Instagram has launched it’s answer to TikTok: Reels. Reels are 15-second multi-clip videos that incorporate a variety of new creative editing tools. This feature comes just in time as talks about banning TikTok in the US grow louder.
How are Reels different from Instagram stories?
Reels are one of a kind for Instagram. Unlike stories, Reels will live for longer than 24 hours. They will show up on your feed and appear on your profile under their own tab.
What sets Reels apart are the new creative editing tools that come with the feature. Get ready to let your creative juices flow – Reels will let you choose from a library of original effects, line up clips for seamless transitions, and set timers for hand-free recording.
Instagram Reels for Influencer Marketing
For influencers, Reels brings in the opportunity to reach a new global audience on Instagram. Beyond the explore page, Reels will have their own home for easy discovery. As a new feature, there is a big gap for influencers to fill with fresh content before competition races to it.
Reels also bring in exciting opportunities for brands to connect with their audiences even further. The Reels explore page will be bustling with content that is relevant to the user based on interests, people they follow, and location. Brands have been keeping these criteria in mind for years, and yet this is another opportunity to showcase how much they really know their audiences.
As still uncharted territory, brands can create unique Reels in partnership with influencers. After months of at-home content, we are excited to see products and brands being showcased in a totally different way with new effects and emerging trends. We expect to see a demand for influencer partnerships on Reels in the coming weeks.
Will Reels replace TikTok?
When Instagram launched stories to keep up with Snapchat, it was very successful at taking market share aware from it. At the time, Snapchat creators were unable to be discovered on the platform, making them reliant on other platforms for follower acquisition. If influencers wanted to grow, they had to convince their existing followers on other platforms to go to Snapchat.
Facebook became aware of this friction, so with Stories, they made it easy for influencers to easily share content with their base without the headache that comes with trying to move an audience.
Unlike Snapchat, TikTok is not dependent on other platforms for the growth of its user base. TikTok has a separate and distinct audience and a very different value proposition than Instagram. For both of these reasons, it is unlikely for TikTok to meet the same fate as Snapchat.
“With TikTok being treated as a political football, the sharks have come out. Triller, Byte, and Reels are all circling TikTok while Microsoft works to throw it a rope. The big question is whether or not the key TikTok influencers will move to another social media platform. Right now, Facebook is making a hard push for talent to create Reels to help validate Instagram and move audiences to it. Ultimately, I do think TikTok has a lot of staying power, especially with the younger generation that looks at Instagram the same way my generation looked at Facebook.” – Eric Dahan, CEO.
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