ‘story’ feature which makes the content available for 24 hours. There, you have multiple options to interact with the audience including polls, open questions, and quizzes. Instagram stories are used to share instant and raw content as the audiences like to see the behind-the-curtain version of yours.
The interactive nature of Instagram stories has increased the time spent on the app to more than 28 minutes.
Instagram has also launched ‘Reels’ on stories which allow users to create 15-second multi-clip videos with audiovisual effects, and other creative tools. However, this feature is unavailable in certain geographic locations.
Audience
If your target audience lies in an age group of 25 to 34 years, your influencer marketing program should definitely include Instagram as this age group is the most abundant one on Instagram.
They follow celebrities or social media influencers/content creators. Not only that, people on Instagram love to share user-generated content which includes their own images, and stories of their creations as well.
Not to forget the mentioning part of Instagram where people mention each other in different content.
Instagram is a place where you can find a healthy and impactful community. Influencers and content creators interact with their audience, discuss, guide, and recommend.
Tracking and measurement
Instagram offers analytical tools to track and measure the performance of individual posts. This helps in understanding how the content of an influencer is performing, what the audiences like and interact with.
When is the best time to interact with the audience and to what extent the influencer’s content reached and brought new followers?
TikTok
The application is known for shooting and sharing short, musical, and hilarious videos. The app which began as a platform to make lip-syncs and participate in dance trends has now become a full-time career of many social media content creators.
Features
TikTok has provided a great avenue for users to share user-generated content which includes everyday vibes, as well as tips and tricks, entertainment, and challenges.
In parallel, we have seen many influencers who became famous from the same platform for creatively converting the daily routine moments.
As the platform is video-based, it offers more features to shoot videos creatively thus enabling its users to make the most of their mobile phones.
TikTok favors original content and by following different best practices, your video can get a chance to appear on the ‘for you’ page of the app.
Audience
About 33 million users access the app to interact with the content. With the great potential the platform offers, many brands have accessed TikTok with influencers and have found great results.
Regardless of the fact that TikTok is comparatively new in Pakistan, brands like Cadbury, Samsung, and Huawei have run their influencer marketing campaigns on TikTok.
Around 60% of TikTok users lie between the ages of 16 to 24, making it a primarily Gen Z platform. This gives the brands an opportunity to target their audience group which is kids or Gen Z.
The platform is interactive in nature and requires its users to perform on camera while shooting a video. So if you are thinking to appear on TikTok, plan out some activity that entices the audience to participate.
Tracking and measurement
Like Instagram, TikTok also offers certain features to track and measure the performance of your content. The analytics are more or less similar to Instagram where one can find followers’ information as well as profile visits and video views.
TikTok or Instagram?
So having adequate knowledge of both the platforms, their audiences, and how they work, how should one decide which platform is best for their influencer marketing program?
The answer lies in the audience. Wherever your audience is active should be the targeted platform for influencer marketing campaigns.
Both platforms have their distinct genres. So the next big thing is which platform is aligned with your brand’s communication.
Sometimes, you may find that both platforms can work best for you as your target audience is available and active on both platforms.
On the contrary, there may occur some cases where both platforms might not work best for your business.
To find the best platform for your business and the top-performing influencers on those platforms, sign up on Walee and kick start your influencer marketing campaign. Moreover, you can create your online presence by creating your Walee shop.
To see how your campaigns and influencers are performing, Walee provides you a real-time dashboard that makes it easy for you to track, measure, and control your campaign along the way.
Interested in starting your first Influencer Marketing campaign? Contact us now!