BeReal · B2C · photo sharing app for friends
Show only a few ads a day, styled like friends' posts, and sell full-day takeovers
Ad click-through 5-10x other platforms; the only revenue source
Workedad-monetization
What they did
Ads are the only business model (US, Europe, Japan). Three products: full-day takeover (the only ad on the platform that day), first-impression takeover (guaranteed among the first ads in the feed), and standard in-feed ads. First campaigns from ~$10K. Uncluttered feed so an ad may be one of the few a user sees that day; brands are encouraged to use the front+back camera format so ads feel like a friend's post. Targeting by gender, OS, country, ZIP code, age, and (testing) interests from a new profile field. First-party brand lift studies included in most campaigns, Nielsen etc. at extra cost. Boosting brands' organic posts is being added.
What happened
Click-through rates 5 to 10 times higher than on other platforms; advertisers include Red Bull, Amazon, Apple, Walmart, KFC, Burger King and small D2C brands.
- Stage
- Launch (first year of monetization)
- Effort
- Nearly a year of ad monetization
“We have three different products. We we sell, you know, a full-day takeover where the ad of your brand will be the only ad showing up on the platform during that day.”
“for a brand like Red Bull to show up in in a on a feed where, you know, it's it's probably one of the few ads that will show up that day, it's it is a competitive advantage, and it it it really translates into that very high engagement.”
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More from this episode
- BeReal: Send users a monthly recap of their own past postsCalled one of the app's most successful and acclaimed features; no numbers
- BeReal: Let users post short videos using both front and back camerasOne of the fastest-adopted and fastest-growing features; no numbers
- BeReal: Send one push a day at a random time asking everyone to post nowKept as the core feature; drove 70M people posting at once at the viral peak
- BeReal: Hide friends' posts until the user posts their own70% of users post; almost no passive users
- BeReal: Show only friends' posts in a feed that ends, with no algorithm, filters or AICredited for users sticking 2-3 years after the viral peak; no retention numbers
- BeReal: Have the CEO ask users for ideas in comments on his own posts
- BeReal: Test each new feature on a small slice of users before releasing it to all
- BeReal: Show up on college campuses, in coffee shops and at mental health events
- BeReal: Sponsor local community groups and throw parties for creators and users
- BeReal: Recruit creators losing reach on other apps and bring their fans over
- BeReal: Let brands sponsor the app's signature daily notification
- BeReal: Have creators and users make the ads brands run in the appSays UGC ads are the best-performing ads; no numbers
- BeReal: Sell optional paid extras to users of a free social appDidn't work; shut down quickly, and ads became the only revenue
- Take the free option off the paywall so only paid plans showRevenue doubled
- Make a separate Google Play store listing for each keyword or featureHost says it worked pretty well; no numbers
- Target keywords with popularity 5-20 until the app gets steady downloadsApp Masters reports pretty good results internally; no numbers