YouTube Shorts vs Instagram Reels: What works best for branding?

Marketers are constantly looking for innovative ways to increase the impact of their brand’s narrative; with social media being top of the list as the new-age distribution platform for most audiences. Short-video content is quickly becoming one of the most popular channels of communication on these platforms and brands are not far behind in adopting the medium.

According to recent data, short-form video content will continue to grow in popularity in 2023, with a 90% growth among global marketers. YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels are two digital platform titans presently battling for dominance in the short-form video content field. Their approach to providing bite-sized content for keeping the audience engaged and on the platform for longer durations was a tremendous success. As a result, brands are actively including these formats in their social media marketing strategy as the trend develops. This enables them to develop more engaging and relevant material for their target audience while keeping the brand front and centre, acquiring traction while remaining relevant. YouTube is constantly improving its 'Shorts' function in order to make it a Millennial and Gen Z favourite, while Meta is taking huge strides with its Instagram Reels. Even if there are similarities between the two programmes, each has its own set of strengths that must be evaluated in order to determine which works best for branding.

YouTube Shorts vs Instagram Reels

When choosing between the platforms, it’s necessary to consider the TG, budget, and marketing goals. Reels have unparalleled popularity while YouTube offers a wider audience reach. Ultimately, the platform you choose must align with the business objectives, ensuring maximum ROI and also brand awareness.

YouTube Shorts can help to reach a larger audience with the platform's algorithm promoting Shorts content to users, based on their interests. On the other hand, Instagram Reels can be cross-posted on Facebook, allowing brands to reach a wider audience with minimal effort.

Shorts may be created with the YouTube app's Shorts camera, which includes filters, music, and text overlays. Reels, on the other hand, include a comprehensive range of video editing tools, effects, and speed adjustments. Multiple videos can also be merged to create smooth transitions.

Furthermore, Shorts allows you to create videos up to 60 seconds long with better video quality than Reels due to high-resolution and frame rates. With Reels, you can upload videos of up to 90 seconds. As a result, the brand has more time to convey the message and demonstrate its products or services in-depth, providing value to the viewers.

In addition, since Meta ads are less expensive for companies to run than YouTube commercials, Reels is a more cost-effective advertising platform. In terms of CTA attempts, Shorts outperforms Instagram because clickable links can be inserted in the video description and pinned in the comments. 

When shorts are SEO optimised for captions and hashtags, they are more discoverable on YouTube and Google searches. Furthermore, marketers may save Shorts as a playlist, which is useful for establishing searchable topic-based repositories.  On Instagram, brands may use hashtags to increase their discoverability and attract new followers. They can take advantage of the existing community and network of engaged Instagram followers.

Additionally, Instagram Reels are incredibly engaging, giving marketers greater exposure. In addition, Instagram permits branded material to be posted as a collab post in order to leverage the larger producers' following.

In a nutshell:

Reels and shorts can be used to tell the brand's story in a distinctive and aesthetic way. However, various short-video materials must be explored to determine what resonates with the audience - whether educating potential buyers about the product, participating in trending moments through challenges, or describing your brand story.

While both platforms are excellent for displaying aesthetically appealing information, Reels are primarily focused on entertainment and lifestyle content, whereas Shorts may be utilised for a broader range of themes, including educational, instructional, and promotional content. Furthermore, Instagram has a younger user population, whereas YouTube has a larger user base with a bigger proportion of older users. Reels may be a better alternative if your target audience is younger.

In January 2023, there were around 467 million YouTube users in India, and it is predicted that the number of users will grow by 44% between 2023 and 2028. This shows that YouTube is becoming more popular in India. However, compared to Reels, Shorts had fewer views last year, with Reels getting 140 billion views and Shorts getting 50 billion views.

Which is best for branding?

Both YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels offer brands an opportunity to create short-form video content that can be used to engage with audiences and increase brand visibility. While each platform has its own set of strengths, the best approach is to utilize both platforms to complement each other and create a well-rounded content strategy.

By doing so, brands can reach a wider audience and maximize their return on investment. With the ever-growing popularity of short-form video content, brands need to stay ahead of the game and leverage these platforms to tell their story and connect with their audience.