Author: Franz Malten Buemann

When Instagram Reels first launched, many users treated it like TikTok 2.0. They posted their videos on TikTok first, then reuploaded that same content to Reels. Now, Instagram is saying, “Hey, stop that.”
On its creators’ account, the company announced it would be on the lookout for recycled content and stop recommending it to users on the Reels tab.

I mean, they’ve got a point. Some videos lose their quality when they’re reuploaded and become blurry, which can dissuade viewers. With this new approach, brands can provide fresh content that generates more engagement, and Instagram can improve its Reels adoption rate.
So, now that you’re tasked with making Instagram Reels, get inspired by these examples below.
1. People’s Revolt

What better way to make your first Reels than by introducing your followers to your team? In this video, People’s Revolt does three things right. First, they use a viral sound in their video, which can help them reach more users.
That sound also includes a call-to-action to business owners and encourages them to engage with the post. Given that the company offers digital marketing and PR services, it’s a great way to connect with their target audience.
They also keep the video simple. No fancy props or design – just the sound, the team, and the copy. It’s really all you need for a good Reels video.
2. Sassy Woof

If you want another way to introduce followers to your team, take a page out of the ‘90s TV show playbook, like “Full House” and “Family Matters.” That’s what this brand did.
Sassy Woof introduced its staff (which included one furry boss) with the Full House theme song playing in the background – it’s the pawfect approach (don’t look at me, they started with the puns first).
3. Anima Iris

For your next Reels video, consider pulling the curtain back and showing your followers behind-the-scenes content. In this example, luxury purse brand Anima Iris gives followers a peek into the product shots for an upcoming campaign.
Consumers want brands to be more authentic, and content like this does can humanize your brand and help build a stronger connection with your audience.
It’s also an effective strategy leading up to a launch, as it builds anticipation and excitement within your following.
4. Glamnetic

Who said you need fancy lighting and equipment for product marketing?
In this video, Glamnetic uses a simple setup to market its makeup corrector pen, the latest product launch from the brand.
One benefit of using Instagram Reels is the music embed feature. As long as it’s available in Instagram’s library — which most songs are — you can use any song you want in your video. It doesn’t constitute an official advertisement, so you are not restricted by copyright laws.
5. Jumz.Accessories

Yes, this is an example of the recycled content that Instagram will now make less discoverable. You can clearly see the TikTok watermark, but that aside, this is a great example of the type of content brands should be embracing.
It’s product marketing but it’s a little more subtle. In this video titled “How to Style Our Mini Handbags,” a model styles the handbags with different outfits, showcasing the product’s versatility.
It’s unclear whether the video is produced by a Jumz team member or an influencer, but what we do know is that it checks off all the boxes for a good Reels video.
6. Apple

If your team doesn’t have the resources or time to dedicate to brainstorm Reels content, consider outsourcing it.
In this instance, Apple commissioned creative studio Incite Design to make a how-to video using the iPhone 12. The end result is a quick tutorial of two Apple products that highlights the phone’s slo-mo effect, a key product feature.
7. MissionRecruit

When in doubt, share some tips and tricks with your audience. They add value to your audience and present another opportunity to gain some credibility.
MissionRecruit executed this well with this video, which gives women three ways to dress for their next interview. As an employment recruitment firm, this type of content is in perfect alignment with the brand.
The best part? The Reels video also doubles as user-generated content (UGC), as they featured pictures from influencers.
8. Netflix

When it comes to social media, Netflix doesn’t take itself too seriously.
They’ve succeeded in tapping into what viewers want and how they want it. Their Reels content is no different.
This hilarious skit is meant to show the point of view (POV) of a plant looking at someone crying over a show on Netflix. It’s so simple but if the comments under the post are any indication, Netflix hit the nail right on the head.
Just as sounds go viral on short-form video platforms, so do special effects like this one. When the opportunity strikes, join in on the fun.
9. Skillshare

The time limit for a Reels video is 30 seconds. It’s also just the right length for a teaser video to create anticipation ahead of a new launch.
To promote a new course, Skillshare posted a snippet of the course where Kelis, recording artist and chef bringing all the boys to the yard, gives a tip on mixing flavors.
It’s a cooking show, so they could have just created a montage of what the course will cover. Instead, they took an interesting tidbit from the course and used that to attract viewers.
Another important detail to note here is the use of captions. Accessibility should always be top of mind when creating any content. Beyond their importance for deaf or hard-of-hearing people, non-native English speakers can also benefit from captioned videos. And let’s not forget those who regularly watch videos on mute or may be watching your Reels in a loud environment.
Captions broaden your video’s reach, so there’s never a reason not to use it.
10. Adobe

Creativity is a core tenet of Adobe’s brand identity. So their Reels, and most of their social media content, celebrate their users’ creativity.
This is another great example of user-generated content. For it to work, the UGC has to match your brand and audience.
In this video, the artist takes a trip back in time and shows how Adobe Photoshop has evolved over the years. One might look at this video and think, “What’s the point?”
Well, not every piece of content you make is meant to lead to a direct sale. Sometimes, a sale isn’t the goal. Sometimes, the goal is to build brand awareness, foster a community, or create stronger messaging. In this case, Adobe is already a household name, so these posts may inspire and celebrate, rather than promote.
11. HubSpot

I love a numbered list. I know exactly what I’m getting and there’s no surprise.
And from a marketer’s standpoint, this type of content is easily repurposed. Let’s say you had a listicle with this information. Well, now you can use that same information to create a 30-second Reels video.
You can also use this format to direct traffic to your blog post by introducing a few items from the list and inviting your followers to read the full list on your website.
There are so many ways to play with Instagram Reels. Try some sounds and effects and see what resonates with your audience. Once you get in a groove, you’ll see how easy it is to make short and effective video content.

Gen Z has the fastest-growing buying power of any generation — but it’s still one of the most misunderstood and challenging age groups to market to.
While previous generations can be generally be persuaded to buy products through brand loyalty, fear of missing out, or high-budget ads from major companies, Gen-Z’s relatively modest spending habits and craving for authenticity has turned some traditional marketing tactics upside down.
Gen Z’s budget-consciousness became even more apparent during 2020 and the global pandemic. As physical stores closed, brands struggled to keep up with online sales demand, and as members of the young-adult workforce worried about job security, brands had to take even more steps to market to the age group.
Not only did marketing content have to establish that products were essential, worth purchasing, or readily available to Gen Z audiences, but brands also needed to prove that they were relatable, trustworthy, and shared values with them.
Because creating engaging content for Gen Z was no easy feat in 2020, Fanbytes — an influencer talent agency — began to host Gen Z TikTok influencers in a U.K.-based home where they lived full-time, created content, and collaborated during the 2020 lockdowns. This home was named, “Bytehouse.”

What the Heck is Bytehouse?
At the moment, Bytehouse — which BBC, The Guardian, and other news outlets referred to as a “TikTok house” — hosts influencers including KT Franklin, Lily-Rose, Sebbyjon, Monty Keates, and the duo Em and Loz. According to Fanbytes content manager Shelly Chadha, the group of influencers, known as the “Bytesquad”, have more than 10 million combined TikTok followers.
“Bytehouse was created in response to Gen Z consumer behavior, which has moved away from linear TV and towards social media,” Chadha explains. 
By housing Gen Z creators together, Chadha says, “We have ensured that the content is not only relatable and entertaining to young people but reflects their beliefs and behaviors. It was extremely important to us that … [the influencers] are almost mirror images and can help answer any questions regarding identity, sexuality, and race.”
While the Bytesquad churned out many non-branded TikTok videos, they also helped market products to Gen Z. For example, here’s a Bytesquad demo of products from the skincare brand Starface:

@bytesquadhq
a little night routine for u all ##fyp ##foryou
♬ Elevator Music – Bohoman

Shortly after the success of Bytehouse, a U.S.-version, called “Hype House,” started housing YouTubers and TikTok influencers in Los Angeles. This house was also covered in publications like the New York Times and Cosmopolitan.
While influencer houses like these might seem more centered around entertainment than branding, these experiments have enabled content managers and agencies like Fanbytes to zone in on the Gen Z audience.
And while influencers might not be relevant to your marketing efforts now, you can still learn a great deal from the content they’re creating for the unique Gen-Z demographic.
Luckily, if you’re a marketer who can’t get top Gen-Z talent to make content for you, there are still plenty of ways your team can engage and reach this audience.
To help marketers in their quest to capture the Gen-Z audience, Chadha offered us a handful of great tips for creating engaging content for the age group.
How to Create Marketing Content for Gen Z
1. Remember: Gen Z and Millennials aren’t the same.
“One crucial mistake we see a lot of brands do is bundle up Gen Z and millennials into one category and create content that they believe will engage them simultaneously,” Chadha explains.
For example, “Despite both [millennials and Gen Z] looking for authenticity in the content they consume, Gen Z takes this to a whole new level and possesses unique consumer behavior,” Chadha says.
Additionally, because Gen Z was raised around revolutionary technology, like smartphones and IPads, “the content they choose to consume is always in line with the newest trends, whereas millennials may not be so picky,” Chadha explains. “It is compulsory for brands to be up-to-date with the newest innovations in the content they create if they want to win over Gen Z hearts.”
Lastly, since Gen Z grew up in times of recession, while millennials grew up in an economic boom, Gen Z tends “to not trust brands quite as readily as millennials do,” Chadha adds.
Chadha is not the only marketer to notice the key differences above. In a research-driven post, HubSpot dug into similar generational differences in spending, content consumption, and level of brand trust.
Ultimately, brands will need to leverage authentic, trustworthy, or entertaining content that demonstrates the value of a product to engage Gen Z. We’ll dive more into what this looks like with the following tips.
2. Pick the right platform.
One thing is certain about Gen Z. They love experimenting with the latest social and video creation apps.
But, if you’re marketing to young adults, it can be hard to determine which apps are just a trend, which have marketing potential, and which aren’t worth spending time on.
To ensure they’re telling brands and influencers to focus on the right platforms, Fanbytes does deep research and testing on viral apps before recommending them to clients.
“For each new app that comes to our attention, we create a strategy using members of our team by researching [the app’s] offerings. Not until we have completed thorough investigations into new platforms’ offerings will we advise which platforms are worth brands’ investments and which aren’t,” Chadha explains.
For example, two platforms Chadha’s team recently researched are Triller — a music video creation platform and Instagram Reels — a TikTok-like feature within the Instagram app.
Aside from spending time on Triller and Instagram Reels to learn how they work, as well as which influencers use them, “we look into the type of campaigns that can be run on these platforms and how other brands have used the platform,” Chadha explains.
“We also activate test campaigns with real brands ourselves to put our insights into action and see if the platform can really deliver,” Chadha adds.
Apps Fanbytes is Watching
TikTok
While TikTok saw astounding growth in its launch year, it received another burst in usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The world saw a huge rise in the rate at which we consume short-form content, with Tiktok becoming the most downloaded app in a single quarter at the start of 2020,” Chadha says.
“TikTok provided a form of escapism to so many people that needed to tune out to what was happening in the world whilst stuck indoors,” Chadha notes. “It also offered a constant feed of short-form content, from comedy to dance challenges and everything in between.”
“TikTok has continued to rise in its numbers and other apps have risen or diversified their offerings to follow suit,” Chadha adds.
But what makes TikTok rise above its competitors? Chadha explains:
“Instead of the polished aesthetics that platforms like Instagram perpetuate, TikTok values personality, originality, innovation, and fun. Consequently, TikTok offers all types of brands the opportunity to reach users in a way that they can’t do elsewhere.”
Additionally, because TikTok’s algorithms aim to match viewers with videos they’ll enjoy based on data from the viewer and video-specific engagements, “brands and creators can go viral from a great piece of content regardless of follower count,” Chadha says. “If a brand can understand the platform’s algorithm, the behavior of its users, and the trends, even if they only have 200 followers, they’re already 75% there.”
If you choose to market your brand on TikTok, Chadha says it’s important to define your “niche” and create attention-grabbing content around it.
While knowing you’ll want to market to Gen Z is a good start to finding your TikTok niche, it’s important to remember that there are many subgroups of young adults with different interests on the app. As you determine what your brand niche is, Chadha suggests asking yourself the following questions:

“What demographic do you want to drive traffic, sales, or clicks from?
What content should you be creating to target those users?
What influencers can you leverage to distribute the content?

“Noting these things down is a great first step in your TikTok marketing journey and can make all the difference,” Chadha says.
While TikTok can be a helpful tool for brands trying to reach Gen Z, you should still consider testing other similar apps as well. Although TikTok’s had historic app growth, it’s still vulnerable to bans, regulations, and censorship in certain countries which could impact marketers.
If regulations impact your TikTok strategy, staying in the know of other apps, such as those mentioned below, could help you smoothly pivot your content strategy elsewhere if needed.
Instagram Reels
“Instagram’s new Reels feature offers brands a more diverse and varied range of content on the platform and we’ve seen quite a few brands take advantage of this,” says Chadha.
For example, this Reel from Louis Vuitton creates seamless transition content,”

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton)

While Instagram Reels could have a promising outlook based on the success of other Instagram features, Chadha says Fanbytes is “still questioning” whether this alternative “will ever quite reach TikTok’s potential.”
Although Reels might not be as viral as TikTok, marketers should still check it out — especially if they’ve already gained Gen Z Instagram audiences. While TikTok has taken over app stores, Instagram Reels still allows you to reach Instagram’s audience of more than 2 billion users.
Triller
Right now, Triller — a music video creation app — might be more relevant to music industry companies. However, it might be a good app to keep on your radar for Gen Z research, especially if TikTok continues to see ban concerns around the world. To show you some of the similarities, here’s a video that demonstrates how to make a Triller video:

“From our research, we have seen campaigns taking off on Triller due to its well-deserved reputation in the music industry. With investors like Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, it’s no wonder musicians have jumped on the app to create music videos using Triller’s built-in AI video editing software.”
However, while Triller is seeing steady usage and campaign growth, Chadha notes that it still is more specific to brands and creators in the music industry, while TikTok is still more appropriate for brands with all sorts of niches.
“We believe that Triller is going to continue to grow after being downloaded 250 million times and reaching number one in the App Store in 50 different markets,” says Chadha. “However, we don’t see it as direct competition to TikTok as Triller will continue to cement itself in the music marketing world whilst TikTok has the potential to grow in all other areas.”
Catering your content to each platform.
Once you land on a platform, you’ll want to follow some of the tips noted above to determine which types of content will stand out and which opportunities you’ll have there.
For example, when ByteHouse launches branded content on TikTok, it’s short, entertaining, and to the point.

@bytesquadhq
a little get ready with us ##foryou ##fyp
♬ Elevator Music – Bohoman

Meanwhile, the group’s YouTube page features longer-form videos that take more time to give detailed information about a brand. Here’s an example where the group went to a restaurant called FUWA FUWA:

While ByteSquad offers quick information and attention-grabbing storylines on TikTok, they use YouTube to create more in-depth discussion around a brand.
3. Prioritize video and audio content.
“It is always advisable to go with a video approach in the content you’re creating. Gen Z rejects traditional advertising with their mobile-first mindset, spending an average of about 3.5 hours of internet videos a day,” Chadha explains.
Chadha’s words are backed by a handful of research studies. In one of the most recent from YouTube, Gen Z respondents polled said they couldn’t “live” without YouTube content. The study also revealed that many members of Gen Z rely on video research when determining if they should make a purchase.
When it comes to Bytehouse, influencers there focused primarily on creating short-form videos, primarily for Gen Z platforms like TikTok. At the moment, Bytesquad’s official TikTok account features hundreds of original videos targeted at Gen Z — many of which have more than 100 thousand views. The squad also creates videos for platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
Aside from video, Chadha says brands might also want to consider audio marketing as well. Examples of this could include creating podcast content and advertising on music streaming services that are popular to Gen Z.
“We also predict that audio marketing is going to be big in 2021. Audio within marketing enables personalized content and intimacy, which Gen Z loves,” Chadha says. “In a report by Pandora, the average daily audio streaming hours have increased by 32%. Digital audio now commands more listening time than traditional AM/FM radio, accounting for 53% of all daily audio consumption.”
4. Hook your audience quickly.
“[Gen Z marketing] content shouldn’t just be informative, it should also be fast,” Chadha advises. “Keep it snappy and to the point.”
Regardless of which content type you use, it’s key to remember that Gen Z only has an eight-second attention span. And, that span could be even shorter when surfing fast-paced social platforms with endless content.
To capture Gen Z’s attention, Chadha advises that marketing content has “to be super succinct and come with a great hook.”
Here’s an example of a TikTok the ByteSquad created with a great hook. In the video, one of the members entices mystery by walking up to her roommates and saying “Look what I got.” Because the video is shot from her point of view, you can’t see what type of product she’s holding but see her roommates’ jealous reactions. As the video continues, it’s revealed that everyone is jealous over the influencer’s bag of food from McDonalds.

@bytesquadhq
When maccies re opened😂
♬ original sound – ByteHouse

5. Embrace advertainment.
Once you hook your audience, you’ll want to keep them entertained while continuing to differentiate your content from dull product placements.
Chadha says one of the biggest challenges Gen Z marketers face is creating entertaining content that still interestingly highlights a product or brand.
“If the campaign is intrusive with brand logos plastered everywhere, the users will know they’re being advertised to and the content won’t appear organic,” Chadha explains.
Ultimately, Chadha says the “only way” marketers can be successful on TikTok or other prominent Gen Z platforms is by naturally balancing attention-grabbing content with brand information.
“This means adopting our ‘advertainment’ approach; entertainment first, product-second mentality,” Chadha advises. “By studying [a Gen Z platform] and making use of its tools, features, and trends … you can successfully win the hearts of its users.”
One example of how Fanbytes has helped brands reach Gen Z is a recent campaign they did with Idahoan Foods
When food content was on the rise during lockdowns, Idahoan Foods wanted to drive Gen-Z awareness to their instant mashed potato products.
Instead of launching traditional ads, Fanbytes created a custom TikTok sound, “leveraged influencers, and created a dance challenge to draw users in to connect with the brand,” Chadha explains.
The video below highlights one example of an advertainment video Idahoan Foods published on TikTok. In the short-clip, an influencer named Nico Bisesi compares the taste of Idahoan’s instant potatoes to that of a butter knife.

@idahoanfoods
It’s ##MagicMonday with @nico_bisesi ! How does he do it?! ##IdahoanMash
♬ original sound – Idahoan Foods

While the video clearly shows an Idahoan Foods product placement, viewers might be more intrigued by the oddness of the story. For example, rather than getting bored by a video ad, TikTok viewers might ask themselves, “Why did he eat that knife?” or “What will happen next?”
Chadha notes that Idahoan Foods’ overall TikTok strategy has resulted in more than 14 million TikTok video views, 211 pieces of user-generated content, and 3,700 added Idahoan Foods followers.
When determining why the tactic was so successful, Chandra believes it was due to the brand focusing more on the level of content entertainment and less on intrusive product placement.
“We didn’t plaster [Idahoan Foods] everywhere, but instead found a way to connect [Gen Z] users with the product through an entertaining concept,” Chadha says.
6. Embrace retargeting.
“Gen Z’s quick attention span also means that they will most likely scroll past any ads quickly,” Chadha adds.
Because Gen Z speeds past ads, brands that leverage advertising will likely need to show their promotions to Gen Z more than once.
“[Gen Z is] bombarded with ads hundreds of times a day and so one ad is not going to win them over,” Chadha explains. “Utilising retargeting helps you keep front of mind and enables users to feel that they know you.”
7. Leverage influencer marketing (and it doesn’t have to be TikTok!).
While you don’t need influencers to take advantage of all the tips on this list, they can still be quite beneficial when you have access to them.
“A great opportunity to generate a lasting and meaningful impression on Gen Z is through influencer marketing. Gen Z is a group who buy into people rather than brands and autonomy rather than big corporations,” Chadha explains. “So, building relationships with influencers who have built strong relationships with your target market is a good way to go.”
Through leveraging influencer marketing at Fanbytes, Chadha says the agency has received “astonishing results” for its brand clients.
“Let’s take ACCA, the leading international accounting body as an example,” Chadha adds. “They approached us as they were looking to change perceptions of accountancy from ‘dull, boring and exclusive’ to ‘exciting, impactful and relevant’ amongst Gen Z.”
“We selected some of our best influencers who are reliable voices in the TikTok community to head to an accountancy firm for a day and film ‘day in the life’ content for their fans.
In the video below, captioned with “Work time vs LUNCH TIME 😂 Relatable?”, Sherice Banton, a TikTok creator with more than 1.7 million followers, pretends to work alongside actual accountants. After seeing a few clips of her working in a seemingly normal office, one clip — which symbolizes lunchtime — shows her dancing alongside the accountants.

@shericebanton
Work time vs LUNCH TIME 😂 Relatable? 🤪 Such fun with ##ACCA Accountants at Flinder 😂🔥 ##Comedy ##ad
♬ original sound – bits

The video not only allowed viewers to get a glimpse into the world of accounting, but also made the topic of working in an office funny, entertaining, and relatable to anyone who watched. Chadha notes that this campaign drove more than 6.2 million video views, 182,000 TikTok “hearts,” and over a thousand comments.
Some of the best places to leverage influencer marketing could be on short-form video platforms, such as Instagram Reels or TikTok. This type of strategy can be especially helpful if you want to leverage a viral video platform but haven’t mastered the hottest content types, trends, or audience yet. Because influencers have built a following on a given platform, they’ll likely know what content works and how to implement information about your brand or product in those videos.
While Fanbytes works with macro-level TikTok influencers, smaller brands don’t have to toss this strategy aside if they can’t access a big name or don’t know if TikTok is right for them. While it might be more challenging to access major influencers, there are plenty of micro-level creators across social platforms with large follower-bases and strong expertise in many niches.
For example, if you sell fitness products, you might consider working with a creator who posts their workouts regularly, talks about the products they use, and has thousands of engaged followers or regular comments on their content. Similarly, if you sell clothing, you could look for creators known for posting regularly about fashion trends.
8. Let Gen Z create content for you.
“Marketers who are targeting Gen Z also have the opportunity to supercharge their campaigns by inspiring [audiences] to create content for their brand,” Chadha explains. “Gen Z loves to be creative and really experience a brand through content creation. If the concept [of your campaign] is on-trend, you might be able to build an army of fans creating content for you without having to lift a finger.”
“Take the #davidstesla trend for example. It began with a collaboration between G FUEL, an energy drink brand, and David Dobrik, a popular creator on Youtube and TikTok. The collaboration was created as a contest where David would give away a Tesla to the user who creates the best video and follows the G Fuel page.”
Since launching this campaign, G FUEL’s TikTok page has grown to more than 863 thousand followers and received more than 12 million likes.
Aside from the high-priced prize, Chadha explains the campaign went viral “because it puts the audience in control by giving them the opportunity to vote on the best videos via the amount of views, shares, and engagement on a video submission.”
“Secondly, it merges our concept of ‘advertainment’ seamlessly by hardly mentioning the product. Instead, the product is integrated subtly but is still required to follow the page to be considered,” Chadha adds.
Even if you don’t have access to a top influencer — or a free Tesla — user-generated content can still be beneficial for your brand.
For example, you could host a smaller-scale version of a giveaway that asks audiences to create content for a chance of winning one of your products. Or, you could offer to share the best user-generated videos on your site or social media channels, which might encourage people to create videos in hopes of gaining online awareness.
9. Study and embrace Gen Z trends.
“A generation that grew up with fast-paced technological developments and social media, [Gen Z is] extremely digitally savvy and used to adjusting to new technology. Because of this, trends on platforms such as TikTok move extremely fast and the content that’s popular on social media platforms one minute may be out the window the next,” Chadha says.
“Brands need to be all over social media … and constantly check in with the latest and greatest trends so that they are always a part of the conversation,” Chadha explains.
“Our number one piece of advice would be to be active on the platform you’re trying to dominate. This means not only as a marketer — but as an interested user,” Chadha advises.
“You may hear about viral TikTok trends but you will never know the power [a platform] possesses and the many types of content forms and trends it circulates every week unless you are spending at least 15 minutes a day on there,” Chadha explains.
Surfing through content on the platform you’re most interested in, “Will teach you how to master the platform and build a strong strategy so that you’re not leaving anything to chance,” according to Chadha.
10. Don’t be afraid to share your values.
“Unlike millennials, who care more about what a brand can do for them, Gen Z looks for authentic messages and what a brand stands for,” Chadha explains. Growing up with the likes of Greta Thunberg, Gen Z is a generation that stands up for what they believe in and they expect the brands they invest in to do the same.”
“The content Gen Z is interested in should speak to what they believe in and have messages communicated to them as a friend would, rather than an intrusive corporation,” Chadha adds. “Leave the flashy advertising behind and tap into the real and raw side of your brand. Think entertainment first, product second.”
Chadha explains that branded content “shouldn’t be limited to advertisements or product placements. … By creating content that provides insight into [brand] stances on socio-political issues and the story behind the brand,” companies could gain more trust, loyalty, and potentially conversions from Gen Z.
Should You Target Gen Z?
Now that you know how much effort you’ll need to put into targeting Gen Z, you might be asking yourself, “Should I target this generation?”
Well, if you market for a B2C brand, or a B2B brand with products that solve for all age groups in the workforce, you’ll either want to start planning or zone in on a Gen Z strategy. While they might not have full purchasing power yet, many of them have reached adulthood, are getting jobs, and starting to make their own purchasing decisions.
As this generation inches closer to becoming one of your marketing targets, it will be vital to do as much research on them as possible. You can get started by diving into our content on how Gen Z differs from other generations, spends money, and other need-to-know Gen Z data.

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When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many consumers raced online to buy products they couldn’t get in-store. And, by July 2020, global retail ecommerce sites cumulatively saw a record 22 billion monthly visits.
As brands scrambled to offer more products and services online, social media platforms — such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp –began rolling out ecommerce tools to help businesses sell more items directly from their social pages.
Now, as social media networks continue to expand on in-platform shopping tools, it’s clear that social media ecommerce is gaining steam. But, as with any new marketing trend, you might wonder, “Are consumers actually buying products while surfing social media?”
The question above is worth asking. As a marketer, creating an online catalog or ecommerce process — even with the help of an intuitive social media platform — takes time and effort.
Not only will you need to determine which products will be sold online and how you’ll deliver them to customers, but there might also be a technological learning curve for your team. Odds are, you’ll want to know that consumers are actively using social media shopping tools before you enable them
To help you determine if social media shopping features are worth considering, I asked 467 consumers if they’d ever purchased products on social media platforms.

Do Consumers Actually Buy Products on Social Media?
There are now more ways than ever to buy products on social media. But, since some social media shopping tools are still rather new to shoppers and brands, you might think consumers have barely used them yet.
But, when we asked, “Have you ever purchased a product directly from a social media platform? If so which one(s)?” more than 50% of consumers had purchased a product on at least one platform.

Data Source
Of the 49.5% of respondents that haven’t purchased a product directly from a social media platform, 9% said they still plan to do so eventually, while 40.5% say they prefer to buy products from ecommerce websites. Although that 9% of consumers who plan to shop on social media one day seems like a small number, it could grow as social media shopping tools gain more use, popularity, or trust in the coming months.
Ultimately, while social media shopping features are still fairly new to consumers, they might make sense for brands that are looking for a scalable way to enter the ecommerce world.
Below I’ll dive into the four social media platforms consumers say they’ve purchased products from and how they could be useful for brands.
Which social media platforms are consumers really shopping on?
Facebook
More than one-third of the survey respondents above have purchased a product directly from Facebook.
Facebook’s online shopping popularity isn’t surprising. Even before the 2020 launch of Facebook Shops, users flocked to Facebook Marketplace to find items or products being sold by residents nearby, independent sellers, or even local stores.
While Facebook Marketplace is more like Craigslist than an ecommerce store — and still requires you to contact a seller or go to their website before buying a product, its years of success likely helped justify the launch of Facebook’s newest shopping features.
Here’s a brief rundown of the newest ways people shop on Facebook:
Facebook Shops
Facebook Shops, which rolled out this summer, enables business page admins to create a “Shop” featuring a list of products or product collections.
Users who visit the brand’s Facebook Business Page can tap or click a View Shop button to see products, add items to their cart, and purchase them directly from a Facebook Checkout page.

Facebook Messenger
Social media users who aren’t interested in sifting through a Shop’s list of products can also message brands on Facebook Messenger. Once a brand creates a Facebook Shop, they can integrate it with their Messenger account, WhatsApp account, or Instagram account for a smooth customer purchasing experience directly in their threads.
When customers message brands with Shop integrations to learn more about specific products, they’ll receive automated messages with product suggestions from the Shop owner — as seen in the image below.

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The Facebook Shops’ Messenger integration isn’t the first feature Facebook has offered that enabled consumers to shop via message thread. Between 2016 and 2019, Facebook allowed business pages to send messages that included a product shot, basic description, and a Buy Now button which allowed customers to buy products in the Messenger app via their phone’s payment feature. Here’s what this looked like:

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Takeaways for Marketers
Currently, launching a Facebook Shop might be one of the best ways to sell products on social platforms. Not only does Facebook have the largest and broadest reach of all the platforms on this list, but Facebook Shops can also integrate with Instagram and WhatsApp, allowing you to easily expand to multiple social media platforms when you’re ready.
Even if you already have an ecommerce site, Facebook Shops can still be beneficial if you have large audiences on social media who primarily use mobile phones and apps to surf the web. For example, if a new prospect comes across your brand on the Facebook app, they can simply click into your Shop, check out a few products, and even buy a few using their phone’s payment tool. This might create much less friction than they’d receive if they needed to leave their social media app to browse through a large list of products shown in your ecommerce store.
Ultimately, Shops’ versatile options could be a good fit if you sell to a broad audience, are interested in expanding to Instagram or WhatsApp, or are an experienced online seller who also wants to turn social media followers into customers.
Instagram
Although most of Instagram’s shopping features were added after Facebook Shops launched, nearly a quarter of respondents have bought products on Instagram.
Below are Instagram’s most notable shopping features:
Instagram Shops
Instagram Shops essentially uses the same design, layout, and technology Facebook Shops, but is linked to Instagram Business Pages specifically. Like Facebook Shops, you’ll also need admin access to a Facebook Business Page and a Facebook Shop to use this feature.
To leverage this feature, you merely need to go to your Facebook Commerce Manager settings, link your Facebook and Instagram Business pages to each other, and enable your Shop on your Instagram Business profile so your visitors will see a View Shop button. Once this Shop is activated, your Instagram Shop’s viewers will see the same mini-online store they’d see if they entered your Facebook Shop on that platform.
Instagram Shoppable Posts
While you’ll still need a Facebook catalog that lists your products, you do not need a Facebook Shop to launch Instagram Shoppable posts. This feature allows you to link your Instagram feed posts and images directly to the product’s Instagram Checkout page.

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While this feature began specifically with feed-style posts, it has now stretched to Instagram Stories, Instagram Live (shown below), and — most recently — Instagram Reels.

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While an Instagram Shop allows your followers to see all the major products or collections your selling, Instagram Shoppable posts allow you to highlight your product with creative content, such as reviews or demos, while also linking directly to a purchasing page. This enables users to discover a product, watch it in action, and buy it almost immediately if they like what they’ve seen.
Instagram’s Shopping Tab
You can also optimize your Instagram product content to show up in the Shopping tab of Instagram’s app. With this tool, prospects that might not know about your brand might search for products, find items from your brand, and add them to their bag. From there, they can tap the bag icon in the corner and purchase these products directly from the Instagram app.

Takeaways for Marketers
Instagram’s shopping features might be useful to your brand if you already have a presence on Instagram, target the Gen Z or millennial audiences, and have engaging or intriguing photo or video assets to market your product, brand, or service.
If you already have a Facebook Shop and want to expand your social media ecommerce strategy to Instagram, it’s also scalable and easy. Because Instagram Shops are carbon copies of pre-created Facebook shops, you only need to take a few steps to place a Shops button on your Instagram Business Page. But, if you don’t have interest in a Facebook account, you can still leverage Instagram Live Shopping, Shopping Posts, and highlight your products in the Instagram Shopping tab.
To learn more about each of these tools, how they work, and how brands can leverage them, check out this post for more details.
WhatsApp
While WhatsApp, also owned by Facebook, doesn’t have its own shopping platform, users can still chat with brands, request to purchase a product from the companies WhatsApp for Business catalog, and pay for it directly in the message thread.  
The WhatsApp payment feature, shown below, is quite similar to Facebook Messenger’s older “Buy Now” feature, shown in the section above:

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Takeaways for Marketers
While buying products might take a bit longer on WhatsApp than on a Facebook or Instagram Shop, roughly 13.5% of respondents have still done it.
As WhatsApp continues to grow and expand its business features, this app might be worth keeping on your radar if you are interested in building a chat-based community and social revenue stream at the same time.
While this app might be opportunistic for conversational marketers, this app might also be beneficial if you’re looking to sell internationally. While Facebook and Instagram also have audiences around the world, most of WhatsApp’s user base lives outside of the U.S. In fact, WhatsApp’s largest audiences are from India and Brazil.
Pinterest
Until recently — Pinterest users could buy some of the products they saw directly in the Pinterest app. Interestingly enough, it launched and discontinued its tool before Facebook and Instagram launched similar features.
From 2015 to 2018, Pinterest enabled brands to create Buyable Pins that allowed you to purchased pinned products directly from the app. Next to each Buyable Pin’s “Save” button was a blue “Buy It” button. When tapped, it sent users directly to a Pinterest purchasing screen.

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While Pinterest offered its in-app purchasing feature for years, the brand converted Buyable Pins to more scalable Product Pins in 2018.
Product Pins, which the platform now uses, send app users to a company’s website checkout page rather than a Pinterest app page.
While the conversion to Product Pins prevented Pinterest from needing to manage millions of transactions a year, it was also more beneficial to the brands. In a 2018 statement to AdWeek, Pinterest revealed that Product Pins received 40% more clicks than Buyable Pins.
Although Buyable Pins are no longer active, 10.5% of respondents still say they’ve purchased products directly on the platform.
While respondents could have purchased items from Buyable Pins in the past, they also could have made purchases through Product Pins, which open an in-app browser to a brand’s checkout page without requiring users to leave Pinterest. Although the transaction itself isn’t happening on Pinterest’s servers, the feature still enables users to make a quick purchase without interrupting their social media experience.
Takeaways for Marketers
Although Pinterest no longer enables consumers to make purchases directly from the platform, you should still take its product marketing opportunities, such as Product Pins, seriously.
After all, many different audiences use Pinterest to create inspiration boards filled with products or items they might want to purchase. And Pinterest data shows that users like to search or learn about products on the platform
Aside from the brand-friendly nature of Pinterest’s platform, marketers should also take note of its consistent growth. By Q3 of 2020, Pinterest surpassed 442 million monthly active users, up from 322 million in Q3 of 2019. Even if it doesn’t seem like Pinterest is the right platform for your brand now, it might be useful to your strategy later as its audience continues to grow, evolve, and use the platform to look for products or inspiration.
Which Social Platforms Should You Sell On?
While many of the respondents above still haven’t purchased a product through a social media platform, this might change as shoppers continue to embrace online shopping.
Additionally, as more brands leverage social shopping tools in place of ecommerce stores, shoppers might become accustomed to using social media shopping options.
If and when you do decide to launch a social media shopping feature for your brand, you’ll want to look at your audience when determining the right place to start.
For example, if your audience is made up of many different age groups, Facebook might be the best place to set up shop. Meanwhile, if your audience is primarily Gen Z, you might want to embrace Instagram’s tools.
Additionally, you should prioritize social media shopping tactics on platforms you’ve already built a following on. For example, if you have a large, engaged WhatsApp audience, selling products there might be a scalable expansion to an already-strong social media strategy.
Ultimately, the best strategy will be to determine where your audiences are most likely going to shop or surf social media and then meet them where they are with your product listings or online shop
To learn more about where your target social media audience might be, check out this helpful post on social media demographics.