Matchmaking is one of the world’s oldest professions and in the current landscape; technology further accelerates and makes it easy for people to find friends, love, and relationships. The online dating industry has exploded over the in the last decade to an estimated value of $2 billion.
A growing number of people and especially millennials use the internet to look for love and relationships. Other factors that have led to ‘Online dating’ proliferation, is the wide use of broadband internet connections and greater security surrounding online dating.
The Online dating user trends clearly depict that nearly 50% of the users belong to the ‘marriage’ segment. “Socializing: being the second highest segment of users, especially in the Asian countries. “Casual relationship” is a growing segment wherein revenues are generated from people seeking casual, short-term relationships.
Leading online dating companies have been able to successfully take advantage of the rising smartphone adoption across the globe and the industry will continue to benefit from rising demand.
With growth comes stiff competition! Hence, the biggest concern for new entrants is how do they cut through the competition and stand out? How does a new business ensure maximum traffic and user engagement? While the questions can be daunting, the answer lies in simple ‘chat integration’.
Why have a Chat on Your Dating Website?
Conversation interface (chat and messaging), conversational UX, in-app chat are some of the popular buzz words that are being used in “business digitization’ more than ever. ‘Conversation as platform’ is the now and future of every online business.
Why is this so? The answer is clear and simple, the human need for real-time communication has transformed from simple SMS texts to more interactive online interaction. It, therefore, does not come as a surprise that needs for personal online interaction is stronger for dating websites.
All dating sites focus on providing the best features for improving the dating experience for their users in an increasingly competitive market. Evaluating chat integration technique basis its features, benefits, and monetization capacity helps to get a clear picture of its significance.
Voice & Video Calls/Chats
Voice and Video Calls are a crucial part of the dating process, enabling a personal touch that plays a deciding role in the success of a match. Initially, the online dating websites and apps users were skeptical of giving their personal information including numbers, especially during the initial stages of the dating process. With chat integration, users can easily make calls (both voice and video) from within the app to other users to get this personal touch and also avoid divulging personal information.
There are different age groups on dating websites and some of them are still getting used to video as part of the online dating experience, but no one can deny the fact that video calls enhance the dating experience and ensure the better success of meeting the rights match. A combination of voice and video calls substantially improves the site user engagement and retention. It makes business sense for dating websites to integrate the feature and harness the ever-growing user base.
Voice Notes
Voice Notes is one of the key attributes that determine a person’s ‘attractiveness’. Vocal recognition is a powerful and underestimated tool which nonetheless plays an important role in selecting the ‘right match’.Dating apps and websites can cash on the power of ‘voice’ through voice notes that allow users to share small messages in the form of voice recordings and make the conversations more personal and intimate.
Real-Time Translate
Imagine if you could have a conversation with people sans boundaries! Real-Time Translate feature enables users to translate conversations to their preferred language in real time.While the text translations in more than 50 languages, a number of voice translations also makes connection easier. Connecting users across continents are now as easy as a click of a button.
Dating websites can use the real-time translate feature to tap in the global users and connect as and when the conversions happen. Incoming messages in chatrooms are converted to the native language set by the user in real-time. Suppose Tom is an American and wants to speak to Chloe from France and Isabella from Spain.
The conversations from Chloe and Isabella will instantly be translated into English and delivered to Tom so that Tom can have fruitful, real-time conversations with other users.
Push notifications
Users love living in an instant-gratification world of push notifications, as they embrace mobile dating apps/websites to make new friends, casually hook-up, or find a serious relationship. Push notifications keep the user posted when they receive a message enabling anytime anywhere communication. The feature keeps the users hooked for the next message with Push Notifications on Whitelabel Mobile App.
There’s no denying the fact that Push notifications trigger user attention. As soon as Tom sees a notification about Chloe wanting to connect, Tom might as well jump out of his bed with excitement. (just saying!)
File Sharing
With the introduction of the file sharing feature in dating websites, the user engagement and retention figures saw an upward sloping curve. Conversations get more interesting and fun with file sharing feature. Users can easily share personal pictures, holiday memories, fun moments, with one another and get more engaged in the long run. Websites looking at integrating the feature are sure to find a larger increase in their user base.
Monetization Techniques
Role-Based Access Control
Role-based access control or Simply put the “Subscription” is a common monetization method used by the online dating websites. Users can purchase either memberships or premium features on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. The premium features are restricted to certain users depending on what service they avail, thereby creating monetization channels. In other words, RBAC can also be used to create subscription level tiers within your users and they can be charged for access to premium features on the website giving you the opportunity to monetize and earn via the Chat Integration itself.
In-App Advertising
In-app Advertising allows a comprehensive monetization strategy for online dating websites. This is an important strategy for making non-paying members avail added services. However, the focus should be on providing a sophisticated advertising solution that doesn’t disrupt users’ interactions and doesn’t infringe on their privacy. Native advertising, which respects the form and function of the app, is one of the most powerful advertising solutions available for dating apps. According to popular study, native advertisements bear more fruits and revenue from potential customers when compared to traditional advertisement models. They are more direct and personalized and hence strike the right chord with users.
Credits Deduction Feature
Another significant method is the ‘Credits Deduction Feature’ that deducts credits from user accounts as and when they use Audio, Video, and Text Chat and other premium features. Introducing the credit deduction feature creatively enhances the user engagement and ensures retention of users on dating websites.
Benefits of Chat Integrations
Chat integrations enable fast and real-time experience including:
Real-time notifications to users about the incoming messages, increasing their engagement.
Contact list with who’s online indications, promotes group activity and longer duration of access.
Separate chat window or on-page interface provides privacy to the user.
The stories of some of the most famous dating websites including Tinder, Match.com, OkCupid, Chemistry.com, Meetic, Two, Ourtime.com and Chinese matchmaking site Zhenai makes it clear that they have been successfully able to address the social and physical barriers of forming new friendships and relationships.
The various features offered on the best dating websites just do one thing- enhancing the experience of people meeting and connecting with one other, without compromising on their security. Dating websites are fast moving away from ‘just dating’ to ‘social discovery’. It is a no-brainer that higher number of users and their long-term engagement leads to sources of revenue that every business can easily cash in.
Chat integration allows for cashing in on premium features, generating new revenue streams, while simultaneously improving user engagement and retention.
Team CometChat
