Winning Strategies: Three Key Opportunities on BeReal
Deemed the “anti-Instagram,” BeReal is the trendiest new social media platform and became a pop culture phenomenon in 2022 among younger generations by creating nuanced opportunities for brands to stand out and connect in more authentic ways. With its growing popularity credited to its focus on providing an uplifting and authentic digital experience, BeReal has revolutionized the way people relate to one another on social media. Additionally, with the rise of the “deinfluence” movement, BeReal takes away the societal pressures of perfection over social media to create a digital world full of authenticity and candid moments.
BeReal serves as an opportunity for brands to create authentic connections with a highly engaged audience. In this blog, we outline three key advertising opportunities for brands on this highly visible platform.
1. Building Gen Z Relationships
With BeReal, brands have a unique opportunity to go beyond curated posts and truly engage with Gen Z audiences.
Due to the standards of the app itself and the reasoning behind its creation, BeReal has become increasingly popular amongst those who are looking for an authentic online community that prioritizes honesty over artificiality, most especially Gen Z. To preserve this authenticity, the app is also free from the pressures and unrealistic expectations of influencers and instead offers nano, realistic engagements that resonate with the generation. According to Mintel reports, approximately 43% of Gen Zs on social media follow brands that “reflect my personality.”
BeReal has presented brands with the opportunity to step outside conventional advertising and connect directly with Gen Z through humanized communication techniques. Gen Z values individuality and authenticity, so brands should present themselves in a candid, genuine way to build stronger relationships. Product placement on BeReal should be natural and unobtrusive, as forced interaction from brands detracts from what makes the app special.
Elf entered BeReal to extend more personal conversations with the growing Gen Z audience it has established on TikTok. The brand used an innovative approach by offering an exclusive giveaway over the platform which gave their super fans a sense of belonging with early access.
Brands must continue evolving their social media strategy to meet consumers where they are today, reflecting quickly moving trends in how and where consumers interact with brands online. Consumers today are overwhelmed with current social media from an influx in ads, influencers, and unoriginal content, making it harder for brands to engage authentically with active users. BeReal fills this void and provides an oasis where users can interact organically at nano levels. Its rising consumer base invites brands to join the conversation and give back to their fans.
2. Expressing Brand Personality Through Authenticity
For brands to leverage BeReal effectively in 2023, they’ll need a clear understanding of what authenticity means from an individual perspective. Rare Beauty consistently uses a relatable persona across platforms, demonstrating the influence genuine engagements can have for brands. Rare Beauty’s entire marketing strategy has, and continues to be, revolved around authenticity. The company frequently incorporates nano influencers into their campaigns in order to reach a niche, yet extremely engaged audience. The brand recently made its way onto the BeReal platform.
Source: 2023 Omnichannel Marketing Trends
Rare Beauty’s continual use of humanized content over social media is a golden example of how brands can organically and effortlessly integrate content in order to connect with younger audiences at a deeper yet natural level.
3. Generating Reasoning to Engage
Brands can leave an impressionable mark on users by extending the feeling of exclusivity.
Gen Z is highly influenced by social media and as digital natives, they have been conditioned to find products over platforms and from influencers, especially if the ads are presented in a natural way.
BeReal offers brands a new platform to upscale their marketing strategies to create more personalized advertising by interacting with users in an approachable, relatable manner. The limitation of friends over BeReal can create an exclusive bond between brand and user, and brands can extend this relationship by offering product coupon codes or discounts. The small scale of BeReal makes users feel like they are part of a select group in a complex and crowded digital world. This progressive approach to building loyalty with exclusivity strengthens customer satisfaction and gives users a reason to seek out brands beyond the platform, while also allowing brands to maintain control of voice.
Chipotle used BeReal to generate user engagement by creating a premium experience of exclusivity over a promotional campaign that offered followers a free entre.
What we think
As social media platforms continue to evolve, we can expect the space to become even more competitive… and BeReal is determined to stand out. This platform’s growing popularity should be a reason for brands to include BeReal in their marketing strategies coupled with the fact that the platform has increased visibility amongst a highly engaged audience like Gen Z consumers due to its lack of highly-curated posts, influencers, and ads.
For more information on how our experts can help strengthen your brand’s next marketing campaign, please reach out today!
