BeReal is the social network on the rise. With over 20 million daily users, including more than 3 million in France, it has established itself as a must for Gen Z (15-30 year-olds). Where most social platforms display idealized lives, BeReal, as its name suggests, has chosen an entirely different path, that of authenticity.
Since July 2024, it has been possible for brands to be present through ads in users’ feeds. To take stock of the opportunities this offers brands, we invited Adrien Jimenez, BeReal’s Sales Agency Lead in France, to tell us all about it.
We’ve included a few extracts in this article. But you can listen to the whole interview in the latest episode of our podcast Parlons Performance.
Adrien Jimenez,
Sales Agency Lead, BeReal France
“By being authentic, brands show their know-how, their expertise, but also their values.”
Can you tell us how BeReal came about and what makes it so unique?
BeReal is a French success story! I say it in English, but the social network is indeed French! The story began during containment in 2020. Two French engineers realized, during this period of confinement, that the raison d’être of social networks, such as Instagram or TikTok, was no longer there. And that raison d’être is ultimately to be able to connect with loved ones in a form of authenticity, spontaneity and proximity. I think we’re all guilty of the direction these social networks have taken, because today, when we say to ourselves that a piece of content is Instagrammable, it’s because we have in mind the fact that it’s the most beautiful photo of our birthday, our last evening, our vacation. And so, we contribute to shaping these social networks to ultimately give an image of ourselves that is not the most authentic, or even a little idealized.
So, faced with this observation, they decided that there was a niche to put authenticity back at the center of a social network. So they launched BeReal. The concept is simple: users receive one notification a day, at a random time between 8am and 11pm. At the time of this notification, users are prompted to publish the present moment in which they find themselves, a moment of life, of real life, sharing these posts with their community and loved ones. And the platform explodes rapidly, in France of course, and then on other markets.
So success has spread beyond France’s borders?
Yes, all over the world! Apart from France, BeReal has a strong presence in Japan, which stands out quite strongly, but also in the United States, and in Europe, in Spain, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. In terms of numbers, today we have over 40 million “monthly active users”, and over 20 million “daily active users”, i.e. people who are active daily on BeReal.
Can we say that there are specific codes for users, in terms of the type of photos or videos they publish?
It varies a lot. First of all, the format is innovative. It’s simple, but we had to think of it: the smartphone’s two cameras are activated when I take a BeReal photo or video. Authenticity is the driving force behind BeReal’s format, since I capture the moment and, at the same time, I get my reaction in a selfie, with an emotion, an authentic reaction. For the record, it’s also the only application today where published content is entirely in-app, i.e. there’s no access to the photo gallery. So there’s no editing or filtering before publishing.
What we’re seeing in terms of content is that audiences are ultimately sharing their daily lives. So, it goes from the gym to home, watching a series, a film, with your dog, your cat, outside with family and friends, on a trip, out for a walk, and so on. We have a lot of different content, and that’s what’s interesting in terms of UGC (user generated content): it’s extremely varied, and gives you the opportunity to see things that are sometimes quite funny. And then there’s the more traditional engagement section, with reactions to posts by friends and family, a chat, etc.
How often is the application used?
One interesting figure I can share is that, to date, 70% of users post daily on BeReal. On other social networks, the figure is around 1%. This shows that BeReal has really become part of users’ daily lives, and is part of that “I’m waiting for the notification” to share and publish. I also want to see what my friends and family are going to share. And we can see that BeReal is becoming a daily appointment.
We understand that notification plays a key role on BeReal?
In general, notification is a huge driver of audience and connection, and it’s even more so on BeReal. Almost 40% of our users connect at the moment of notification. Initially, they had two minutes, after the notification, to capture the moment they were in. It turns out that sometimes it’s not possible to publish in that time: you’re in the shower or recording a podcast with Effinity! So we’ve made this more flexible, and for a few months now we’ve been offering the possibility of publishing after the fact, and not necessarily within the two-minute window following notification. This is what we call “late BeReal”.
In recent months, advertising has made its appearance on BeReal… ?
So maybe just a tiny side step to explain why advertising came to BeReal. In the summer of 2024, Voodoo acquired BeReal. Voodoo is a French company that has been in business for just over 10 years, and is a leader in the app market, creating apps in various verticals (gaming, dating, etc.). Voodoo sees the high potential of the platform and has all the resources to make BeReal explode. So, the idea is to open up communication possibilities for advertisers on the platform, but to do so in an intelligent, measured way, i.e. not to open the floodgates. This also means recruiting teams to support our partners, agencies and advertisers, and ensuring that our campaigns are as effective and qualitative as possible.
What formats are available to advertisers?
In terms of format, we’re all about in-feed. To date, there are three packages, ranging from the most “premium” to the most “red wire”, so to speak.
The most premium is the Full Day Takeover package. For one day of the campaign, the advertiser has 100% share of voice. The advertiser is the only one present on BeReal, thus reaching 100% of users, i.e. several million people.
The second offer, “First Impression Takeover”, offers the first five impressions guaranteed for the brand over one day. And so, in terms of emerging impact, the advertiser is positioned at the very beginning of the user experience, when he arrives on BeReal. So, that’s also interesting.
And then the last offer, “Balanced Reach”, proposes a “fil rouge” approach, with an advertiser’s campaign lasting from two to six weeks. Here, we’ll pilot the campaign with targeting based on age, gender, location, etc.
Are there any codes that brands need to follow to be more effective?
Obviously, as with any social network, the idea for an advertiser is to get as close as possible to the codes of this platform. In BeReal’s case, this means avoiding doing what we do elsewhere. Audiences aren’t fooled, and the idea is to be as native as possible when an advertiser communicates with us. So we recommend using the native BeReal format, with the two cameras responding to each other, and avoiding too much text because users don’t have the option of adding text to their photo or video. We need to be as authentic as possible, avoiding filters. The objective, in terms of creative assets, is to focus on a moment of consumption, for example. We can also explore a lot of backstage, behind-the-scenes, behind-the-scenes, etc. aspects. This enables brands to showcase their know-how and expertise, as well as their brand values.
Are there any sectors that are better suited to advertising on BeReal?
Not really, we see that audiences post on a whole range of very varied themes, which explains why we have brands from equally varied industries. I could mention what stands out: retail, of course, food, but also everything to do with school, education and so on. Ready-to-wear, fashion, beauty, cosmetics and luxury are also doing very well. And then, in the same vein as education, recruitment, via employer brand campaigns. In any case, with our feedback over the last six months, we can see that these are verticals that stand out, and quite a few advertisers in these verticals are communicating on BeReal.
So today, yes, we’re more focused on consideration and branding. But we’re going to beef that up with much lower funnel and conversion targets.
And of course, we can use Effinity tracking?
Absolutely, everything is measurable! In any case, what we’ve observed to date is that our CTRs, or click-through rates, are very high. In fact, this is a constant for all our campaigns. For our static formats, for example, CTRs are between 1% and 3%, with record campaigns approaching 5%. So, as you can see, it’s pretty strong when you compare it to what’s happening on the market, on other levers and other platforms.
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