Marketing

Lately I've found myself consumed by the world of marketing. A new job as a social media assistant has me learning things I never thought I would - a new vocabulary, new lessons on how the mind works, a new approach to writing and delivering content.

It's been a fun challenge to immerse myself in something so unfamiliar, but what's been most fun is discovering the ways that marketing isn't really so unfamiliar after all. In fact, it bears a striking resemblance to online dating, and there are quite a few lessons from one that can be applied to the other.

Don't believe me? Check it out:

1. Personalization is the way to go. Think about all those marketing emails you've gotten (maybe even from your dating site). Notice how most of them say "Hi _____" and actually insert your name? That's personalization. It makes you feel like the email was sent just for you, tailored to your specific needs. Your online dating messages should be the same. Don't send a generic message to a prospective date - say something that shows you've actually taken an interest in who they are and what their profile has to say.
2. Create a call to action. When successful marketers want you to do something, they tell you what it is. That button that says "Sign up today!" or "Register now for your free trial!" is known as a "call to action." The sense of urgency it creates drives action, a tactic that you can also use when online dating. Why not add a call to action in your profile? "Send me a message if..." Or in your messages, by asking a question for the recipient to answer? It's an effective way to create engagement and encourage interaction.
3. Timing is everything. How often do you message potential dates? How long do you take to respond to messages you receive? Timing is key to both marketing and online dating success. Don't be afraid to reach out to people you're interested in. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Once you're involved in a conversation with someone, pace yourself. A business that bombards customers with marketing emails is going to lose those customers. A dater who obsessively messages a potential date is going to lose that date.
4. Test and evolve. If a marketer isn't seeing the success they want, they'll try something else. An email will get a new subject line. A webpage will be redesigned. The call to action will get a subtle tweak. Each new change will be tested, until the most effective version is found. Do the same with your dating habits - continuously update your profile, pictures, and messages until you've optimized yourself for online dating success.

One of our reviewed dating sites Positive Singles, has been mentioned in a New York Daily News article on dating sites and sexually-transmitted diseases. Like other STD dating sites Positive Singles match people based not only on interests, location and personality but also on the same STD infections.

Positive Singles currently has more than 700,000 members since it launched and has over 15,000 people visit the site every day. From our investigations it is the largest dating site that caters to members with an STD. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports in the United States that in a given year there are over 110 million cases of sexually-transmitted infections reported. About a third of the US population is single so this would mean that at least 33 million singles have a STD. I would bet this number is significantly higher since a single person is most likely to have many more sexual partners in a given year than someone in a long-term relationship and/or marriage. I could see this number being as high 60 million.

You can take a look at our Positive Singles review here.

Britain's Got Talent auditions are currently being taped and for one dating site, it's talent for matching was shown. The panel of 4 judges, including Simon Cowell, were joking with a contestant couple who performed with a piano. One judge made a reference to Simon's recent breakup with his finance. The couple then mentioned that they had met on the dating site ChristianCafe.com. The same judge then told Simon he should maybe try out the website.

This Britain's Got Talent episode has been reported to be airing in March of 2012.

For more on this story you can read the Mirror. To find out more about the dating site mentioned in this article you can read our review of ChristianCafe.com.

The online dating site Christian Cafe has received a lot of media attention lately. Sam Moorcroft, the founder of ChristianCafe.com, was first on the radio for the Boundless Show as an online dating expert. This episode of the show took a look at behind the scenes of online dating. Sam and his wife Polly was part of a round table discussion in which a panel of online daters got to ask him a number of questions. You can find a pod cast of the show here on iTunes.

Next, Sam was on a Canadian Christian TV show called Full Circle. He appears around the 6:00 minute mark and discusses the history of Christian Cafe and how to best succeed in online dating. A former host, Denise, was also on the show with her husband whom she met on Christian Cafe. To view a video of the show you can visit Full Circle.

For more information on this online dating service please check out our review of ChristianCafe.com.

CBS new late-night dating show called "Excused" started last week on Monday September 12th at 11pm. The thing that differentiates this show from other dating shows like "The Dating Game" or "Blind Date" (same creators) is that at the shows core there is an online dating site. The dating site is Jazzed.com. This year old service was launched by eHarmony (see Story) to help them compete against the more general oriented dating sites which typically younger singles use.

So how does the show Excused make use of the dating site? Every contestant on the show will have an online dating profile on Jazzed.com. This profile and references to the information on the profile will be used throughout the show to help match up the contestants. The twist here which Jazzed.com and TV executives hope brings in a large audience is that viewers will be able to go online and view the contestants profiles as well. Just like any other profile, viewers (who become members) will then be able to send emails or instant messages to the contestant if they choose and even potentially date if the attraction is reciprocated.

For more on the story you can read Ad Age and for more details on one of the online dating sites mentioned, please check out our review of eHarmony.

Wow, there has been a lot of eHarmony news lately. Here is some more dealing with the marketing and media side of the business.

Industry insiders are reporting that eHarmony has reached out to a number of media agencies including Omnicom Group, WPP, Publicis Groupe and Interpublic Group of Cos. It looks like they are shopping around with their rather large marketing account. According to Kantar Media, eHarmony "spent a total of $85.4 million in domestic measured media in 2009".

For more on the story, read Advertising Age. To find out other details about this dating site you can check out our eHarmony review.