User-generated short videos are all over the internet, from TikTok to Instagram Reels to Triller, and the marketing opportunities are exploding. Here’s how the main venues compare across usage, paid advertising, organic and influencer marketing, and commerce.

On today's episode, we discuss mobile devices' role in online grocery, how consumers' physical and digital shopping worlds are colliding, and the next major challenge for grocers. We then talk about marketers' social strategies, why Facebook is risking scrutiny to launch an Instagram for kids, and what to make of Reels getting ads. Tune in to the discussion with vice president of marketing Camilo Reina Ramirez and marketing director Lina Toledo of Grupo Éxito and eMarketer senior analysts at Insider Intelligence Matteo Ceurvels and Jasmine Enberg.

Instagram is a distant second at 32.4 million. How creator monetization efforts are faring: Q2 was also a big quarter for creator economy announcements. In addition to creator shops on Instagram, the company also added new tools to streamline branded content creation on IGTV, Instagram Live, Reels, and Stories and an affiliate tool for creators.

The explosion in vertical video is creating both opportunities and challenges for the Story format. Stories are evolving quickly on Instagram and remain a top venue for influencer activations. But Twitter’s decision to kill off Fleets shows they aren’t popular on all platforms.

Here are the key product updates for Instagram in Q1 2021:. Instagram’s Reels in the News Feed. In March, Facebook said it started testing a feature in India that will allow a select group of creators to share their Instagram Reels to Facebook’s News Feed. Facebook also said that it was planning to create a native version of Reels for the core app.

In December, Instagram started allowing businesses and content creators globally to tag products in Reels—its short-form video feature. At the same time, Instagram also introduced a “View Products” button in Reels, where consumers can buy, save, or learn more about products featured within videos.

Instagram Reels. After Reels’ underwhelming start in 2020, we expect Instagram to pull out all the stops to make it a worthy competitor to TikTok in 2021. The format, and shopping, were the platform’s big bets for 2020 and beyond.

This report explores the latest developments in the social media landscape, including a look at TikTok Global, Instagram’s launch of Reels, and new election-related moves from Facebook and Twitter.

Before brands embark on short-video marketing, one of their key considerations should be the pros and cons of user-generated content (UGC). Marketers have had to learn to be comfortable with showing their brand messages in the midst of UGC on social media—and that’s been harder than ever, thanks to the recent rise in negativity and misinformation on some platforms. But to excel in the short-video format, especially on TikTok, marketers must also be willing to tap ordinary users for inspiration, participation, and viral distribution.

Focusing on existing creators partly helped Instagram’s Reels succeed—influencers on the platform realized that Reels was a great way to expose their account to a wider audience, which served to draw those influencers to Reels instead of TikTok. Sharing subscriptions between Shorts and main channels will give Shorts a similar draw.

In recent months, both Instagram and Snapchat have made several changes to their products that are reminiscent of growing contender TikTok. Instagram launched its highly-anticipated feature Reels, which allows users to create short videos set to music, and Snapchat introduced a slew of new features, including adding music and a test for vertical navigation.

Instagram has rolled out Instagram Shopping for its long-form video platform IGTV, part of the company's push to make social commerce more central to the app.

eMarketer senior forecasting analyst Peter Newman and junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch discuss how the pandemic affected Americans' social networking behavior and where the major platforms now rank. Then, Blake talks about Facebook allowing cross platform messaging between Messenger and Instagram, shopping on Reels and IGTV, and a Delta Air Lines social media post.

Although Instagram Reels and Snapchat Spotlight will introduce paid advertising in the near future, the strategic priority for these venues is to continue growing their user bases.

Diet Instagram: The new, less data-intensive version of Instagram will help Facebook penetrate developing markets, where consumers are more sensitive to mobile data costs.