Launching a Mobile App for Online Dating - How to Enter a Niche

900 20-11-23 Read Time: 9 min

Relationships, finding a partner and friends, emotions of communication – these are eternal topics that will always be of interest to people. Therefore, the online dating niche will always be relevant and in demand. And even in the presence of many competing platforms, there will always remain untapped segments of the audience. Of course, it is difficult to call this direction easy, but with a professional approach to development and promotion it is quite realistic to enter the market with a new dating application, attract an audience and develop the profitability of the project.

How do you get started in the online dating niche?

At first glance, the online dating niche has long been occupied by well-known global giants, but that does not prevent new mobile dating apps from confidently entering the market and achieving success. What does it take?

1. Identify your audience

Reaching the entire world is a great goal, but you need to narrow your audience a bit first. Too broad a reach can make it difficult to build a base of first-time users. For example, focus on a specific region or position the app as a platform for people with specific goals. You don’t have to focus on romantic relationships; you can introduce people by interests, outlook on life, hobbies, professions. The main thing is to clearly see your target audience and work exclusively for them.

2. Find your unique trait

Questionnaires, swipes, geolocation, likes, chats – these are the classics of the genre, which will not surprise an experienced user of online dating platforms. Do not give up the usual options, but add something of your own, unique, special – something that will become a recognizable feature that will distinguish the application from the competition. Useful features of dating apps have been invented and tested for a long time, but you should add something special to the concept, positioning, design, interface, rules of user interaction, algorithms of pairing, etc.

3. Formulate the right advertising strategy

It is possible to talk about a successful start of the project only when the application already has at least a minimal database of questionnaires. The task of attracting the first users is solved in various ways:

• Targeted advertising on social networks;
• Contextual advertising on search engines;
• Google Play and App Store advertising;
• Credit launch and promotion;
• Website creation and content promotion;
• Youtube channel maintenance;
• Integration with bloggers, opinion leaders;
• SMM promotion;
• Establishing partnerships with other services;
• Referral programs;
• Involving mass media and online publications to cover information about the new project.

4. Ensure professional execution of

Brilliant ideas remain just that without professional implementation, so the following points should be considered:

• Development, testing, support. Not just one specialist should work on the project, but a whole team with great experience – designers, frontend and backend developers, testers, project managers.
• Capacity. If you have big plans for millions of viewers, take care of the technical component in advance so that the application will work smoothly even under the highest load.
• Technology. To create the potential for development and scaling of the application, to attract modern technologies, methods, approaches – this will bear fruit in the future, when the audience will grow rapidly.
• Promotion. Publishing a finished application in stores is only the beginning of the journey. Entrust the project to experienced marketers, targetologists, SMM specialists who will take care of the complex promotion of the product.

How users find a match in the app – popular ways

Some platforms are still using traditional search algorithms, where the only way to select a potential partner is to browse user profiles in the database and filter them by certain parameters. This approach is somewhat outdated, as the modern user is used to quick problem solving, and manual processing of the database requires time and attention. Therefore, the future lies in advanced matchmaking algorithms using artificial intelligence.

• By location. The user sees those within a specified radius or region. The advantage of this approach is the ability to organize a quick meeting nearby or reach an audience anywhere in the world. An example from our portfolio is a fast dating app for speed dating abroad for people who want to expand their social circle in a new country.
• Intelligent algorithms. Users answer questions that help them better understand their personality. It can be a full psychological test or a simple questionnaire about interests, work, hobbies, education, lifestyle, visiting certain places, etc. Artificial intelligence analyzes thousands of questionnaires and suggests a match.
• Targeted selection. There are dating apps that specialize in solving specific tasks of users – for example, speed dating without commitment, creating same-sex couples, searching for friendships, finding a partner with similar interests, etc. The audience enters the app with specific goals and selects a partner according to the tasks set.

Most platforms use a combination of technologies and offer several ways to find a match – for example, geolocation and psychological compatibility in parallel. In addition to the basic algorithms, a new application can implement an unusual methodology that will surprise and interest users and help it stand out from the competition. This feature can be used to build a marketing strategy to make the platform recognizable and attractive to the audience.

Online dating app functionality

Registration form

The audience is given the option of authorization via Facebook, other social networks or Google account, as well as standard registration by phone or email. The user can choose a convenient login method – fingerprint, Face ID, graphic key, PIN code.

User Profile

The profile displays information about the user – name, date of birth, short business card text, list of interests, other profile data, avatar, photo gallery. If the application is integrated with social networks, you can set up automatic upload of profile data.

Personal Cabinet

In the personal account, the user can:

• Edit your personal information;
• Upload a new avatar and change photos in the gallery;
• Add and adjust payment information for internal purchases;
• select a paid subscription plan
• Purchase additional features;
• Contact technical support;
• Customize language, theme, geolocation and other system parameters;
• Track the bonus account, if offered by the loyalty program.

Geolocation

The app automatically detects the user’s geolocation – this enables:

• Search for potential matches nearby within a specified radius;
• Find people outside your location in a selected region;
• Have your profile displayed to users near you or in specific regions.

The user can choose who they want to communicate with – a neighbor down the street or a person in another city, country or even continent.

Chats

Chatting in chat rooms is a staple of online dating apps. But today’s users are not satisfied with just text messaging, so the functionality is being expanded to include video calling, sending voice messages, and sharing photos and videos. It is important to provide all the necessary opportunities for interaction and emotional communication in the online format, as this is the key to high audience engagement and demand for the application. The functionality should be so convenient and secure that users will not rush to switch to third-party messengers, but will use the application regularly.

Swiping, likes, gifs.

These are all instant ways to express interest. If the interest is mutual, a dialog box opens and users can start communicating in the application. You should not give up such simple and proven options, as they are used in most dating applications and are familiar to the CA of such services.

Push Messages

Instant pop-up messages are a great way to communicate with your audience, prevent them from forgetting about the app, and increase engagement. What tasks do push notifications solve?

• Remind you of scheduled events;
• notify you of new messages, likes, and
• Send promotional offers;
• Invite to a loyalty program;
• Offer discounts, bonuses, special features, so that the user visits the application as often as possible and spends more time there.

How to Monetize an Online Dating App

Profit from monetization is the main source of revenue in the app. Therefore, when creating a mobile platform, you need to provide several tools that will help you earn.

In-app purchases

Paid features and special functions are available to users, such as

• Super likes packages;
• Search Rankings;
• Gifts;
• Stealth mode;
• geolocation radius expansion;
• Hidden age;
• Cancel actions;
• Other.

The user buys an interesting option at will, when there is a need, there are no mandatory regular payments.

Subscription

This is a regular payment for using the advanced functionality. You can offer 2-3 tariff plans with different prices depending on the list of services included in the package. The terms and conditions of each package are specified in detail in the rules. The amount is withdrawn with a certain periodicity, the services are provided permanently. The user can cancel the subscription or switch to another package at any time. The full range of premium services is included in the VIP package – its price is the highest, but the user gets the maximum possibilities.

Advertisement

There is a good profit to be made by displaying advertisements in the application – the main thing is to be careful not to be too intrusive. For a fee, you can offer to remove the banner altogether. Online dating apps are popular with advertisers because user surveys make it easy to target the right audience.

Security Issues

Signing up for a dating app raises several concerns for people. The most common are security issues. Firstly, online dating can be of interest to a wide range of personalities – unfortunately, not always sophisticated and appropriate. Secondly, users may doubt the safe storage of confidential data, especially if the application has a mandatory passport verification. Therefore, maximum protection should be provided and all conditions should be created so that people are confident in their safety:

• spell out the privacy policy in detail, obtain consent to process personal data from users;
• provide reliable storage of personal data and payment information on secure servers;
• offer users to enable double authentication;
• provide reliable encryption of data in chat rooms so that third parties cannot access correspondence and calls;
• provide an option to irretrievably delete a profile and all data at the user’s request;
• organize high-quality and professional technical support that will promptly respond to complaints and solve problematic issues;
• allow users to ban other profiles without explanation;
• automatically block users in the system after receiving a complaint until the circumstances are clarified;
• take all measures to secure accounts from unauthorized access;
• introduce spam filters to protect against mass mailing of unwanted messages.

Want to discuss an idea and calculate the cost of an online dating app? Fill out the brief or use the form on the website.