What was Wrong
On-line dating is more than a cultural phenomenon. The segment
is one of the fastest growing on-line businesses today. According
to a March 2003 study conducted by comScore and the Online Publishers
Association, the Personals category grew 549.9 percent to become
the largest on-line paid content category among consumers in 2002,
surpassing even Business Content. In 2002, U.S. consumers spent
US$302 million on Personals/Dating content.
The challenge is to take the fastest growing company in Alberta
(Venture Magazine, February 2003) Vintacom Media Group Inc., and
maintain the momentum, growing the company to one of the dominant
forces in the on-line dating industry.
Vintacom operates two proprietary on-line dating site www.DreamMates.com
and www.SingleMe.com.
Maintaining unique visitor traffic and converting nonpaying users
to loyal Premium Members requires a multifaceted marketing approach.
Action Taken
A detailed competitor analysis was completed along with a marketing
strategy based on driving traffic to the site, converting users
and maintaining members. Regular Promotions were planned to achieve
these objectives.
Collateral Samples
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Valentines Week 2003
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Playing on a simple sentiment, easily associated with Valentines
Day, this promotion was implemented to drive the sale of credit
packages. Nearly double the number of units that were targeted
to be sold.
This ad was sent to all members via e-mail. Upon click-through,
members would be taken to a purchase page.
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Photo Promotion May 2003
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This Promotion encouraged users to post photos. Doing so
resulted in the user receiving a reward of a credit to be
used for communicating with other members.
This promotion, initially scheduled to run for two months,
exhausted the allotted 10,000 credits in just two weeks!
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Photo Promotion Two May 2003
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In response to the overwhelming response to the first photo
promotion, a second promotion was implemented as a thank you
to DreamMates members.
This promotion included an e-mail to members and a media
release announcing the success of the promotion. The allotted
5,000 credits were given out in four days!
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SingleMe Introduction April 2003
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SingleMe.com was introduced as a companion site to DreamMates.com.
The site is geared at attracting a slightly different demographic
from DreamMates in order to capitalize on the wide variety
of users in the on-line personals segment.
SingleMe is gaining steadily in unique visitors and is experiencing
steady sign-ups and traffic.
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SingleMe Photo Promotion May 2003
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As a member of the Vintacom family, SingleMe.com can take
advantage of cross- and integrated-promotional opportunities.
This promotion, allowing members to post more than one photo
ran on all Vintacom sites. Creative's were adapted to match
site demographics and styles.
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SingleMe Photo Promotion June 2003
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Customer conversion is key to the success of any Internet
site. Conversion is the point when a free user becomes a paying
user.
Offers such as this "Double your Credits" offer
aid in converting users by providing a call to action with
a limited time frame.
This offer (sent only to unconverted users) has been very
successful in achieving strong conversion.
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The Results
Vintacom Media Group Inc, and its related on-line personals sites
were constantly listed in the Top Ten on comScore Media Metrix (personals/directories
category) in 2003. These properties showed monthly gains and slowly
eroded away the bases of the major players in the industry including
Match.com (Nasdaq: IACI).
Saral Communications provided Marketing Strategy consulting
along with copy writing and promotional development in a effort
to maintain Vintacom's growth.
All images © Vintacom Media Group Inc. 2003
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