Tinder-owner Match gets high on pandemic loneliness and remote romance
Swipe Night is the new Date Night... Forget a five-course meal at Catch — the biggest date nights this summer were happening on Tinder. Match Group (aka: the Godfather of online dating) grew sales 18% last quarter as social distancing turned into social swiping.
- Average subscribers jumped 12% to nearly 11M, as the possibility of meet-cutes vanished. People shelled out more $$$ for premium swipey perks.
- Tinder's sales grew 15% thanks to Tinder Premium and virtual events like Swipe Night, which reeled in 15M viewers and record engagement.
- As the flirtiest of all stocks, Match is getting popular— shares are up 60% in 2020. But Tinder isn't its only asset...
Tell me about yourself... Over half of Match's sales come from Tinder, but non-Tinder brands saw the biggest growth last quarter. The shining star was Hinge, which more than tripled sales from last year and nearly 2X'd downloads. Before Match invested in 2018, Hinge downloads were dropping. Since Match took Hinge under its Cupid wings, downloads have consistently grown. Clever marketing campaigns like "Designed to Be Deleted" were key to that.
The focus is variety... To successfully penetrate the TAM (total addressable market) of singles around the globe, Match is going both broad and narrow. It's targeting specific markets with “demographic dating apps” like Chispa for Latinos/Latinas and BLK for Black singles. Given their success, it followed on with Upward for Christian singles. With variety, Match can attract users who want a more tailored experience (or don't like the sound of Tinder).