The battle of the social media giants: 30 stats on TikTok vs Instagram

Since launching the $100 billion influencer industry, Instagram has struggled to keep up with the desire for addictive algorithms and short-form content, and now more than ever, that’s becoming more apparent.

In this article, I’ll be taking you through key TikTok vs Instagram stats, the difference between the two platforms, and how I suggest utilising both platforms to accelerate your marketing strategies in 2024. From TikTok SEO to an organic Instagram strategy, the social media world is your oyster.

Here at Embryo, we’re an award-winning digital marketing agency with a wide range of services, including paid social,  content marketing, PPC, and SEO. We recognise the significance of staying ahead in the digital marketing game, so if you want help to enhance your TikTok and Instagram Marketing strategies or support your business to grow, please get in touch on 0161 327 2635 or email us at info@embryo.com.

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The popularity contest: TikTok vs Instagram Reels

Ever since TikTok’s extreme popularity disrupted the social media scene in 2020, Instagram worked tirelessly to capture the competitor’s addictive and snappy user-generated video strategy, pushing Instagram to increase creator visibility through its Reels platform in August 2020.

Here’s a collection of top-level stats relating to the usage of TikTok and Instagram Reels:

1. TikTok was the most downloaded app worldwide in 2020.
2. The average TikTok user spends around 58 minutes and 24 seconds on the app each day.
3. Instagram users spend on average 29.2 minutes per day on the app.
4. Instagram users spend 17.6 million hours a day watching Reels, while people spend an astounding 197.8 million hours a day on TikTok.
5. A study by Social Media Today shows that while views are pretty similar on both platforms, engagement is higher on TikTok.
6. People reshare Reels 1 billion times a day through DMs.
7. Reels take up 30% of the time people spend on Instagram.
8. 21% of Gen Z adults use Reels weekly whereas 53% of the same demographic use TikTok every week.
9. 36% of Gen Z and 22% of Millennial consumers want to learn about products through short-form videos like TikToks.
10. 46% of TikTok users engage with content on TikTok without distractions or using multiple screens at once.

TikTok’s unique strength lies in its ability to captivate users for hours on end with its impressive algorithm that is fueled with user-generated content (UGC). The challenge for Instagram stems from the very thing that propelled its early triumph – Influencers. Instagram prioritises the influencers who contributed to its popularity, but by concentrating on these power users, the platform strays away from one of the big factors that drove TikTok’s success.

Shopping: who are you choosing?

Instagram is known for its significant impact on the influencer marketing sector, with 72% of marketers using Instagram for influencer campaigns in 2022. However, with macro-influencers becoming less trustworthy and micro-influencers generating up to 60% more engagement, TikTok’s UGC approach has been a proven way to influence users’ shopping habits. Not to mention the two additional features to set TikTok apart, its search feature and TikTok shop.

Here are some stats regarding users’ shopping habits across both TikTok and Instagram.

1. 64% of Gen Z and 49% of millennials have used TikTok as a search engine.
2. Every month, 130 million people interact with shoppable posts on Instagram.
3. 33.3% of TikTok users will make purchases via the platform in 2023, up from 9.6% in 2022, and by 2026, that number will jump to 39.9%.55%
4. 55% of TikTok users bought something from a brand after seeing their product on the app.
5. 44% of active users shop on Instagram on a weekly basis.
6. 78% of TikTok users purchased a product after seeing it featured in TikTok creator content.
7. 74% of Gen Z social media and video platform users perceive TikTok creators as reliable. 
8. 72% of Instagram users say Instagram influences their buying decisions.
9. 2 out of 3 adult Instagram users discover new products through Instagram Shopping.
10. After seeing a product or service in stories, 50% of Instagram users have gone to a business’ website to purchase.

TikTok vs Instagram: Where is your demographic?

It’s clear to see people are still shopping and taking influence from both of the social media giants, however, one significant difference between the platforms is their demographics. Whether you’re wondering if TikTok ads will increase your revenue, or if Instagram Ads bring will in a healthy ROAS, a key factor to consider is the audience you’re looking to find.

Here are 5 stats on TikTok vs Instagram audiences:

1. 52.38% of TikTok’s population worldwide are between the ages of 18 and 24.
2. 62% of Gen Z use TikTok and spend the most time on TikTok.
3. As of January 2023, almost 31 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 18 and 24 years, and 30.3 percent of users were aged between 25 and 34 years.
4. 54.1% of global TikTok users are female, and 45.9% are male.
5. Worldwide, 51.8% of Instagram’s users are male, while 48.2% are female.

A deep dive into advertising metrics

TikTok drives the highest time spent on any social media platform, and we’ll leave it up to you to decide whether that’s down to their addictive algorithm or Gen Z audience, but it’s interesting to see how that impacts paid advertising.

If you’re looking to accelerate your paid social media channels, finding the platform that will bring you the biggest return on your ad spend is a pretty important step.

Explore the paid advertising statistics on TikTok and Instagram with these insightful findings:

1. TikTok ads reach 17.9% of all internet users aged 18+.
2. TikTok’s general average CPM is $10. To begin with, the lowest CPM is $0.50 per mile, which means marketers pay 50 cents for every 1,000 views of their ad.
3. Marketers have the potential to reach 1.09 billion users with ads on TikTok. This is a 12.6% year-over-year increase in ad reach for the platform.
4. The average Instagram CPM cost for ads is $7.91. But remember, the time of the day, week, or year also affects the CPC!
5. Instagram marketers spend 69% of their budget on influencer marketing on Instagram.

There’s definitely a TikTok vs Instagram battle happening within the digital marketing arena, and shopping habits and engagement figures reveal a shift stemming from TikTok’s UGC approach, with purchases projected to surpass Instagram in the upcoming years. The demographic differences also underscore the importance of understanding your audience when choosing between the two giants…

Marketers certainly face a dynamic landscape, requiring agility to leverage and understand the unique strengths of TikTok and Instagram. To learn more about our TikTok and Instagram marketing services, get in touch with our friendly team. Alternatively, check out some of our fantastic case studies that showcase some great paid social results we’ve generated for our clients!

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