Most guys feel a hormonal rush when they are about to approach a woman.

It puts them in fight or flight mode.

Heart beating, nervousness, change in walking steps, some even stutter and some have sweaty palms.

To seasoned players, it’s classic fight mode.

The hormonal rush is like a rush of blood to the head and it edges them on and motivates them.

To the rookies,  9 times out of 10, they run away.

Now, where do dating apps come in?

First of all, nowadays approaching people in real life is a massive problem for a lot of people, men and women inclusive – and that includes the seasoned pros and the rookies.

Humans hate getting rejected.

This is the biggest problem most people have.

Plus, there are lots of people with self-esteem issues.

Think of the nerds, the unpopular, the geeks, even the super-duper good looking guy or girl has insecurities too.

So, how do we come up with an approach that helps them without the embarrassment of getting rejected in real life?

Well, dating apps use a unique mechanism: they help you approach women (or men) without approaching them in the real sense of the word.

An app like Tinder or Badoo lets you put up your best looking picture.

Then gives you a suggestion of different women (or men) – you just need to swipe.

It’s like a buffet with different kinds of women (and men) – just kill & eat.

People can also be weird and type things they won’t naturally be able to say in real life.

They can even delete their chats or profiles if shit hits the fan.

A marketing story I once heard was that Tinder was launched on a college campus, and the marketing strategy was simple.

They went to the sorority houses and encouraged the girls to sign up.

And then they went to the fraternities and encouraged the guys to sign up (with the girl’s pictures onboarded already).

College is where you see lots of young lonely people (who might be leaving home for the first time in their lives) with a strong fear of rejection and a surge of hormones coursing through their veins.

It was a fucking classic move! 😁

So, if someone likes you and you like them, boom!

Job done!

There’s a match.

Secondly, the use of upsells.

They tell you to join and that the app is free.

Then you sign up and see a bunch of people.

Then they show you some blurred pictures (even though these pictures are blurred, you know the person in them is good looking) 😁

Then they tell you to pay for premium content.

Another classic move!

Rihanna once was asked how come she looked so pretty all the time.

She just laughed and said, “It’s just camera, lighting and angles.”

Now, this is something dating apps leverage (most times unknowingly).

Lemme explain.

Well, there are lots of people who look better in real life than in pictures, but they either don’t know or they are not so confident.

Here’s where dating apps come in again.

There are also lots of people who look better in pictures than in real life.

Well, here’s another place where dating apps come in.

So at the end of the day, they can easily carter to lots of different people and it’s a win-win for everyone.

So, what do we need to learn from dating apps while creating offers or making products?

1. Target your audience’s biggest frustration.

2. Build according to that frustration.

3. Use their frustration and sell it to them.

4. Bait them with free or a discounted value, then charge them a premium for more.

I hope this helps you.

– Uche

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