Marketing

It’s no secret that eHarmony and Match.com are old rivals in the online dating space. Match.com has been building its empire through its parent company IAC, which has bought several successful dating sites and apps, including Tinder. eHarmony has remained focused on its technology and matching success, and has expanded to include matchmaking services for VIP clients who are willing to pay. In December, eHarmony plans to launch a new career-matching site as well.

Now it seems despite the different directions the companies are going, they still remain fierce competitors, especially when it comes to marketing and attracting new users. eHarmony recently ran a “#1” campaign, citing its success in making more long-term matches than any other online dating website. The problem is, without concrete numbers from all sites, it’s a little tough to prove. At least, according to the National Advertising Division (NAD), an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. The unit is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

This week, the National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that eHarmony discontinue using certain “#1” advertising claims for the company’s dating website, including “#1 Most Marriages,” “#1 Most Enduring Marriages,” and “#1 Most Satisfying Marriages.” It seems that Match.com was the first to ask the regulators to look into the matter.

NAD reviewed claims made by eHarmony in broadcast, print and Internet advertising, following a challenge by Match.com, LLC. Match claims that this is advertising is misleading, as the numbers of marriages produced by both sites is extremely close. Also, eHarmony didn’t take into consideration Match’s entire network of sites co-branded under different names. This makes Match.com’s numbers much larger, and perhaps greater than eHarmony’s.

NAD concluded that, although the number of marriages that should have been attributed to Match could not be pinpointed, the actual difference between the number of individuals within the sample who met their spouse on eHarmony versus Match.com was even smaller than reported by eHarmony’s survey, or possibly favored Match.

In addition, eHarmony claimed its study was independent, although its co-authors included a former director of eHarmony Laboratories and a scientific advisor to eHarmony. When NAD informed the company of their findings, eHarmony agreed it would no longer describe the study as “independent.”

eHarmony, in its advertiser’s statement, said the company “respectfully disagrees with much of NAD’s analysis of our specific advertising claims.  However, because eHarmony values the NAD process and appreciates the NAD’s efforts, we will take NAD’s recommendations into consideration in our future advertising.”

eHarmony is well-known in the online dating space. It has been around over fourteen years and has grown to be one of the biggest competitors due to its emphasis on finding people serious relationships. Now, it wants to get serious about your job search, too.

The company’s strategy and technology is all about compatibility matching. Subscribers to the dating site are put through a rather lengthy sign-up process to ensure that the technology behind the site really captures the essence of what each person wants, along with his or her relationship tendencies. (One of the best things about the sign-up process is that eHarmony provides a snapshot booklet of who you are as a dater: the kind of personality you have, they type of person you gravitate towards, and the positive and negative ways that your dates may interpret your behavior. It’s incredibly insightful, and helped make me a more observant dater.)

Now, eHarmony is taking this compatibility matching technology and applying it to your job search. The new site called Elevated Careers by eHarmony is set to launch in December.

According to MarketWatch, few details were revealed about how the career-matching algorithm will work. But eHarmony CEO Neil Clark Warren said some of the likely qualities that will be analyzed include “conscientiousness, honesty and conflict resolution,” among others.

When asked why Dr. Warren thought eHarmony should move into the career space, since it seems so far removed from romance and peoples’ personal lives, he countered that love and work are more connected than we think. “If people come home and they’re unhappy with their job and boss, it puts a lot of tension on a marriage,” he told MarketWatch.

While eHarmony boasts that is has made 600,000 marriages, they have also gained a divorce rate of 3.9%, slightly higher than the national average of 3.6%.

It is an interesting idea at a time when job dissatisfaction is high. Roughly 70% of Americans described themselves as “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” from their workplaces according to a recent Gallup report. And according to an article in Entrepreneur.com, the average worker hops jobs every 4.6 years. That doesn’t lead to a loyal workforce or employee satisfaction when nobody is willing to commit. Perhaps it is time for a change, and for both employers and employees to look at compatibility, rather than waste resources training people who remain actively looking for another job.

I don’t think job satisfaction is completely reliant on company culture and employer-employee compatibility, though it is certainly a factor. Many people find themselves in careers that aren’t what they expected and want a fresh start. Perhaps there is a way eHarmony will use its technology to also advise what career might be best for each of us. Until then, we’ll see what Elevated Careers has to offer.

Dr. Neil Clarke Warren left eHarmony a few years back, only to take control of the company he founded once again in 2012 to implement a turnaround strategy for its drastically sinking subscriber base. As it turns out, this new strategy has been key to eHarmony’s unprecedented recent success. This past week, the company announced that it has the highest number of subscribers in the company’s history, and has grown its base of users 54%.

This is quite an accomplishment, considering the growing popularity of dating apps like Tinder and Hinge. The market is crowded these days, so you have to effectively differentiate yourself in order to compete. Traditional online dating sites have struggled to make their offerings more competitive and accessible.

eHarmony is an especially interesting contender in the online dating industry. Going against the grain of its competitors who offer an easy sign-up process and a high number of matches, eHarmony has a rather lengthy and grueling sign-up process that can take up to 90 minutes to complete before you receive your matches. And you only receive a few matches at a time, ones that are selected by eHarmony, not you. On top of that, there is another “guided communication” process to complete with each match before you can just send them an email to meet for a date.

It seems to be working.

All of these steps are important to eHarmony’s goal: compatibility matching. This was the original intention behind the launch of the site, and founder Dr. Warren has remained firm in this vision, which numbers show is paying off. He brought in a new management team to improve the website and mobile design, the technology, and implement a new marketing program.

As a result, the company has gained subscribers who are also more willing to stay longer and pay more than in years past.

“eHarmony was created as a way for individuals to begin a relationship already a step ahead – with someone who is truly compatible,” said Dr. Warren in a statement. “We are proud of what we have achieved over the past two years, securing the largest subscriber base in our history. We are confident in our ability to continue to grow eHarmony in the future.”

With so many dating sites and apps competing for sheer numbers, it’s interesting that eHarmony’s more serious approach to dating and its focus on the goal - helping people find long-term relationships – is paying off. There is indeed a market, and a need, for people to find and make real-life lasting connections, and the continually growing numbers prove it.

Online dating site Zoosk just announced the launch of its new limited release delivery service. The new service allows users to ship romantic (and real-life) gifts to other Zoosk members they want to pursue who live in most U.S. states.

So if your online love lives in New York and you’re in California? Zoosk has got you covered, at least in terms of sending gifts. The idea behind the delivery service is to provide members with an innovative, romantic, and creative way to interact with each other. Instead of going for winks and video chats to grab a potential love interest’s attention, the site opted for something a little more traditional – chocolates and flowers for instance.

If you’ve just met online, is sending someone a gift coming on a little bit strong? Not according to Zoosk. In fact, the company sees it as a strategic way of making a first impression in an online dating world filled with a lot of noise from all the digital outreach. Online dating gets overwhelming after a while, and you forget who is who unless someone really captures your attention. Sending a gift is definitely more memorable than an email. (Also, some people are better with witty online banter, and some would rather just buy a gift and hope that it piques some interest.)

To send a gift, Zoosk members visit an eligible member’s profile and select the “ship a gift” button. The gift recipient receives an email alert from Zoosk that a fellow Zoosk member would like to send him or her a gift, and can either accept the gift by providing a shipping address, or decline to provide an address.

“When we created Zoosk, we set out to provide a service that helps single adults make real-world connections and build lasting relationships,” said Shayan Zadeh, Co-Founder and CEO of Zoosk. “Testing new ideas is part of Zoosk’s DNA and this particular feature allows singles to catch the attention of someone they find special.”

The delivery service is limited to specific areas in the U.S. and is also limited in terms of what you can send. If you want to get really creative, you’ll have to wait until you’re familiar enough with your online date to meet in person. But in the meantime, you can send either chocolate, flowers or a teddy bear. (Personally, I’d go for the chocolate.)

With all of the latest mobile technology in regard to online dating, it’s refreshing to see something a little more “real world.” It’s also nice to see old-fashioned romance in the midst of last-minute drinks and mobile app hook-ups. For all its simplicity, maybe Zoosk is onto something clever.

For more information on this dating site your can read our Zoosk review.

With all of the recent studies regarding the growing popularity and effectiveness of online dating (more than one in five married couples have met online), online dating sites are spending more money than ever to attract new users.

Among the top spenders are two of the most well-known sites: Match.com and eHarmony. In just the first five months of 2014, online dating sites have already matched the total category spending on national TV ads in 2013, according to data from research firm iSpot.

TV ads aren’t cheap, even though ratings have drastically dwindled the past few years thanks to on-demand services like Netflix and streaming video on YouTube. Still, Match.com spent over $71 million so far this year on TV ads, mostly to air during shows like Real Housewives on Bravo, and to capture more of the male population, ESPN and Comedy Central. eHarmony’s spending hasn’t been too shabby either. Through the end of May, they have spent over $59 million for ads aired on TNT, CNN, and TBS on shows like Anderson Cooper 360 and NBA Basketball games.

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, of the online dating market’s 14 brands, the top five dating sites account for nearly 95% of the $214 million spent on ads so far in 2014. In comparison, dating sites spent $241 million on national TV ad placements for all of last year. TV ad spending for the industry last year was also heavier in the August-December period than in the first part of the year.

Unless you scroll through all the commercials on your DVR, you’ve probably seen at least one of Match.com’s 14 TV ads this year. They have created many different campaigns to attract users, and earlier this year, hired Perez Hilton and Patti Stanger to host a conference discussing the results of their “Singles in America” study about what singles are looking for today. The company spent $19 million on one 15-second spot called “Why not?” which featured female members, but their most popular has been its “Nikki and Joey; Kindergarten” spot, which starred a shy kindergarten teacher looking to get back into the dating world. That spot has aired more than 2,000 times since its Feb. 5th debut, and generated more than 40,000 online views and nearly 500 tweets, likes and shares.

eHarmony on the other hand, spent $18 million on one ad to share with audiences how many marriages have occurred through members who met over eHarmony (higher than any other dating site). But their most popular ad digitally was a spot that included the founder’s granddaughter, sharing how she advised her teacher to find “hot babes” on eHarmony instead of other dating sites. It had 6,000 online views and more than 1,200 social actions.

MillionaireMatch.com has just surpassed the 2 million member mark and is celebrating with a new digital billboard in Times Square.

“Join the 1%: Don’t get left behind,” the ad reads. It's a slightly odd choice, given the bad rap of the 1% and the fact that the term was coined due to protests in New York City in the first place, but it also begs the question: how many MillionaireMatch.com users are actually millionaires?

Darren Shuster, North American CEO for the dating service, recently spoke with MarketWatch about the milestone and their membership. Here are a few highlights from their conversation:

On what it means to be a “certified millionaire”…

“You can become a “Diamond Member,” which shows you have $1 million in assets or a large income, a minimum of $200,000 a year. Then you can search for other Diamond Members who’ve had their income verified.”

On online dating’s notorious reputation for being full of fakes…

“MillionaireMatch has as many fakes as most dating sites. Some people are great, some people are phony, some people get a lot out of it and some people quit in a week. You have to know who is exaggerating and who’s not. Some people say they own the car and the house, but they’re leasing the car and they’re renting the house.”

On sexism…

“People say all sorts of things when it comes to love or money. Women are attracted to wealth whether the website exists or not. We’re not exactly reinventing the wheel here. I’m sure there are people who will call it sexist and call it weird, and will say things like, ‘How could you go after them for money?’ If you met someone and they both have a sense of humor and good physical condition, who would you go for? I’d go after the woman with the big bank account. Wouldn’t you?”

On the clientele who make up the MillionaireMatch userbase…

“Some of these people are making $100,000 a year. On paper, they’re a millionaires. But they’re not necessarily bringing in $40,000 a month. Women are smart and intuitive. It’s almost like crowdsourcing to weed out the phonies. They’re probably our best security.”

And finally, the big question: How many members are actually millionaires?

“That I would rather not disclose, if I can help it. Most of the men have a million dollars or more at least in assets, including their house, and have money in savings. We have a fair share of those.”

To find out more about this dating service you can read our review of Millionaire Match.