The new social platform is taking users away from Instagram and TikTok while promoting authenticity, so what can we learn from it?
BeReal has gained rapid popularity this year as a new social media platform where every day users are notified simultaneously to capture and share a photo in two minutes using both front and back cameras. To put it simply, BeReal was made to share authenticity. They fit this gap because so often on other platforms, the biggest complaint is users being bombarded with inauthentic activity. Photos are perfectly staged and envy-inducing – but we all know behind the scenes every pixel has been carefully planned and staged.
BeReal tackles this issue. There is less time to take the perfect photo and look like you’re always living your best life, which leads to authentic content. Whether that’s a photo of you at work, on a morning stroll, or going through the drive-thru to get chips. This doesn’t mean people haven’t been able to secure envy-inducing content (Harry Styles taking a BeReal for someone at a concert comes to mind) but the day-to-day content is largely incapable of being preplanned. BeReal offers no influencers, no filters, no likes and (most notably) no ads. Although it’s not a place for brands and businesses to advertise, there are still lessons that we can take.
It’s clear users value authenticity. On TikTok users don’t engage with TVC-style content, instead opting for ads that look like the same organic content they usually consume. Often, simple content filmed from an iPhone with a trending song or even text-to-speak will perform well without any media spend behind it. What this means as a brand or business is you can spend more time focusing on the content than the tools behind it.
The platform still offers opportunities on a brand level. You just have to be creative. For instance, Chipotle created an account on BeReal and the campaign boosted the profile by sending out a promo code. There is still a massive opportunity for experimenting with marketing on the platform but it’s still early days. The best course of action is to go onto the app and experiment for yourself – see why they are rapidly gaining more and more users. One main takeaway from BeReal is that they are sticking to their mission statement. BeReal has been around since 2020 and there are no signs they are going to change its product and service offering. They have made it clear that consumers’ (particularly Gen Z) are demanding humanisation and honesty. If they offered ads on the platform, it would go against their mission and ethos. As a brand, this shows integrity.
BeReal is not trying to replicate the success of other platforms and instead focuses on their main features. They aren’t getting caught up in what competitors are doing which is how they will build brand loyalty. Consider platforms such as Instagram – their initial service offering was for sharing photos and having a clear nice grid. Now they have stories, reels, shopping and more. There’s been constant outrage about them trying to turn their platform into TikTok – after they beta-tested a fullscreen feed. They responded by saying it will walk back some of the recent changes they’ve made due to the public’s criticism. Yet now Instagram has introduced a new feature, which looks like BeReal called ‘Dual’.
If you’re thinking about getting on BeReal – remember to consider your target audience. BeReal is still mainly skewed toward an audience in the age range of 16 to 24. But this doesn’t mean it will always be this way. In 2021, 43 per cent of TikTok’s audience was made up of the same 16 to 24 age bracket. Fastrack to 2022, and 29.5 per cent of their US audience is now 20 to 29. The fluctuations and broadening of demographics are constant on social media platforms, so it’s worth keeping an eye out.
As always, take a moment to step back and consider your marketing and brand strategy. Is the platform on brand for you? Is it a marketable platform? What can you achieve?