By now everyone should’ve heard of the app BeReal, if not, here’s a quick stat update:
- 21.6 million monthly active users, including brands
- 2.93 million daily app visits (Toby, 2022)
- 4th in social app downloads in the US, UK, and France during the first Q of 2022
Incredible, right? If you genuinely haven’t heard of BeReal yet, then head here.
Remember when I said… “Should brands jump on it?”
Well, since we last spoke, BeReal continues to steer away from traditional content boosters like influencers and paid ads, so not much has changed there.
But, from an organic POV, there could be no better time for brands to show their authenticity and creativity by sharing real-time posts. Think BTS snapshots of everyday office life, in the moment.
The overall aim for a brand could be to help the audience view it in a different life, enabling them to feel more connected. While BeReal is still pretty new, it has shown us that there are audiences who are responding positively to this organic and unfiltered content approach.
Exhibit A
I have personally been following Kiehls on BeReal and have noticed their unfiltered real content. They post behind the scenes, office days and even ‘Kiehl’s as home decor! What product do you always have on your hand??’
Their approach is simplistic and real, so that their audience and customers can feel connected with them as a brand.
Another brand experimenting with the platform is Chipotle. They’re really aligning themselves with BeReal’s ethos of transparency by brainstorming content ideas with users.
For example, they recently posted a promotional code for free entrées (main meal), which were gone in about 30 minutes the first day and subsequently ran out almost immediately, to its then-2,000 friends.
After witnessing the potential of the app, Chipotle is now discussing the next steps on how to approach posting on BeReal with their community – a great move in our opinion.
Some people suggested presenting everyday employees as the face of the brand on the app for that day, someone that the majority of the people can relate to.
Beauty brands owned by L’Oréal Group and Procter & Gamble, as well as Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty, are now using BeReal to spark product conversations and share BTS from shoots.
Similarly, another cosmetics brand Elf, joined BeReal and began sharing exclusive content to their “first friends”. They announced this campaign to their followers by sharing a Tik Tok with the caption “150 new friends have access to a secret surprise✨👀” The surprise of course, being a limited-time promo code.
This exclusivity creates excitement about being “friends” with Elf on BeReal. The aim is to show authenticity and create a personal interaction with the brand and its audience, but more importantly, the real aim was to reward engagement and increase their community size. The classic foundations of advocacy.
Should BeReal introduce ads?
Currently, you can’t buy an ad on BeReal, which means they’re not making money (yet).
However, brands have been making their way onto the app for the purpose of pushing content. BeReal haven’t yet spoken out about the idea of ads, but it’s something they’re likely to follow further down the product life cycle.
When you think about it, BeReal is all about ‘being real’, and people are joining this app to avoid seeing ads and just enjoy an ad-free space.
Therefore, promotional content/ads may not be well received by the people currently using the app.
Which industries are best suited to the app?
Industries that are most likely to continue using BeReal and see success would be the fashion, beauty, entertainment and food retail industries. Based on early case studies.
These align with BeReal the most as they are more likely to experiment with products, show behind the scenes and share exclusive discount codes to their followers.
Fashion giants, Pretty Little Thing take a similar approach on Twitter, where people can win vouchers and prizes, making their tweets reach the ‘Trending’ page. This can similarly be mirrored on the BeReal app by utilising their 2 minute time-frame for posting.
The future for the app
Due to the app spike, other popular platforms like Snapchat and Instagram have jumped onto the new idea of capturing images/videos at the same time using both the front and back cameras.
TikTok is also trialing this which could massively become a popular feature for them because as you know, everything goes viral on TikTok.
This in turn could be a problem for BeReal as established platforms are more likely to succeed from adding this as a new feature compared to everyone using a completely different platform.
However, we can’t forget that the app itself is good to show off its unfiltered, in the moment aspect, which personally my friends and I love.
Do you like using BeReal? How would you use the app for your brand?
Drop me a note on LinkedIn if you’d like to chat more about the app.