12 essential TikTok vs Reels vs Shorts stats
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TikTok, Reels, Shorts, who came first in the race to digestible short video content? You might be wondering what a short-form video is. Well, it’s a video that lasts anywhere from 5 seconds to ninety. The idea is that with everyone’s attention span decreasing because of the rise of social media, you need to grab the user’s attention quickly.
The most popular social media networks where video has become a key feature of the platform would be TikTok, Instagram using reels, and YouTube shorts. This doesn’t rule out other social giants like Facebook, Snapchat and LinkedIn. However, when you think of video you normally associate it with the three above.
What is the difference between TikTok, Reels, and Shorts?
TikTok is an entertainment-first platform where that encourages users to share and watch engaging content. When TikTok first launched videos could only be up to 1 minute long whereas they have started to increase this as the years go on and as it currently stands you can upload a TikTok video with a duration of 10 minutes.
Reels are specific to Instagram and were created to try and keep up with TikToks newfound popularity, essentially Instagram made their own short-form video feature to compete with the likes of TikTok. Because of this huge push, Instagram is prioritising reels and you will find a boost in performance if you opt into it. The length of time your reel can be is 90 seconds, a lot shorter than TikToks maximum.
YouTube shorts are quite similar to the above in terms of the idea it encouraging people to create short-form content that can inspire, educate and make someone feel an emotion. However, the key difference is that Youtube shorts can only be up to 60 seconds long making it the shortest out of the three networks.
So to put it clearly:
- TikTok videos can be up to 10 minutes long.
- Reels can be up to 90 seconds long.
- Shorts can be up to 60 seconds long.
4 Stats You Need To Know About TikTok
So from the above you now have a basic level of understanding of what TikTok is.
- Users spend an average of 95 minutes a day on TikTok, so think about how much opportunity you have to get your video in front of someone!
- So, we’ve said that they spend nearly 2 hours on the app every day, from internal sources it’s been recorded that people open the app 20 times a day. If you’re purchasing the advertising slot to be the first video the user sees, you could be appearing so many times that the user can’t forget they’ve seen you.
- It is predicted that short-form videos will generate the highest ROI this year (The 2024 State of Marketing & Trends Report: Data from 1400+ Global Marketers).
- TikToks user base in the United Kingdom will increase to 15 million by 2025.
4 Stats You Should Know About Instagram Reels
- The Instagram algorithm is pushing reels heavily so it’s no wonder that this feature has grown in popularity by 57% YoY.
- All marketers and social media managers know that reels are the best creative format to post if you want to increase your organic reach on the platform. Reels on average reach 31% more users.
- If your target audience is Gen Z or Millennials and you’re using Meta to advertise then you need to be considering video a lot more, 18% of users engage with videos over the other creative formats.
- Micro accounts that have below 5k followers record higher engagement rates through reels.
4 Stats about YouTube Shorts
- The majority of the short-form videos on shorts are below 15 seconds, which would suggest people often stop watching or become bored after that amount of time. This tells me you need a second hook at 15 seconds to keep people entertained.
- 7/10 people watching YouTube shorts are viewing the videos on their mobile phones.
- There are 2 billion YouTube shorts viewers.
- 73% of users watch short-form videos because they want to find out about new products.
Have You Started Planning Your Next Short Video?
It’s become quite evident that users’ attention spans are decreasing and as marketers we’re having to be as creative as we possibly can to ensure we take the top spot and stop them from scrolling past our content.
Social media platforms are looking to incorporate video into their features as the rise of TikTok has shown how powerful understanding what your audience needs can be for your business.
Whether you’re looking to do TikTok videos, reels on Instagram, or YouTube shorts, you need to ensure you’re adhering to the platform requirements and tailoring your videos to suit the demographics of the platform. If you don’t test you will never be able to understand what works and how you can drive performance.
Struggling to come up with video content ideas? We’re on hand to help. We can identify creative opportunities your business can take advantage of to boost results. Get in touch today by clicking the link below.
