When I first thought about writing on this subject I thought, “how funny is it that I’m learning business techniques from using a dating app, at that, Tinder”. However, within days of using the app I was more intrigued by what I was learning as a business owner versus swiping left or right. What makes it even more funny, I was discussing my new findings with my male friends. They all laughed that I was using Tinder to learn about business structuring more than its actual purpose of finding a date. They were like, only you would think of this.
Free Base
You can download the Tinder app for free. It doesn’t cost anything, besides storage space on your device. This immediately gets users to join in because they are able to use the platform without having to give away money; not knowing the ROI for themselves. What are you giving away to entice people to become a user of your service or product? I have seen a flurry of membership sites pop up in the last year, but when I go to learn more about them, I’m required to pay to find out more. Consumers have a desire to join. If they like your business and you did your part of reeling them in with great content, service, and product, while building trust, they will shop with you. I personally provide free content here on this site, in addition to, my social media platforms. This helps me “become an expert“, through the instillation of trust my audience gains, which in turn increases my production sells.
Visuals Matter
Before you can see someone else’s profile and get to know them, you’re only allowed to see their photo. You are judging them off a single photo they uploaded. Consumers base your business off your visual appeal, whether it be, logo, website, social media or more. We are a visual world and appearance matter even when it comes to your website and social media channels. As of right now, I am making sure all my websites, social channels, and other business aspects are cohesive with my brand, but most importantly, that they are pretty. Women love pretty things. On Tinder, I tend to swipe left when people have a blurry photo, too many people in their photo, or they don’t have a photo at all.
Upsell After The Hook
When I first joined Tinder, when it launched, you could virtually swipe left or right til you were blue in the face. In addition, you could go back if you swiped too quickly. Oh how the folks at Tinder learned that those were great bonus features. You are offered the free base of liking people, but for the company to make money those features had to sell. Basically your heart would shrink down in size after swiping so many times, then a pop up appears offering you to buy more credits or whatever they are.
Once you have built trust by providing them with free content or whatever they need. Next, you have to be visually appealing to their emotions and eyes. Now you have them circling your hook, so to speak. The upsell is how you reel them, in as well as, keep them as consumers or customers of your company. The free information should always have a pay for use option in connection to it. This is a tiered pricing model that you would implement for your business. They were free users and now you are converting them into paid loyalist.
Tinder may get a bad wrap from people regarding dating, however, the company taught me some valuable lessons when it comes to business. Even if they are simple, these three things are very important in running a business.
