Marketing

Tinder is looking to make a new kind of match: the kind between advertisers and consumers.

Since Tinder's launch in 2012, it has remained a largely ad-free space. Users had plenty to love about that approach, but the model was less successful for a company in need of revenue. To fix the earnings issue, Tinder is joining the trend of dating services offering purchasable ad space.

It's an expected move for Tinder, but a big one nonetheless, and it's uncertain how users will respond. On one hand, an ad-free user experience is preferable because it is seamless and free of annoyance.

On the other hand, users are hardly ignorant to the business side of the services they use. Most understand that a company like Tinder needs money in order to continue, and that selling ad space is an effective way to generate revenue. If advertising allows the app to remain free to download, it’s a reasonable concession for a customer to make.

The question becomes “How will Tinder introduce advertisements in order to minimize backlash?” The app's interface is not conducive to unobtrusive advertising. Facebook Newsfeed ads are easy to scroll past and therefore minimally disruptive, but Tinder doesn't have that option.

An advertisement slipped directly into a user's personal profile would compromise their ability to present themselves accurately on the app. Instead, Tinder will have to create ads that mimic profiles – they'll take up the entire screen, and users will swipe into and out of them. The challenge for brands will be to take advantage of this, by creating thematically relevant advertising content.

Another eye-catching strategy means using video (again with thematic relevance to users). Video could be considered unnecessarily disruptive, so brands will have to tread carefully. Knowing both their own demographic and Tinder's demographic – and making sure they align – will be key. Video ads are a riskier move for Tinder as well, as users may find them too irritating.

How users respond to these kinds of ads remains to be seen, but the experiment is an intriguing one. It’s clear that both Tinder and the advertisers are venturing into largely unexplored territory. OkCupid has seen brands successfully create thematically relevant ad content on its site, while companies like Match and Meet Me have had ads included in their applications for years, but it is still a relatively new practice.

Tinder's audience of tech-savvy millennials may also present a unique set of challenges. It will be interesting to see which strategies prove most effective for that highly sought after market.

Luxy, a new dating app for rich people, seems to like provocative gimmicks to attract new users to their service. First, they launched their app in 2014 describing it as “Tinder without the poor people.” Now, they have taken their brand to the next outrageous level by offering $3.4 million to rename the celebrity enclave of Hidden Hills, California after their own app – Luxy, U.S.A.

Hidden Hills is an exclusive suburb of Los Angeles, home to celebrities Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus, and the Kardashians. The app is trying to tie in its own service with the rich celebrity lifestyle.

According to an article in CNN Money, the app so far has 135,000 active users, including its latest member – an actor from Californication. (Luxy is apparently using this bit of celebrity news to help promote the app, too.)

To qualify to use Luxy, members must prove they make at least $200,000 per year – by providing income tax statements.

By now, we all know of Tinder’s unprecedented success in the online dating market. But how exactly did they make it happen – gaining over one million active users in less than a year, and then to gather 24 million users in only two years?

According to Tinder, there were two essential challenges with the online dating market before they launched the product: first, there was social stigma associated with online dating – the perception by the general public that it was a last resort, rather than a good way to meet people. Second was geographical concentration – people like to date others they know are close by; it would have to work on a micro level before it worked on a national or even worldwide level. Meaning, Tinder had to get active users who were all in the same area to enjoy using it to create stickiness. Think about it: when you download a dating app, it’s a little disappointing to see that your matches live an hour or more away.

With these two things in mind, Tinder started its marketing initiatives on college campuses. Two of the company’s co-founders were active in their respective fraternity and sorority, and first approached them for help in spreading the word. Justin Matteen, one of the co-founders, hosted a party at his parents’ house where he invited his college fraternity and sorority members from USC to help launch Tinder. For admittance, attendees had to show their phones at the door – and prove that they had downloaded the app.

This strategy worked effectively, because it addressed the online dating stigma by populating the dating app with young, socially active and attractive young people, creating a desire for a wider audience to download and use the app (in the hopes of meeting some sorority girls, we suspect). In addition, it created a buzz within a geographically close community – fraternities and sororities on the same campus. From there, Tinder’s team went to college bars and approached non-Greek members, enticing them with meeting other attractive young students via the app.

The strategy of marketing to college campus influencers worked – within six months, Tinder had half a million users. From there, the company had to branch out to a larger demographic. They started city by city, holding parties at exclusive nightclubs, appealing to the 24-35 year-old demographic. As of first quarter in 2015, the company had 24 million users.

“In early months, over 85% of our user base was between the ages of 18-24, but now that age demo only makes up about 57% of our user base," said Matteen in website Parantap. "We are seeing a huge upswing in both 25-34 year old demographic and 35-44 year old demographic.”

Tinder has taken off thanks to a remarkably executed marketing and influencer campaign. As a result, they have changed the whole online dating industry.

For more on this dating app you can take a look at our review of Tinder.

Apple Watch sales have been through the roof since the product launched, and it is creating a media frenzy (as many of Apple’s product debuts do).

Not many dating apps can be downloaded for the Apple Watch, but Coffee Meets Bagel is one of the first. The company recently announced its launch on Apple’s wearable technology.

Coffee Meets Bagel is a dating app that works through your social media connections, finding matches in your Facebook network and introducing them to you one at a time. At noon every day, CMB presents users with one personalized match or “bagel” – then each user has 24 hours to decide to like or pass. If there’s a mutual like, they can chat over a safe and private line. However, messaging is not indefinite – users will have only a week to set up a date before the private chat line closes.

With Apple Watch, CMB works a little differently. This might signal a new wave of dating technology, since swiping left and right isn’t really an option with an Apple Watch. (Sorry, Tinder.) Instead, apps rely on more hands-free technology, such as voice-to-text functionality.

According to Dawoon Kang, co-founder of the dating app, the Apple Watch app will complement the existing mobile app by "enabling members to do everything more quickly and easily," not to mention hands-free. Apple Watch’s Glance feature allows members to check their daily matches at noon. The watch will display the match’s basic profile and photos – (likely not much information will be available on the small screen, however).

Instead of manually liking or passing, members can “like” or “pass” matches hands-free using the Apple Watch’s voice technology. If two users match, then they are connected and able to chat using voice-to-text technology.

This is good news for those looking for a Tinder alternative. But is wearable technology going to be a new platform for dating apps? Considering CMB works through voice technology (i.e., talking to your Apple Watch) – it might be a little intimidating to use when you’re out at a bar. Do you really want people around you to know that you’re liking or passing on a date, or to overhear your text conversation? Tinder is much more subtle, and no voices needed.

Still, that isn't stopping people from buying the new watch. No word yet on whether CMB's dating app will also be available for wearable Android products.

Recently, Gap came under fire from Tinder executives by posting fake profiles advertising their wares on the dating app, hoping people would swipe right to participate in a new campaign. The problem was that Gap didn’t get Tinder’s permission, so Tinder ordered Gap to take them down.

But Tinder isn't cracking down on fake profiles or spam-like ads for all companies looking to promote (though it did hire an agency who is cracking down on their spamming issue). Tinder only allows companies who are actually paying to post their fake “profiles” - and these companies are reaching their target audience of young consumers in a really big way.

Native advertising on Tinder works like this: the company creates a "profile" targeted to its audience, and uploads to Tinder. From there, users will come across the profile and swipe left or right, depending on if they like what they see. Companies that have done this recently include Starbucks and Dominos Pizza.

But now, it's not only companies looking to advertise - musicians are taking advantage of Tinder’s user base, using the service to promote new videos and album releases. Because musicians are constantly looking for new ways to reach their audiences and gather new fans, they have become more creative in their online promotions. Tinder is the latest tool, and recently did a campaign with singer Jason DeRulo.

Forbes reported that Jason Derulo became the first musician to use the Tinder promotional strategy to launch a new single. When users swiped right, they were given in link to a YouTube page where they could watch the brand new video for his new song, which was also getting a huge push via radio. The campaign was a success: over 1.1 million people swiped right (meaning they liked him) – in three days. The song became a top 40 hit, with 14% clicking through to purchase his song on iTunes.

Of course, it helped that the song was speaking to his target market – daters who are looking for a late-night hook-up, a la Tinder. In the video, DeRulo is shown fantasizing about a woman he had sex with, jumping out of bed in the middle of the night to go to her apartment, where she is of course fantasizing about him, too.

The success of the campaign will surely capture the attention of other musicians and companies who want to appeal to their target audience: young singles. These companies are also finding that effective advertising means meeting these people on their own turf – social media, rather than traditional stuffy ad campaigns. People are much more mobile, and looking at their phones more than looking up at a billboard.

One thing’s for sure, Tinder doesn’t have to worry about meeting revenue goals through subscriptions to its premium (and pricey) service. Companies will likely be more than willing to offer money for campaigns that have this type of success rate.

For more on this popular dating app you can read our review of Tinder.

Last month, Tinder rolled out its new and highly anticipated premium service Tinder Plus, which had been teased in the press with few details for months. But rather than praising its new features, Tinder has been criticized for discrimination. The company charges $9.99 per month for users in their twenties, but once you hit the magical age of 30, the price jumps to $19.99.

Compare this to the price daters pay for a service like eHarmony ($18.95 per month with a 12-month commitment as of this posting), which touts its match-making capabilities, and Tinder seems like a rip-off. After all, the monthly fee for eHarmony includes a lot of filters to help find a more "quality" match - an extensive questionnaire, a detailed profile, and a “communications process” - all aimed at helping you find a lasting relationship. While people do find good matches on Tinder, it's a lot more hit-or-miss.

Still, people seem to prefer the game-like swiping of Tinder. And according to experts, they will probably pay for it – even if they are 30 or older.

A recent article in The Washington Post claimed that there is a war among dating services like Tinder and eHarmony, who are categorizing daters and their behaviors according to their ages. Tinder assumes that younger daters are their target market (after all, the service began with heavy promoton on college campuses before it was unleashed on the greater population). eHarmony however, is going after the more “seasoned” dater, who has had enough with all the hook-ups and wants a real relationship.

The online dating industry is said to be worth about $2.2 billion, with one in ten adults averaging more than an hour a day on a dating site or app. This rise in popularity isn’t a coincidence – it’s gone hand-in-hand with the amount of time we spend on our phones – a near-constant accessory. Tinder appeared at the right time and made online dating seem like a game, and more importantly, removed its stigma.

The popularity of Tinder however has had a cost among daters. There is an assumption that the app is only for hooking up, and that people using dating apps aren’t serious daters. At least, this perception has been what traditional dating sites like eHarmony have been pushing. It founder Neil Clarke Warren told The Washington Post: “They put all their money on one variable: looks. That fills me with quite a few little chills… I have presided over the funerals of more marriages than any psychologist, and it is miserable.”

eHarmony isn't the only one speaking about Tinder's flaws. “There are limits to the percentage of single people who will become active Tinder users and repeating ‘casual daters,'” Morgan Stanley analysts told their clients in February. “And in our view, Tinder is reaching those limits.”

So what does this mean? Is Tinder trying to embrace their young daters as the future of dating, or does eHarmony recognize they will never have a service that’s so addictive and easy to use?

Both services offer very different ways of meeting people, and attract different types of users. But it will be interesting to see who will pay for them going forward.