Why TikTok for Instagram is the new Snapchat

Even before Instagram adopted the Stories format from Snapchat, the emerging social network was closely monitored and analyzed. The success of Snapchat from the past is the reason why we now find stories almost everywhere. What applied to Snapchat in 2015 and 2016 now applies to TikTok.

TikTok as impulse generator for Instagram

TikTok (formerly musical.ly) has been influenced by Snapchat like Instagram. Vertical Videos, Fullscreen Experience, Interactive Stickers, and Lenses. All of these elements can also be found at TikTok.

What sets TikTok apart are the elements of music, challenges, lip sync, and virtual objects.

TikTok relies on extreme growth. Tune TV campaigns, ads on YouTube, on Instagram and integrate influencers on Instagram to take user numbers and user activity to the next level.

Instagram has also been using music in stories for some time. At the end of 2018, the sticker was expanded or music was combined with the sticker for questions. Of course, this can be answered with your own story and Lip Sync is an obvious answer.

Reacting to the Instagram stories is very similar to a similar feature on TikTok.

Lasso as a test for new Instagram features

With Lasso, Facebook has released a counterpart to TikTok. Lasso is almost identical to TikTok. But should Facebook not integrate successful TikTok features into stories rather than pushing an additional app? For me, Lasso is more of a test environment for new Instagram Stories features.

Lasso of Facebook was released on November 9. In January 2019, the app is ranked 485 in the iOS category in the Photo & Video category. That's not what Facebook and Instagram are about. Lasso was presented very quietly and published. (Statistics by App Annie)

Download numbers are only orientation and especially in the case of Lasso not crucial. At least not yet. Instagram is music, not lasso. That may change, but it does not look like it at the moment.

If we look at the rankings of TikTok in comparison, then TikTok plays in a league with Instagram and in a different league than Lasso. Not surprising, but another indication of how important the development of TikTok for Instagram is.

TikTok is ranked 7th in the USA. Instagram in 6th place. In Germany, it is ranked 11th and 4th.

TikTok as a parallel to Snapchat

Anyone who thinks I can not do anything with TikTok content should remember the most successful times of Snapchat. Also with Snapchat, many could not do anything and now stories are everywhere. Instagram knows that and TikTok knows that.

In addition, Instagram stories and the integration of more and more features show that the format is far from finished. Features of TikTok could be another element that enhances usage and activity. This is exactly what Instagram needs to establish stories even more as an ad format.

The relevance of TikTok Influencers

What used to be the Influencers are now influencers on TikTok. Of course, big creators and Instagrammer will be able to get their followers back on TikTok. However, a new form of influencer emerges that builds large communities specifically through TikTok content. The best known and no longer completely new examples are Lisa and Lena.

Creators are very important for Instagram. All successful creators are on Instagram. Soon they will all be on TikTok too. Many are already. When some of the attention shifts from Instagram to TikTok, that's not Instagram.

Of course, other social networks can also be inspired by TikTok. So Snapchat has also introduced challenges, as they are known from TikTok.

500 million people use TikTok worldwide (as of June 2018). But this number speaks for relevance. Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are still ahead, but the growth curve of TikTok is remarkable. The original version of the app Douyin was able to win over 100 million users within twelve months. The renaming and merging with musical.ly in 2017 marked the beginning of internationalization.

Thus, TikTok (how download tik tok video) was able to unite 500 million users in less than two years. That did not even manage Instagram.

Instagram will not only watch TikTok but also take action against Snapchat and stories will play an important role.