Even in the very first weeks after Instagram Video came onto the scene, it had remarkable success in attracting major brands and luring them away from Vine. In fact, just 5 days after its launch, twice as many of the top 100 brands were using Instagram Video over Vine, including Ford, MTV, Disney, Nike, and Starbucks. So which platform should your be investing your time in?

While average social media users are largely split between Vine and Instagram Video, it's a different story for brands. Instagram Video comes out on top, and here's why:

  1. Instagram has a larger user base: Since Instagram has been around longer, with over 100 million monthly active users, brands don't need to grow followers from the ground up. Most brands already have a larger presence on Instagram (e.g. Starbucks' 1.4 million Instragram followers vs. 99,858 followers on Vine).
  2. 15-second time allowance: Advertisers have a historical comfort level with purchasing 15-second spots, and many brands struggled with Vine’s 6-second time limit. Instagram didn't pick it's 15-second limit at random, and certainly had brands in mind when it launched. 
  3. Instagram is tied to Facebook, and Facebook = engagement: While things could easily change in the coming years, Facebook is still the largest social network out there today. And Instagram is, of course, owned by Facebook. “The way to get engagement with Facebook is large imagery,” says Rachel Tipograph, director of global digital media for Gap Tipograph. “The fact that Instagram videos are going to publish to Facebook in the same way a photo does means we are going to see huge engagement.” Instagram also supports Foursquare, Flickr, and Tumblr, while Vine supports only Facebook and Twitter.
  4. Instagram allows for both photos and videos: Vine is only video.
  5. Video imports feature: Last week, Instagram updated its app to allow users to trim or upload videos from their phones. This has been one of the most requested features by users since June, and allows brands to upload pre-existing material rather than forcing them to create videos from scratch. This makes it much easier for top tier publishers and media companies and advertisers to upload custom content.

You may decide that it's worth the time and resources for your brand to invest into both Instagram Video and Vine. But since videos on both can't be shared across platforms, keep in mind that each video will need to be shot twice for consistent messaging. If your brand is choosing between the two, however, our recommendation is Instagram Video. Audience is what matters, and Instagram Video has more tools to reach customers and fits in with the average brand's marketing strategy most effectively.