It’s Time to BeReal
It’s time to BeReal! Let’s talk about the rise of global sensation, BeReal. Han, Account Manager at Puzzle, takes a look at the rise of the app, how its competitors have adapted its unique functionality, and whether ads have a space on the platform at all.
BeReal started growing fast due to its unique, liberating selling point – the app asks users (once a day, at a random time) to take a picture of what they’re currently up to, using the back and front cameras simultaneously. Posting outside of the allocated two minutes notifies your friends that the post is late, and, therefore, not a true representation of your life at that moment – but whether it’s actually authentic or not is a blog for another time.
So, what was the general public saying about BeReal at its peak? Over on Twitter, there were 13k UK-based mentions of BeReal in the first 15 days of September 2022 alone, which is up by 90% compared to all of August.
It wasn’t just the UK getting on board, though. Globally, July saw a 244% increase in mentions from the month before, and, from then, mentions doubled each month, from 100k in July, to 200k in August, to over 450k in the first 15 days of September. In July, it was ranked as the number 1 app in the “top free apps” category in the UK – interest was clearly growing.
Now, it’s a different story. Global downloads have dropped by 36 million, and here in the UK, it’s ranking has dropped from number 1 to 118 on the App Store. BeReal started off as (and still is, at time of this blog’s publishing) an investor-funded application. It currently makes no revenue, which means the app is free to use – as well as ad-free, unlike its piggybacking competitors. The core reasoning here is to create a large audience that is highly engaged with the app and its functionality. But with its popularity dropping, will investors still be interested?
If BeReal does become monetized as a response to this drop in interest, there are several routes the founders could go down, taking a leaf from their competitors’ playbooks. As seen on TikTok, there are plenty of ways to give brands the opportunity to showcase their products or services for a fee, even outside of the classic social ad placement. This could come in different forms, such as competitions using hashtags, in-app pop-ups, challenges or sponsored filters (if filters don’t contradict their ‘authentic’ ethos too much!).
A more obvious route, though, would be to use image/video-based advertising – the kind we’d typically see on Meta platforms. Dispersing these, say, every 5 posts, could yield impressive results as engaged users scroll through the app at least once a day to see their friends’ content. There’s even potential here for brands to get really tactical, using notification timing or location to their advantage – like advertising coffee subscriptions to people in cities at 8 am.
However, Financial Times stated that BeReal’s founders are considering introducing paid features and subscriptions, instead of ads. Discord and Telegram are leading the way with this, with Nitro and Premium adopted by a large portion of their user bases. It also cannot be ruled out that BeReal may consider being sold at a later date to be a standalone app or integrated into an existing app (looking at you, Zuck…).
We’re sure BeReal’s founders are likely in a constant debate about how best to monetise, given the app’s massive focus on authentic, organic content. But the real (if you’ll pardon the pun) question is, how well will consumers take this? With even the Kardashians promoting petitions to ‘bring Instagram back’ following the app’s significant changes throughout the years, it would make sense that consumers may react negatively to monetization changes.
To put it bluntly: they need to get it right or they’re at risk of not standing the test of time.
Good luck, BeReal. Our eyes are on you. Want to have a chat about new social media platforms and how they can benefit your brand? Drop us a line here.