Top 5 Marketing Steps to Build a Dating Business

Building a business is easier said than done. At least if you want it to last enough to make a profit and hopefully make a nice exit once you feel like retiring early (or using that money to start another business).

So today, we’ll list 5 steps everyone MUST take to build a profitable dating business. We won’t go into too many details on purpose to make the tips you’ll find below handy for those building dating platforms, organizing dating retreats, and dating coaches. No matter what part of the dating industry you want to penetrate, you won’t scratch the surface unless you have the 5 things below polished to perfection.

Plan Your Business

“The Art of War” must be one of the best business books ever written, even though it’s not about business.

And the first chapter in “The Art of War” is “Planning.”

Why?

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never know if you’ve reached your destination. Your business will forever be lost. Yes, it may make money, but money is a byproduct, not the goal. The goal is to serve your clients so well that they keep throwing money at you because they want you to keep doing what you do.

To get there, a business must have a plan.

And to create a business plan, you must know who your audience is so you can…

Choose a Profitable Niche

Regardless of whether someone is a dating coach or building a new dating platform, they must decide who they want to help. And those who try to help everyone usually help no one (unless they have basically infinite funds).

In dating, there are 2 main categories. Casual and serious. Both can be profitable if done well. Looking at a real one night stand platform that’s been on the market for years shows why that’s the vital step. They knew they couldn’t compete with massive generic dating platforms. So, focusing on a smaller audience (which is still massive) ensured a better dating experience for singles seeking one night encounters.

That’s clear from photos on their home site, copy on their entire website (and marketing campaigns they execute, but more about that later).

Marketing Campaigns

One of the most common mistakes business owners make is thinking that if they create something, their audience will find it. It’s a myth spread around by low-level business coaches and consultants.

With so many things being created in every industry, expecting an audience to find something is like hoping to win the lottery. Yes, it may happen. But will it happen? Most likely not.

That’s why marketing is so important. Even the most famous brands in the world invest huge percentages of their profit into marketing to ensure they stay in front of the audience’s face.

So, without well-rounded marketing campaigns that include channels your audience actually uses, you can’t expect to build a profitable dating site.

Email marketing, social media advertising, and content marketing are staple channels to reach new people. However, there are differences in that as well. Paying for ads or creating content may not give any ROI if not done perfectly. For example, there’s a massive difference between creating content that converts prospects into clients and content that no one ever consumes.

And to know if your efforts are futile, regularly analyze marketing data to refine strategies.

Data-Driven Decision-Making

Every industry changes quickly, so once you build a hookup site, you can’t forget about it if you want it to stay profitable. Users’ preferences sift quickly. To endure the everlasting changes, use analytics tools to gather insights into user behavior, preferences, and trends.

But don’t focus only on your dating business. Get your hands on as much data from your competitors as you can. One of the best ways to do that is to buy everything they have to experience their marketing and selling processes firsthand.

Monetizing Your Dating Site

There are a couple of ways to monetize a dating site. The one you choose should depend on your budget, audience pool, and what your competitors do.

You can make a site free to join and charge for a premium membership that unlocks all the features. That’s the most popular way. But you’d have to sell advertising space to build a 100% free hookup site.

However, to get any business to pay you for advertising them, you’d need to show data from which they can clearly see you have enough active members.

If we have to pick one out of those 2, we’d suggest you go with the first one for starters. Then later, you can maybe combine both.