One thing we know about the digital world? It’s constantly changing! The past decade has seen the rise in social media supergiants such as Instagram and TikTok, but now there’s a new kid on the block going against the grain… it’s time to BeReal.
Our digital manager Sophie takes a look into Gen Z’s new favourite app.
Are you Be(ing)Real enough?
For years now, social media users have whinged about the ‘polished’ life you can show off on social media.
Instagram grids are meticulously planned, Facebook profiles are only active when something really great is going on, and the ‘clean girl’ lifestyle trend on TikTok is suggesting everyone’s life can become an aesthetically pleasing dream.
In walks BeReal…
As the latest app to edge its way towards the social media elites, BeReal notifies users “It’s time to BeReal!” once a day at a random time and they’re given a two-minute window to snap a photo of what they’re up to using both the front and back cameras on their device with the click of a button.
The app’s aim is to “capture an authentic, unfiltered snapshot of a user’s life”.
So… are users wanting to be more authentic?
The numbers would suggest so.
In April 2022, BeReal had 2.93 million daily active users - up by 29200% from the year before - and reached number 1 on Apple’s App Store in July 2022. Talk about making an entrance…
However, not everyone using BeReal will be using it correctly. Despite having a two-minute window to share your post, users can still take their photos and post them later than the desired time that day.
Their followers will be told this post was shared later, therefore suggesting it may be a little more staged than your average post.
Are we actually being real?
A lot of people I know are using BeReal. I am not one of them.
So how do I know they’re using the app? Because they’re sharing any ‘showy’ BeReals onto their Instagram stories!
I love a good old Insta story as much as the next and I’m all for shouting about the amazing parts of your life on socials (and the not-so-amazing, if you feel comfortable to), but sharing a post from an app designed to promote authenticity and accepting the ‘mundane’ parts of life, onto an app which has monetised off a lot of false narratives seems to defeat the object a bit to me.
I love the concept of BeReal, and I’m an Instagram lover through and through… but can’t we enjoy sharing our life on one platform without promoting it on the other?
Should businesses be on BeReal? How can they do so?
Like we always say, it depends!
Your target audience
If you’re a B2B company with a target audience of older professionals, BeReal might not be the place you’ll find them.
What about if you’re targeting Gen Zs, millennials, students and younger people? It’s likely the place to be(Real)!
Your internal team
With such a young user base - 80% of its iPhone users are aged 16-24 - you need people who know this audience to represent your business on BeReal.
If you have a younger marketing team member, I’d recommend they’re held responsible for this one…
How to manage your business’ BeReal
One thing you’re going to have to do here is trust whoever’s managing your account, if you choose to run one.
With a two-minute window to snap a photo, there really isn’t enough time to take the shot and get it approved by the relevant staff members.
Put together a BeReal policy (which should be similar to your social media policy) and ensure nothing is shared outside of the office, even if the BeReal notification comes through at 9pm.
Make sure that whatever you’re sharing is appropriate too. Having fun in the office? Great. Grabbing a bite to eat with the team? Perfect. Sitting in the middle of a client meeting? Put your phone away!
We can (try to!) help…
With the nature of BeReal, it’s not a platform we’ll likely ever offer to manage for clients. You need to be in-house to do something like that!
However, if you’d like some advice on BeReal and whether it will benefit your business we’d love to give you some guidance. Pop us an email at info@jandpr.com!
The following websites have been sourced throughout this blog:
https://www.data.ai/en/insights/market-data/bereal-surges-to-popularity-in-q1-2022/
