First user problem
The main problem of the new dating services is the user base. An app can have a stunning design, an ideal interface and functionality, but if there are few profiles there, this is a failure, because people won’t communicate with anyone, and therefore they will not register and use the app.
How can a new application recruit 1000 first profiles:
- Partnership with existing service. Many popular dating sites offer affiliate programs, changing the user’s profile database to traffic and a portion of the profit.
- Targeting a small audience. If you make a bet on a small city or a rather narrow niche at the start, you can quickly collect a few thousand real-life profiles with minimal expenses for marketing promotion.
- Viral marketing mechanisms. Despite the fact, that Tinder is often mentioned in films, TV shows and mass media, users still very rarely share links (recommendations) to the dating services, considering it to be something shameful and dishonor. But this can be circumvented by relying not on your target audience, but on third-party people and the media. So did Pure when they advertised their app “for sex only”.
- Traffic through advertising. Expensive, but effective. Attract popular bloggers on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook and use targeted ads.
Often, new dating services use fake profiles and
chatbots to create the appearance of the popularity of the app. This is not worth doing, because bots are easy to detect, and when it happens, the app will get a very bad reputation, which you can hardly fix.
Application policy
It is better to involve lawyers in this matter since an incorrectly drafted application policy can cause big problems. For example, if you come across a situation where fraudsters use your site to trick money from other users (typical practice on most
dating services). Or if your app will be used to offer paid services of an intimate nature.
The Tinder application policy describes all aspects of user interaction, the rights and obligations of the parties.
Source of the image
Keep it in mind when
creating an app similar to Tinder, and protect yourself in advance from the effects of similar and other negative scenarios. For a basis, you can take the "Tinder's Terms of Service" or another similar service and adjust them for your project.
In addition, it is worth thinking about how to deal with (screen out) such categories of users:
- mentally ill and uncontrollable people;
- racists, sexists, fascists and others like them;
- stalkers, spammers and fraudsters.
Usually, such people are fought with the help of registration through social networks and ban on the basis of appeals and complaints of other people. This should be described in detail in the application policy, otherwise, there may be problems with claims from both parties.
Monetization of the project
Paid subscriptions
Users pay once a certain time for access to the
app or for additional functions. The latter option is usually introduced only after the app has become popular and has gained a large user base. Tinder implemented two such subscriptions: Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold. They expand the capabilities of the participants (for example, more likes and super likes, as well as increasing the maximum distance) and add new ones (for example, cancelling the last like).
Freemium-model
A business model that divides the app into a free version with reduced functionality and a paid version with a full range of features and capabilities. For example, to use beautiful emoticons or
GIFs in messages. Unlike the subscription model, the freemium model involves a one-time payment, which gives you constant access to all the features of the app.
Advertising and announcements
It is considered the best way to monetize
dating apps, provided that advertising is correctly implemented and does not interfere with users. In Tinder, the cost of advertisements is $ 5,000.
Gifts and outside service
Some services offer users to express their liking with the help of “virtual” cards, flowers, chocolates, teddy bears or colorful animations (fireworks, supernova, etc.).
«Burning out» of the audience
In services targeted at a wide range of users, there is such a term as “critical user base”. This is the number of active participants, sufficient for the normal operation of the system. In the case of Tinder-like app, this is the number that will allow users to constantly meet new people.
If there are not enough people, an “audience burnout” will occur (or “base burnout”): you know everyone, you have communicated or met everyone, and you have no one to communicate with anymore, that is, no more reasons to use this application. It often happens in services oriented to a very narrow niche or a small city.
In order to avoid this, it is necessary the user base is either constantly replenished, or initially was very large. Database updates can be achieved through advertising and/or entering new niches. The second option can be achieved if you focus on multi-million cities (agglomerations) or very large niches.
Required app functionality
The above factors are not the only things to look for when creating an app similar to Tinder. No less important is the set of functions and tools of the dating app, since they affect the convenience and reliability of the service, as well as the speed and cost of its development.
Authorization and user profile
To create an app similar to Tinder, you must use an authorization mechanism through social networks: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This is necessary so that users can verify the authenticity of the photo and age. And this is also necessary for the service in order to ban it in the event of inadequate behavior of the participant and make the re-registration as difficult as possible.
Usually, such registration is performed using the open protocol OAuth (or its equivalent) so that the system fills in the fact of authorization and binding to the
social network account, but doesn't record the login and password of the social network account.
Other registration methods are done via a phone number or email. If you use these approaches, then users will have less confidence in the system, since it will not be possible to verify the authenticity of the data: photos, age, region, and so on. Age is very important, as users need to know if another user has come of age.
User profiles
Just after registration, users need to be navigated to the "Profile" section. Here, new members must indicate their age, location, interests and describe themselves briefly. That is, specify the information that other users will see.
When implementing a profile, remember these things:
- the focus should be on a photo that can be uploaded from a device, a social network or done using a camera;
- the text box should be small - up to 1000 characters;
- here should be a link to the social network and the ability to write a message if the profile is viewed by another user.
User location
Tinder is a
dating app based on user location. That is, system participants can search by location (for example, within a radius of 50 km), and the system will show them the profiles of all people who are close to them.
Detection settings
In Tinder, you can configure the settings for detection of other users (or yourself for other users) by age, gender, and maximum distance. In the free version, the maximum distance is 10 miles.
Search and swipe
This is the main feature of Tinder, which helps to bring people together with minimal effort for both parties. It is implemented extremely simply: look at the photo, and if you like the person, swipe the photo to the right, if not, to the left. In 2015, Tinder introduced the ability to make Super Like (swipe up).
