DATING APP.

RESEARCH

Roman Nadolskyi
1 Market size, dynamics and competitors

2 Countries to launch product on

3 Potential revenue and business plan

4 Marketing budget, traffic cost and difficulties

5 Revenue distribution: IOS vs Android

6 Monetization mechanism: future prospects

7 Creatives. Payment options for whales

Market overview. Size and dynamics
❑ 6.4B USD
Market value
The global online dating services market
was valued at $6,400.0 million in 2017. The
total international market volume (operating
profit and TOP5 market player’s
capitalization) for online dating services in
2018 amounted to $ 8.6 billion
❑4.7%
CAGR
The global market is projected to reach $9,202
million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.7% from
2018 to 2025
❑1.7B USD
COVID-19
Revenue in the online dating segment is
projected to reach only US$1,754m in 2020,
leading significant decrease in total market size
 Market players share

Tinder is the main revenue generating app for

Match, accounting for $1.15 billion of Match’s
total of $2.05 billion revenue in 2019 – 56% in
Tinder total
eHarmony
30% 32%
Plenty of Fish The company has since expanded its services,
Match.com offering new options for same-sex couples and those
seeking personal dating counselors. It generates an
Ok Cupid estimate $900 million in annual revenues, although
4% Grindr exact figures are unknown as it remains private
5% 14%
Others
5% 10%
In July POF was acquired by Match Group, an
IAC/InterActive subsidiary, for $575 million in cash.
Match Group had purchased a number of dating
services over the previous six years, including How
About We and OkCupid.

OkCupid has achieved eight consecutive quarters

of around 10% year-over-year growth
Your Logo Here 4
New markets to launch on
Market overview
EXPLORE ▪ Focused on outsourcing in the field of
development and innovation;
▪ Separated geographically from other
markets;
▪ Average industry growth 2014–2019
was about 6.8% that was in line with
the global one

Market overview
EXPLORE
▪ German-speaking countries are a hotly
contested market for online dating sites;
▪ More than 11 million users regularly
visit dating websites – attracting ever
more service providers to the hotly
contested German market
Market overview
▪ Eight out of ten Brazilian internet users
EXPLORE surveyed said that they have an account
on dating app;
▪ The share of people in the South
American country who said they used
social network has increased to 27%
 Revenue in 3 years

In one day In one year In three years

$4 845 $1 000 000

$1 134 225
20-25 hours a week on
The average revenue
dating apps, according
(without outlined Tinder) Take our annual revenue
to a new survey conduc
in one minute (globally and multiplied by the
ted by Business Insider
on the market) in 2019 average rate of growth
was 57$. 22,5 hours in a week on the market (6.5% yea
multiplied by 3 420$ rly, in 2019)
The average revenue for for an hour is equal to
one hour is around around 77 000$ in a 1 000 000$ +(1 000 000$
3420$. one single month * 6,5%) = 1 065 000$
in two years
The average surveyed Calculate average
person spends around 85 revenue for the first 1 065 000$ +(1 065 000$
minutes daily at online year of our new site on * 6,5%) = 1 134 225$
dating services the market- around in three years
1 000 000$
 Business plan
Work force presents the OPEX will force us to
biggest part of our
expenditures since different 55% 14% spend at least 14% of our
budget on software,
types of specialists should advertising, office expenses
be invited into the process Unexpected Main Expenditures and legal fees
Expenditures
2% Fixed Assets
12%
Marketing
Expenditures OPEX
17% 14%

Work Force
55%

Advertising will be used

during all periods of Fixed assets expenses relate
development process. The to office purchase, taxes and
reason to spend money on 17% 12% fixed costs of maintenance
marketing is to target
audience and promote our
services
Your Logo Here 7
 Marketing budget
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a series of tasks that ultimately determine
where our website ranks on search engines for a
keyword. We can expect to pay an upfront cost A
(between $3,000 and $9,000), in addition to a monthly
maintenance fee (approximately $200 to $500 per
month, on average)
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
We can find PPC ads on the sidebar of Google search B C
engine result pages, the bottom of YouTube videos, and on
B
banners and footers on many websites. We will pay for
every ad clicked. Prices can range from $100 per month to
$1,000 per month, and higher D E
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Conversion rate optimization can increase website
conversions with call-to-action (CTA) tactics like landing C
pages. A single A/B test package for CRO generally ranges
from $300 to $600
Content Marketing
Customers tend to favor businesses that produce memorable content. Customer trust is
established with information that people can depend on. Infographics can cost at least $500 to D
produce a single graphic, while video production can reach rates of $3,000 to $5,000
 Traffic. Cost and purchase
Traffic
Site traffic is the total number of visitors who came to our web resource for a certain time. Its
sources can be search engines, social networks, various Internet resources (blogs, forums, etc.) and
direct visits (browser bookmarks, manual entry of the site address in the address bar)
Why do we need traffic?
Attracting visitors is the key task of any dating site.
0
1
High-quality targeted traffic allows us to expand our TRAFFIC
customer base for companies, increase sales to online
stores, and increase advertising revenue for info portals.

The cost and purchase:

0
2
According to information presented in analytical reports,
most online dating sites bought traffic from HitLens. The HitLens
main advantage of this company is the fact that they offer
one single fee for all countries and sites
HitLens
0 HitLens monthly cost consists of a $9.95 set fee and a
3
potential fee for extra pageviews $9.95

Cost
0 Power plan - 16,000 pageviews, eCommerce plan – 12 SUBSCRIPTION
4
000 pages views
 Traffic difficulties

Avoid Bots 1
The negative association with buying web traffic comes from

1
shady websites that send hundreds or thousands of bots to
our site in exchange for some cash. Bots can’t exactly use
our services, so we should not waste our marketing budget
here.

Skip the Bad Links 22

Buying shady backlinks is another method we should avoid at all costs.
Links from untrustworthy sites may seem like a quick way to boost the
flow of traffic, but they can do real damage to our SEO. Too many bad
links and we might get slapped with a penalty from Google

Convert That Traffic 3

The whole point of buying traffic is to convert it. While buying traffic
might make it seem like we’re just trying to get visitors, we must
remember the reason behind the purchase. Be sure when we buy
website traffic that it places us in front of our target audience.
 Revenue distribution: IOS vs Android
IOS vs Android

IOS ANDROID
Experian reports iPhone Android users spend more
users spend an average of 26 Your Picture Here Your Picture Here time talking and Web
more minutes per day with surfing, and Apple users
their device than Android spend more time texting
owners. Simply stated, the online, emailing, visiting
average purchase per user on web dating applications and
IOS platforms are more than social networking
double Android’s Contents

Average in-app purchase Warner Brothers approach

For any paid apps or subscription-based
IOS receives twice as much apps, both Apple App Store and Google
profit as Android Play store work with 70/30 revenue
 Monetization mechanism
Freemium Passing gifts
Freemium method is free in the Users get more engaged when they
basic/light version. Additionally, all connect with other users and passing
additional options can be purchased gifts will help them to increase
for a fee communication

Rewarded content
Free Trial TOP A form of ad-based
The idea behind Free Trial is Monetization monetization in which users
that the user gets access to schemes are offered to complete an
all the features of the action and get a certain in-
application during the trial app benefit in return
period. It is usually 30 days

Subscription In-app purchase

This monetization strategy involves Instead of charging for our
the purchase of useful content content regularly, we can create
provided by our application after a premium content that requires a
trial period. The program gives single-time payment to unlock
users access to other profiles in a
limited amount
 Reasons for these mechanisms
Freemium Passing Gifts
We can add price value on those gifts and users will buy
The main advantages of this strategy that
these gifts from the gift store while sending the links to
freemium applications attract many loyal users other users. In the big picture, it will allow us to create
who are ready to use it for months The Freemium maximum revenue by purchasing or selling the gift items
principle is very flexible and suitable for most across our application.
dating applications that just entering the market.

Subscription Rewarded Content

This model can be used by relative new In the case of our app, in order to access
applications that do not have several million some extra features, like the boost of their
users yet, but they have valuable information profile, users have also the option of
that interested people will want to acquire. watching a Rewarded Video instead of
The main advantage of this strategy that subscribing to the premium edition of the
subscription provides a steady cash flow app.
from users and motivates us to provide
interesting and relevant content

Free Trial In-app Purchases

The main pro of this method is the fact that free The main advantages of such monetization
trial period allows you to evaluate all the schemes are flexible monetization model,
advantages of our application from user’s point optimal new dating applications and in-app
of view. purchases can increase user loyalty to our brand.
 In-app purchases. Improvements

Interstitials Video ads Native ads

Banners

This is the most For example, in terms of

Ads that interrupt the Native ads are ads
common type of user loyalty, they can be
interaction with the app that look like part of
advertising.
and require some action skippable and an app’s interface or
Banners often unskippable. If a video
(either close the ad or content. A vivid
have the lowest lasts 30 seconds, then
click on it). As a rule, example is
CTR and, as a the skip button usually
this is a full-screen ad. Facebook ads.
result, CPM. But appears after 5 seconds.
Most often, it is shown These ads look
at the same time, If the video lasts 15
either at the app launch natural in the app
they have the seconds, then most often
or during some event in and, in most cases,
highest fill rate it is unskippable
it do not annoy users
 Infographic Style
Get in Touch with audience Create a promo video
The main idea behind this We make it creative, funny,
technique is to present the real thought-provoking. Tell a real
numbers of successful rate received story that lies behind this
during pre-launching period (what process and hard work. Keep in
is the percentage of people who mind, users appreciate that
actually met somebody in real life
or have long-lasting relationships Post on Pinterest
We use blog images,
Optimize our email signature infographics and visual
content from our app to
We make it creative, funny, create content on your
thought-provoking. Tell a real Contents Here
Pinterest board. We can
story that lies behind this even use happy customer
process and hard work. Keep in photos or hold contests
mind, users appreciate that

App Store Optimization (ASO) Use a Real Blog to Promote the App
We simply ask users to write a good This is one of the best techniques to
review and rate our app after they have promote good content and bring in
completed a task or surveyed. This will significant returns. Identify bloggers
make our app trending and people will who write on niches that relate to our
naturally start downloading it app
 Payment options for “WHALES”
Creation and
optimization of bundle Make Them Refer
prices
Rewards
Add Purchases One of the best examples of this is
A solution for setting our in–app
that we would reward whales with
purchases is to determine a price
more premium options for
for our services. In this case it is
watching videos or allowing
crucial to know our audience
banners in their profiles for a
minute
Trends Good Bad
Efficacy Efficacy
A survey made by AppAnnie for
Revenue
Monetization Trends shows that We will receive additional income
2% – 5% of monthly active users not only from whales, but also
are willing to make in – app from advertising provided with
purchases some kind of cashback for big
players

The term "Whale" is borrowed from the casino industry, where it is used
to describe a rich gambler who bets extraordinarily large amounts
of money. In online dating industry, this term refers to a person who
can spend a large amount of money on different services and, in total,
accounts for 50% of revenue
 Final Points

CONCLUSION CONCLUSION
Drive factors
Main channels
The two main channels for using The market is expected to be driven
online dating services are dating by various growth-enhancing
websites and dating apps. factors such as rising internet
Furthermore, on the basis of penetration, increasing smartphone
devices, online dating has been penetration, rising single adult
divided into mobile and desktop. population, changing perception of
Revenue models for online dating online dating
are divided into membership
subscription and freemium, trial and
in-app purchases