In the year 2019 the BeReal app was launched in Paris, this is a photo sharing app and it has grown a lot in the last few years. According to Business of Apps, there are about 73 million monthly active users, and an estimated 98% of those users are under the age of 45, according to a news site that made these statistics. Some $90 million in investor funding has been raised from the use of this app in recent years.
How does BeReal work?
In itself it is very easy to handle this app, since BeReal sends a daily notification to each user, which says: “⚠️Time to BeReal.⚠️”. After this notification has been sent, the user has 2 minutes to post a photo, which helps people’s authenticity on social media. In case the user spends more than 2 minutes without posting the photo, the post will be labeled as “not real”.
The photo that is published is in a dual format, which shows what the person is doing and their reaction, with a standard photo and a selfie respectively. Each “moment” must have this format to be real, because the purpose of the application is to show real life.
Also, the app shows the capture attempts that the user had to capture their BeReal moment, likewise, the app has no filters, or follower count, or photo editing, which makes the app totally different from other social networks like Instagram and others.
Despite not having the option to “Like” the posts, recipients who see the photos can comment or insert a “RealMoji”. The app sends the BeReal alert notification to post the photo once a day, which makes users want to come back to the app every day and use it.
BeReal for Businesses?
Commercial use in the app doesn’t really exist, since BeReal has no ad options, “BeReal is not designed to promote any kind of goods or services. We want it to remain a safe place where you have fun,” is what that is stated about the function of the app, so that means that the app is not an option for mobile commerce.
Some Examples:
But even so, there are brands that take advantage of the app, we have for example companies like Chipotle and E.L.F. beauty, who began to publish discount codes that could only be found in the app, managing to get more followers on their profiles. But despite this, the app has a limit of followers, which both companies exceeded, it is said that the limit of followers that a BeReal profile can have is 5000, and reviewing the followers that these companies have in other apps, such as For example, on Instagram, Chipotle has around 1.2 million followers.
What a company should consider to use BeReal
- You must take into account the demographics of the user, since according to statistics users are under 45 years of age.
- You should also use a less filtered, low-tech approach.
- You must have a staff willing and available to make the posts as soon as the alert arrives by notification.
The app hasn’t evolved much over the years, so if it goes away it wouldn’t be a surprise. BeReal doesn’t have a clear revenue model, and it doesn’t seem like it intends to profile larger audiences of brands and content creators.
On the other hand, there are other apps that have been evolving and trying to implement BeReal’s functions, for example, TikTok Now and Instagram Candid, are some of the apps that could compete with BeReal.
Even so, if the target audience of your brand and business is part of the Z generation, using BeReal is a good option, in the same way, you should take into account that your staff have to use a less structured approach for the publications and they must also have the availability to publish the photos at the moment. You can use stylish behind-the-scenes photos of your business, handwritten messages, and even sneak peeks at products or campaigns you’re launching soon.