Why We Don’t Love BeReal for Businesses

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there’s no doubt you’ve heard about the BeReal social app. To sum it up, once a day at a random time, every user receives a notification to post a photo. It then will take a photo of what’s in front of and behind your phone — showing what users are really doing right then, without the staging and filters. Then it will disappear when the next notification rolls in.

Sounds like we’d love it, right? We’re the first ones to preach about being "real" and "authentic" online, but let's get real (pun intended) here. But BeReal might be better left to your personal social circle, and we’ve got a few reasons why.

It Might Not Be Here to Stay

Since its launch in 2022, we’ve noticed less and less users are snapping that pic when their BeReal goes off. People are, well, bored with it. It has us wondering… how much longer will the app stick around?

Choosing Friends Wisely

The app was made to connect REAL friends. A lot of users are picky about who they become friends with on BeReal. Because quite frankly, Nancy from high school that you haven’t spoken to in years doesn’t need to know what they’re up to every time it goes off.

The Challenge Getting Connected

There isn’t a typical suggested friends list or explore page to discover that your favorite brands are on the app. Users will have to manually search your username to add you as a “friend.” This means we’ll have to market that we’re on the app on another app…

How Informal is Your Brand

Take a good look at your brand voice. Are you keeping it formal and strictly business? Or are you a bit spicy like Wendy’s? BeReal is as informal as it gets.

Creating a Poster Child

Posting on BeReal will require you to have a face of your brand. Now, if that’s you (the owner) and you’ll do the posting, perfect! But, if you don’t want your summer marketing intern becoming the face of your brand on social, proceed with caution.

You Can’t Sit With Us

Because of the app’s purpose, users just don’t want brands on their feed. Periodt.

It’s Up To You

While we aren’t advising most clients to hop on BeReal for their brand, there are reasons you could and big brands that have made it work, like Chipotle, that was offering discount codes in their BeReals. So, it can be done. Ultimately, you need to take a look at your business and decide for yourself if it’s for you.