Instagram’s newest feature is very reminiscent of Tiktok. Can it keep up? And what opportunities does it offer companies and influencers?
The social media platform Instagram is known for constantly implementing new features to make the app experience even more interesting and exciting for users. The fact that the ideas for new tools do not always come directly from the platform itself, but that the makers also like to be inspired by other social media platforms, is nothing new. From the Instagram story, which was copied from Snapchat at the time and is now the focus of influencer marketing on Instagram, to the latest feature that was only recently launched: Reels .
This function is very reminiscent of the Tiktok platform, which is particularly popular with the younger generation. But can Reels keep up with this at all and what opportunities does the new feature offer in the context of influencer marketing for companies and influencers?
Opportunities for influencers and influencer marketing
One group in particular benefits from creative changes or further developments on the social media platforms: the influencers. She has her professional focus mostly on Instagram – exactly where Reels has now been introduced.
Similar to Tiktok, reels give influencers the opportunity to be creative and try out a different type of content. Especially in times when authenticity is more important for influencers than ever before, this new option helps to present yourself even more directly to your own followers. The trend here is moving away from very high-quality, often posted videos to much looser clips that show the influencer from a different angle.
For the followers, Reels has the advantage that they do not have to leave Instagram as a platform to switch to another, e.g. Tiktok. For influencers, this means that they don’t have to build a whole new community on a new channel. As part of the growth of Tiktok, it finally became apparent that many followers did not make the leap to Tiktok together with their influencers – or did not want to make it.
Larger influencers can also use their very high reach with the help of reels to go viral through the newly introduced top reels page and generate more followers. For small influencers, this site offers the chance to grow quickly and attract attention in order to build a community. It is also possible that the feature, similar to Tiktok, will also produce a completely new type of influencer on Instagram who will occupy a completely new niche with funny or particularly creative clips.
Opportunities for companies
With reels, companies in turn have the opportunity to present themselves in a much fresher, more dynamic and modern way. Thanks to the varied content, you can play content here that might not find a place in your account or in your story.
Another advantage is that you can work with your existing network on Instagram – and thus also on Reels. On the company’s Instagram page, followers are exactly the people who are already interested in the products or services. By switching to another platform, companies run the risk of losing many of them. In addition, many companies are still quite skeptical about Tiktok. This is mainly due to the very young target group. For those companies that appeal to a different target group, Reels is a good way not to have to leave the known followers, but at the same time to be able to show themselves through the clips from a different side.
Just like with influencers, companies can also benefit from the Top Reels Page. If they go viral there, they have the chance to make even more people aware of themselves or their products or services and to win them over to their own brand.
The relevance of reels for social media marketing
If you look at Reels as a whole, it quickly becomes clear that Instagram’s new feature has a lot of potential and, above all, very high relevance. Perhaps this is the beginning of a similar effect to the introduction of Instagram Stories a few years ago: After Instagram had more or less copied the format from Snapchat, Snapchat itself took a back seat. Something similar could now threaten Tiktok.
While nothing has been announced yet, it probably won’t be long before Reels introduces the ability to insert links for corporate accounts. This then opens up a completely new form of advertising that could represent great competition for Tiktok. It is not yet possible to insert links there, which is why it has not yet been used very widely as an advertising platform.
Unless Tiktok comes up with anything new or acts in front of Reels as part of advertising opportunities, it is very possible that Reels will replace Tiktok before the Bytedance app could even get really big in terms of influencer marketing.