Engaged in a fierce competition for users’ attention, social media platforms keep releasing new features in order to stay relevant. This was the case when Instagram released Reels in order to keep up with the newest kid on the block, TikTok. 

As a result, more and more opportunities arise for marketers and merchants in terms of advertising and selling their products on social media. Brands have the chance to build a presence on popular platforms and reach millions of users, or even more.

But it’s not exactly easy, as there are many options out there to choose from. 

However, by checking people’s preferences, one thing is clear: the video format is the way to go. With video’s huge success over the past years, it’s no wonder Instagram Reels vs. TikTok became a rivalry much discussed in the marketing world. 

To make life a bit easier for marketers, Creatopy ran an experiment to find out which format performs better in terms of paid advertising, a key factor in brand awareness, which is the first step into a customer’s journey.

They ran two video ad campaigns on the platforms between September 14 and October 5, with the same objective (Reach), the same daily budget ($50), the same video, ad copy, and landing page. The targeted audiences were in the same age group, with similar locations and interests. 

The result was unexpected for both their PPC team and Social Media Manager, with Instagram Reels outperforming TikTok:

• The Instagram Reels ad performed better than the TikTok Ad in terms of reach and impressions.
• The Instagram Reel ad had almost double the reach and nearly three times the number of impressions compared to the TikTok Ad.
• The TikTok Ad cost us more in terms of CPC, CPM, and cost per 1,000 people reached.

These were just a few highlights, but you can read the entire case study for more details about the campaigns and other things the Creatopy team noticed during this experiment. 

You can also go over a breakdown of the experiment in the infographic below.