If you're not familiar with BeReal, you can be excused. The app has burst onto the scene this year and has become phenomenally popular with Gen Z in particular. Their user base has increased by over 315% since the start of 2022, and with 2.93 million daily app visits it's easy to see how BeReal has social media managers' tongues wagging all over the world. However, it's crucial to spend your limited time where it will be the most successful, so should you be exploring BeReal as a viable marketing platform?
What is BeReal?
BeReal is a breakout social media platform this year, and is currently sitting at the top of the App Store's social network chart. In essence, it allows users to share what they are doing within a 2-minute window decided each day by the app itself. Whether you're relaxing on the couch, at work or enjoying an incredible concert, BeReal allows users to share the real parts of their lives, not just the big achievements and filtered selfies. Sharing images from both the front and back-facing cameras on your phone, BeReal ensures you cannot fake reality, and it's even banned filters from the platform forever.
Instead of likes and comments, friends can simply reply with an image of themselves reacting, leading to honest and real emotions (can you see the theme here?). Posting to the app is not about building a following or amassing a huge amount of likes, it goes back to the basics; seeing what your friends are up to.
Are organisations using it?
To stay true to the authentic nature of the app, BeReal cannot be used for 'advertising or commercial purposes' according to the app's Terms of Use. This hasn't stopped some brands from exploring how it can be used to share the goings on at their HQ. For example, in the US Chipotle has been one of the only brands to utilise BeReal. Their campaign was simple, sharing a code to give a limited amount of users free food over four days. Despite going against the Terms of Use, it worked incredibly well and has become widely spoken about in the social media world.
However, with their anti-social media approach, it is unlikely BeReal will be encouraging brands to join their platform any time soon, let alone offering ads or welcoming influencers with open arms; but we can learn some lessons from their approach.
What does it mean for the future?
We have seen with TikTok that users prefer to see raw, unfiltered content, which correlates with the success of BeReal in the past 12 months. Gen Z in particular are moving away from the glossy, staged images we're used to seeing on Instagram and favouring uncomfortable subjects, seemingly mundane topics and the awkward parts of life we usually hide away.
Now is the time to think about how you can incorporate the unglamorous into your marketing strategy, especially if you want to grow your follower base to include the social media savvy generation. Show off the 'boring' parts of your job, show people around your office, share your journey to wherever you're going. Forget about the perfect shots from an event or finding your press-worthy shot whilst working from home: they don't matter anymore.
Social media is returning to a glorious golden age; less glossy, more real and a whole load more social.
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