Swipe Files - 📂 Tinder's unusual target users

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In an interview with TechCrunch, Justin Mateen, founder and former CMO of Tinder, said, “Go after the hardest users to get first… These can either be your worst critics or your greatest evangelists.”

For Tinder, that was college students. Sounds strange now but this was back when dating sites had a bad rap.

To start, the company sponsored a birthday party at the University of Southern Carolina. Entrance was free to anyone who downloaded the app. While only 400 people downloaded Tinder at the party, the app had 4k downloads within a week.

Next, the company focused on sororities and fraternities by going door to door to encourage students to sign up — turning potential critics into evangelists.

Steph Engle @Soengle @patrick_oshag I like Tinder’s - going to a frat and telling them all the sorority women were on the app, the going to the sorority and telling them all the frats were on the app. Patrick OShaughnessy @patrick_oshag What is the most clever customer acquisition strategy you’ve ever seen? April 21st 2021 2 Retweets 52 Likes

Baiting sororities and fraternities to use the app to get to each other is a stroke of genius.

The takeaway: While it’s tempting to go for the lowest-hanging fruit, going after your toughest user first (for Tinder, “users that seem like they almost don’t have a need for the product”) may pay off in the long run.

Especially in the early days when validation is still in question, going after your toughest user group first can be a great catalyst to validate demand if they show interest.

—Corey

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