New research by HypeAuditor reveals TikTok’s dominance in influencer numbers in Singapore, while Instagram leads in engagement rates. 

The study analyzed 215,000 Singaporean social media accounts, showing that TikTok boasts 156,000 influencer accounts compared to Instagram’s 58,000.

TikTok’s advantage is particularly pronounced in the nano-influencer category (1,000-10,000 followers), with 140,000 accounts versus Instagram’s 43,700.

The gap narrows in the 10,000-50,000 follower range, where TikTok has 11,800 accounts to Instagram’s 9,800. Both platforms show similar influence levels for accounts with over 50,000 followers.

Despite TikTok’s numerical superiority, Instagram maintains higher engagement rates.

For accounts with 1,000-10,000 followers, Instagram slightly edges out TikTok with a 1.58% engagement rate compared to 1.52%. This difference becomes more significant as follower counts increase. 

In the 50,000-500,000 follower range, Instagram achieves a 0.42% engagement rate versus TikTok’s 0.34%. For influencers with over 500,000 followers, Instagram’s engagement rate is 0.58%, while TikTok’s is 0.18%.

Short-Video Front

Instagram Reels outperform TikTok videos in average views for larger influencers. 

Instagram accounts with 50,000-500,000 followers average 43,700 views per Reel, surpassing TikTok’s 36,100. For accounts with over 500,000 followers, Instagram Reels average 152,700 views, compared to TikTok’s 114,500.

These findings align with Emplifi’s Q2 2023 report, which indicates Instagram Reels generate 55% more interactions than single-image posts and 29% more than standard video posts on the platform. However, Reels engagement declined 30% year-over-year in Q2 2023.

In August, TikTok debuted its first-ever TikTok Rising concert at the Singapore Night Festival 2024, showcasing six home-grown talents in a hybrid online-offline event supported by Samsung Electronics Singapore.