Have you ever tried to figure how an online dating website or a dating app like Tinder reached millions of users within months of its launch? Do you ever envision creating such an app? Well if you do and you are willing to become a dating website developer, then you should be aware of the facts behind the astounding success of apps like Tinder.
The success of dating apps depends upon certain primary factors which are outside the basic features of the app. These factors actually belong to the external environment of the app.
Extrinsic Factors
- Population
Critical mass is the most important factor for any social app. For a dating app, it becomes more important as the lack of dating options to choose from becomes negative for the users. Critical Mass is the minimum number of users required to keep the app functioning.
- Gender Balance
Another important factor is gender balance. It is a crude fact that the success of a dating app largely depends on the number and percentage of female users using it. The larger number of women automatically attracts more men to the app.
- Social App Status
This is also an important factor for the success of an app. If an app has all the good features but has a relatively tawdry social image, the app will not achieve desired or even deserved success. Social image depends upon the type of the majority of users using the app.
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Besides these external factors there are some intrinsic factors to the app which play a crucial role in the success of the app:
Intrinsic Factors
- UX and UI
For any app User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) is very important. Every first thing about the app matters to the user. The first look, the color scheme, the location of buttons on the screen, etc together create an experience that motivates (or not) a user to revisit the website or app.
- App Features
The number of attractive features on the app determines its popularity among the users. Gamification and other attractions can be added to increase user delight with the app.
- Data safety and Privacy
In today’s environment, privacy and security of information are the biggest concerns for anyone revealing his/her personal details on the social app. Better security features make the app more trustworthy increasing the user base.
The combination of all these features makes an app successful among the users. But the question of reaching the Critical Mass remains unanswered.
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How To Reach The Critical Mass
Some simple steps were followed by Tinder which reached half a million active users per month within the first six months of its launch. These steps can be replicated by any dating app to achieve Critical Mass in a given time.
Some of the methods to achieve the Critical Mass for a dating app are discussed here:
- Target Marketing
Tinder followed the simple ‘one university at a time’ approach of Facebook in a start. Instead of a massive nationwide launch, the app started from a specific customer base. It focussed on sororities and other such fraternities to gain initial publicity.
To achieve similar results, it is advisable that instead of launching a nationwide app and wishing that it catches up with people, the app should be launched for a niche group. The initial target population can be selected based on geographical location or similar interest groups across a larger area.
- Pre-market
It is important for a dating app to pre-market itself before the actual launch. The day the app must be actually launched, it should have a sufficient active user base to ensure user engagement.
Tinder popularised itself with sororities and engaged as many women users as it could. This fact not only attracted more male users at launch but also increased the reliability of the app.
- Create Addiction
The apps which have features that are addictive are more likely to succeed than others. Tinder provides a left or right swipe option to reject or select any match by the user. It becomes an addictive habit for the user who, when gets bored starts seeing profiles and swiping.
If the app has similar features in form of Gamification or additional features like suitable match notifications to create a habit in the user so he is compelled to check it at regular intervals.
- Safety and Social Validity
Simply validating the phone number and email id or providing an option to connect with the Facebook profile gives credibility to the app by keeping the fake profiles out. Tinder lets only matched profiles chat with each other. This prevents a flood of unwanted messages for any user.
Besides these common Dating mobile app solutions, there are always some app-specific initiatives that can make the app unique and stand out in a crowd of innumerable apps. The only key is to know your target users and keep adding features to keep your app up-to-date in the market.
Jignesh Vagasiya
Jignesh Vaghasiya is CEO at Universal Stream Solution LLC. USS LLC provides the best Mobile App Development and Web Development Service.