When you have some time to surf your mobile and want to consume short-form content, which app do you open: Instagram Reels, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts?
Which is your go-to go? Which one of these offers the best user experience and user interface? Which one would you place on top? Let’s analyze what each app offers, compare, and try to determine which is the best one to use, as both consumer and creator.
We all know out of the three platforms, TikTok came first, and the others followed. TikTok filled the market that desired quick and short content. When the app arrived on the market, you had your pick of videos that were no more than 60 seconds long. Plenty of users considered TikTok the new drug and spent hours consuming clip after clip. Since its early days, TikTok has gone a long way and implemented many changes, but it still has a unique place in the market.
Instagram noted how users switched to TikTok, and it decided to introduce short-form clip-making, too. So, it began to offer Reels so that users could upload videos up to 15 seconds long and now extended to 90 seconds. So, you can see where the inspiration came from.
YouTube Shorts only allows clips up to a minute long for uploads. However, if you open the app and record a Shorts video through it, it can only be up to 15 seconds long.
We have listed a few key differences that will help you choose the best option.
- Shopping link: TikTok has a product Links feature and TikTok shopping. Instagram Reels Shopping feature allows creators to include shopping links for products from their Reels. YouTube Shorts currently doesn’t support shopping links.
- Editing: While Instagram Reels and TikTok offer various special effects you can include in your clips. YouTube Shorts does not.
- User-friendliness: All three apps are the same in this. They’re intuitive and easy to use. Even beginners can use them without any guidance.
- Scheduling: Possible on Youtube but not on Instagram and facebook.
Now to conclude, If you are looking to target Gen Z with short-form content that is over 60 seconds and are considering partnering with Gen Z influencers, then TikTok would be the best platform for you.
If you are looking for a platform that has a wider reach than TikTok but targets a niche audience, Instagram Reels would be the best option.
If you are looking for a wider reach, wider demographic and a platform that is more favorable in web search results, then YouTube Shorts is the best option. It also has two very important features that the other two platforms don’t: age restriction and a scheduling tool, two things that can be very important for brands when sharing their content.
I hope this blog will help you decide on the best platform as per your audience and use.
