BeReal · B2C · photo sharing app for friends
Send one push a day at a random time asking everyone to post now
Kept as the core feature; drove 70M people posting at once at the viral peak
Workednotificationsretention
What they did
Once a day, at a random time, a single notification prompts all users to share what they are doing at that moment (front and back camera, no retakes, within a daily window). The randomness is kept deliberately as what makes the app unique.
What happened
Called very successful and what makes BeReal unique; at the viral peak 70M people connected at the same time to post.
- Stage
- Launch (from launch)
“keeping, you know, that notification, that iconic notification random, prompting user to share to share their real lives at the moment of the notification is also very much successful, and it's what makes BeReal so unique.”
Related topics
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
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: 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: Show only a few ads a day, styled like friends' posts, and sell full-day takeoversAd click-through 5-10x other platforms; the only revenue source
- 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