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How Instagram Reels wants to differentiate itself from the behemoth TikTok

2020-09-25T16:32:55.091Z


Facebook is adjusting its strategy to encourage its users to adopt its short videos tool, intended to compete with the Chinese application.


It's been over a month since Reels launched globally.

Facebook's response to TikTok came as Chinese flagship app ByteDance is in trouble in the United States and banned in India.

Accessible to the billion users that Instagram claims, this feature of short music videos represents "

the future of digital storytelling on mobile

", estimates the American social network.

But how to win against the juggernaut TikTok, whose power of attraction does not seem to suffer either from accusations of Chinese espionage launched by the American government, or from suspicions of censorship relayed by the press?

Instagram, which has not yet communicated figures on the use of Reels, is exploring several avenues to compete with its competitor.

Faced with TikTok, he is both a complementary and open social network, while cultivating his individuality.

Attract designers

While TikTok is often referred to as a social network, this application is in fact closer to a video platform like YouTube, since the content shared is produced by a minority of its users.

For TikTok as for Reels, the creators are the sinews of war.

Instagram is well aware of this and has tried to recruit TikTok stars for a fee, according to the Wall Street Journal.

None of this in France, assures Guillaume Thévenin, the manager of partnerships in southern Europe for Instagram.

The latter prefers to insist on the opportunity that each user has to be noticed.

Anyone can emerge on Reels

,” he says.

If a video takes, it can arrive on Explore

[the Discoveries tab of Instagram, Editor's note]

and be shown to as many people as possible

. "

Yet Instagram has done a lot for some influencers, giving them preview access to its new feature.

This is particularly the case of Martha Gambet, the partner of Norman and Tim, a YouTuber from Quimper, who both operate within the Webedia group.

"

Instagram asked us to test the Reels format in preview, several of our talents participated in the beta

", confirms Adrien Chabal, the head of the social networks pole of Webedia.

He considers that it is still early to know if Reels represents a real competitor for TikTok.

But he still advises his talents to settle there, so as not to miss the wave.

This new format based on short videos is very popular.

We feel that it is setting up like a new standard,

”he said.

Most of TikTok's stars are also on Instagram

Guillaume Thévenin, responsible for partnerships in southern Europe for Instagram

An opinion shared by Ruben Cohen, the co-founder of the agency Follow who "

ensures that

[his]

influencers can express themselves on any platform

".

Like Adrien Chabal, he sees an interest in investing in Reels, without leaving TikTok for all that.

Reels is interesting for advertisers because they can reach more people with the same format.

Publishing exclusively on Reels therefore does not seem like a good strategic choice for our influencers

. ”

At Instagram, we welcome these newcomers with open arms, since they nevertheless participate in the growth of the platform.

Most of the stars of TikTok are also on Instagram

”, proclaims Guillaume Thévenin.

However, the platform wants to cultivate its individuality and highlights creators like the Ghetto Twins, present only on Instagram and whose number of subscribers has doubled since the introduction of Reels.

Reels allows the emergence of a new generation of content creators, which we had not necessarily identified,

” says Guillaume Thévenin.

Focus on people

But Instagram doesn't just recruit talent or foster their emergence through Reels.

To compete with TikTok, it must succeed in countering its ultimate weapon: the recommendation algorithm that makes the platform so successful by "guessing" the tastes of its users.

Faced with this, Instagram is focusing on people and praising the work of its “

curators

” who choose which content does or does not appear in the Explore tab of the application.

An internal team is responsible for manually selecting the Reels that are highlighted on a daily basis.

These moderators strive to promote the most creative content and in affinity with the centers of interest of the community,

”explains Guillaume Thévenin.

According to Instagram, the Most Popular Reels have seen up to 40 million views.

A number regularly surpassed by TikTok star Bella Poarch, whose nods have been viewed 430 million times.

To make a difference, Instagram has made adjustments in recent weeks to encourage its users to try their hand at Reels.

A change of interface, tested in France, saw the search button of the Instagram application replaced by a direct access button to this new tool.

It used to take up to three clicks to explore the new short videos.

Recently, the company announced that the length of the Reels, so far limited to 15 seconds, will be doubled.

TikTok encourages its users to post videos of 15 seconds or less, but allows it to go up to one minute.

By distinguishing itself, Instagram also takes the risk of discouraging TikTok users from migrating there if they cannot reuse the content they have already created.

Reels is an extremely serious competitor for TikTok

, nevertheless considers Étienne Alcouffe, CEO and founder of the media strategy consulting agency Junto.

Instagram has already succeeded in establishing itself in the format of stories, whereas it had been popularized by Snapchat

. ”

The future will tell if the social network will achieve the same feat with short music videos.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-09-25

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