People love video content. Whether it’s a funny cat video or a how-to on the latest tech gadget, your customers probably can’t get enough of it. Need proof? Both TikTok and Instagram have over a billion active users! When it comes to videos that get your customers engaged, which is better: TikTok or Instagram?
Why is Video Marketing So Effective?
First of all, let’s look at what makes video such an effective marketing tool.
People are 95% more likely to remember a message from a video than from written text. Shorter videos also account for the average person’s shorter attention span. Plus, the multimedia nature of videos makes them more likely to appeal to a wider audience. Finally, more than 50% of internet users watch online videos on a daily basis! It’s safe to say more people watch videos than read long-form internet content–especially on a regular basis.
That’s because video has the power to not only tell stories but show the way things are. Just like customers are less likely to believe a brand statement than a peer review, they’re less likely to believe written content–let alone pay attention to it. Whereas a list of brand features tells you what a product can do, a video of a customer using that product shows you what it can do. For example, including a video on your website or landing page can increase your conversion rate up to 80%!
There’s only so much emotion you can evoke from a still image or even the sharpest copy. Conversely, videos are a fantastic medium to evoke emotion, especially if they’re synced with music, sound effects, or natural human noises like laughter or conversation. Put it this way: which are you more like to interact with–a cat video or a picture of a cat?
TikTok or Instagram?
Again, there are over a billion active users on both Instagram and TikTok. So which is better to help gain exposure, interest, awareness, and conversions for your business? Let’s take a look at some statistics.
TikTok
-The biggest influencers typically see an engagement rate of about 18%.
-Almost half (~47%) of TikTok users are between the ages of 10-29.
–53% of Instagram influencers are between the ages of 25-34.
–72% of users made a purchase decision because of content they saw on Instagram.
TikTok or Instagram: The Takeaways
While there’s no denying the burgeoning success and limitless potential of TikTok, Instagram arguably has more power–right now–to attract, engage, and influence your audience. While both TikTok and Instagram allow customers to purchase in-app, there are both more overall users and more users with actual purchasing ability on the latter app, as well as more functionality–like stories, reels, and posts, compared to TikTok’s singular video capabilities.
However, neither TikTok nor Instagram allows you to link external content to your TikTok/Instagram content, and TikTok only stores data for up to 28 days. That means if you want to keep engagement data long-term, you have to do it yourself. Finally, both TikTok and Instagram are pretty saturated with businesses. How can you make your content rise above the rest?
Which platform is more likely to generate interest and conversions in your brand? Is TikTok here to stay or is it simply the flavor of the month? More importantly, where are your customers more likely to spend their time–and where are they more likely to be influenced? Before you dive headlong into a TikTok or Instagram strategy, make sure you have the answers!
The stronger your social media presence, the more highly potential customers will think of your brand. If you have a multitude of followers, not only will you be reaching a larger audience but you’ll get more engagement, drive more traffic, and even boost your SEO efforts. Here are a few crafty ways to get more followers–without paying an arm and a leg!
Choose The Right Channels
This one goes without saying. You’ll never grow your following if you’re chasing the wrong customers. While it’s okay to spread your presence over a few different platforms, make sure they’re the ones your customers are on. So how do you figure out where your customers are?
Search relevant topics and keywords across social media to see where the traffic is.
Look for relevant groups and discussions across different platforms.
Where are your competitors advertising on social media?
Knowing where your audience spends their time is only half the battle.
Next, you have to learn how to best utilize the platform(s) of your choice. This is where you find out how each kind of content drives different actions, reactions, and engagement.
Optimize Your Content
Once you know where your audience spends their time, you have to figure out how to reach them. After all, the average person sees thousands of pieces of content daily. Keeping your content fresh and invigorating will help it break through all the “noise.”
To optimize your content, pick a few major themes/topics/areas of concern and focus your attention on them. Consider the different ways you can approach these major content pillars and plan a content series around building awareness, interest, consideration, or conversions.
Optimizing your social media profiles can be immensely impactful as well. From choosing the right photos to selecting easy-to-remember handles/usernames to including the right density of visible, user-friendly keywords, make your social media profile a cog in the SEO wheel.
The more visible your social media profiles are (both on the platforms themselves and search engines), the more people will find–and follow you.
Share & Collaborate
Sometimes, you just can’t do it alone. If you can collaborate with the right people–who also have a large, highly engaged following–you can add their followers. While it’s not necessarily easy to attract influencers–especially in an organic manner–getting people to promote and share your products, services, and content is a great way to get more followers.
In addition to collaborating with influencers, look to share and engage with relevant, topical content. Look to find other brands and pages with similar audiences and interests to share their posts and add to their conversations. If you do this frequently enough, your visibility will skyrocket, meaning you’ll grow your follower count.
Drive Traffic Across Platforms
Just like your website, your social media presence isn’t a standalone part of your marketing strategy. Each piece in the marketing mix should supplement and complement one another, meaning your website should link to social media–and vice versa.
Cross-promotion is another classic strategy to increase visibility and get more followers. Don’t be afraid to directly appeal to folks to follow all your pages. Stress the importance of each individual page and what folks should expect to gain from following that page.
Plus, by cross-promoting your content, you can make sure no one misses out on your best, most valuable content. For example, maybe you published an insightful blog post–and folks saw it on Facebook and your website. But because it was never promoted on Instagram, a segment of your audience missed out on it. Instead, take advantage of all your platforms, cross-promote, and don’t be afraid to recycle old or curated content.
Get More Followers Now!
There are numerous ways to grow your follower count–but many of them cost money–and their effectiveness is negligible. Stick to the basics and you’ll get more followers, drive more traffic, and engineer more conversions without stretching your budget!
