TikTok was going to be the next big social media platform, but then in August 2024, Instagram launched IG Reels. IG Reels is set to blow TikTok out of the water, offering similar short-form video exposure but with the backing of Instagram’s 1.5 billion followers. Not forgetting the might of parent company Facebook. And they still don’t get any bigger in the social media bubble than Facebook – 2.7 billion active monthly users anyone?
With the brand awareness of both Insta and Facebook, IG Reels is bound to get a lot of interest from brands seeking the TikTok market without being tied to such a narrow demographic. It offers a similar format – 15-second vids, with sound and special effects available – and monetizing the content can’t be far off. Of course, there are all those metrics available that Insta is so good at and brands love.
So, what’s a great way to show homecoming dresses? As Sherri Hill recommends – short videos, of course! If you are a brand, they are the ideal format to bring out the best in your designs. For the individual, what better way of building your audience than making your own reels asking followers to choose what looks good on you?
Homecoming is a great institution. Doesn’t everyone like an excuse to dress up and look glam? And it hasn’t got the formality of a prom, either, so dresses can be a little more fun and have a little more… va, va, voom! You can spend hours looking at pictures of homecoming dresses, wondering what they really look like and whether they’d be flattering. Sometimes a short video showing an actual person in an actual dress can instantly answer a lot of questions. You get to see the whole dress, for one thing, and how it moves. That’s so important.
On the first day Reels was launched, well-known influencer Gabby Murray posted a vid wearing an Ivory Ella t-shirt. Twenty-four hours later, it had received 17 million views. Seventeen million! On TikTok, that same video got just 2.1 million views in three days! Such is the power of Instagram Reels, and so it’s likely that in the coming months are we return to normalcy after the pandemic, Reels will be one of the places to go to get inspiration for homecoming dresses and homecoming looks.
With results like that, fashion brands and influencers would be crazy not to get on board with Reels. It’s already been launched in over 50 countries, and with the possible ban by the US of TikTok, it may even beat that for the fastest-growing social media network of all time.
It’s not a secret that TikTok managed to revolutionize this entire concept of posting your daily activities and allowing your fans and followers to view them, but some of the things that happened on that platform were not really appealing to those who regulate things on such platforms and apps. For example, there were a lot of videos, even from famous influencers, that were against the TikTok policy.
Of course, fans sometimes don’t mind this, and they even support it when the video has a funny context, but when it comes to keeping things clean and according to the rules, it’s not a very pleasant thing. One of the main reasons why TikTok is getting cancelled in many countries is exactly this. But, there are other things as well. It’s important to note that the reels section of Instagram already has a much more “productive” type of a feeling that you get when you see it. Hopefully, not a lot of people will just mindlessly post effortless content in order to get views. Maybe we’ll be able to learn something new or find interesting yet educative content on here, starting with fashion and dresses for example.
For now, Instagram is concentrating on creators rather than brands, helping influencers monetize their content and turn their audiences into sustainable businesses. Will TikTok stars make the journey. That’s hard to say. Dan Fierro, social media guru of Nars Cosmetics, thinks this unlikely: “I don’t see the spirit of TikTok translating to Instagram, as the communities and what resonates are very different.”
But Reels will be a success, even if only because it is seen as a safe platform. It will offer a better fit for certain brands and influencers. The demographic will be wider, the audience more diverse. As unique features are developed, so Reels will develop its own original style of content. In a sense, all platforms are helpful to marketers and content suppliers.
But with the trusted name of Instagram behind it, Reels offers reliability and social media know-how that will be very attractive to the fashion industry. It will be exciting to see how Reels develops and how influencers and brands adapt content for the new vehicle.
The bottom line is the number of users it attracts. If the public responds as they did to the original Instagram, we are witnessing another change in social media and the way that brands are marketed. So, if you’re an influencer (or an influencer in the making) and you’re looking for ways to grow your following fast, sharing your Homecoming Dresses and looks on IG Reels is an ideal way to do so.
Although TikTok had a lot of money involved in both the app and the company itself, when we take finance into consideration, we can’t really neglect the fact that Facebook and Instagram are two very wealthy companies. Instagram is now owned by Facebook, but still, the finance they have to keep this “part” of their platform a safe and quality place for influencers will mostly get it done.
