Online dating through websites and apps is no longer considered unusual. It has become a normal part of modern dating culture and is no longer just a niche hobby. According to the Pew Research Center, three in ten American adults have used a dating website or app at least once. And among adults under 30, that figure reaches 53 percent. What does this tell us? Dating brands now have access to a vast audience. But the larger this audience becomes, the higher its expectations rise. With such a vast selection, users instantly compare countless options, noticing every detail: irrelevant matches, suspicious profiles, poor moderation, or a confusing system of paid features.
Growth teams should view this more as a business challenge rather than just a product issue. A dating app can drive downloads or buy traffic, but it can still waste budget if users aren’t willing to fill out profiles, start conversations, or return later.
A large market does not guarantee easy growth
While dating apps have opened up new opportunities, they also face a host of challenges. Users are growing weary of online dating. Sensor Tower estimates that in the third quarter of 2024, global downloads of such apps fell by 9 percent compared to the previous year. Growth in the monthly active user base also declined: by 3 percent. In the U.S., the situation is even less encouraging: downloads fell by 14 percent, and growth in the monthly active user base by 8 percent.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that people have lost interest in online dating. Rather, they’ve become more selective. What matters most to them now are safer spaces, better matches, and spending less time on fruitless pursuits. For marketers, the priority is shifting: audience relevance comes first, and reach comes second.
User acquisition teams should also pay attention to and analyze more than just the total number of installs. A dating app can test search ads, paid social, creators, app store campaigns, affiliate partners, or a dating cpa network when it needs new users. What matters most is what happens after registration. Each channel should be judged by that outcome:
- Do people fill out their profiles?
- Do they come back?
- Do they send messages?
- Do they behave like real users?
- Do they help make the app feel safer and more active?
Trust as part of marketing
As a user, do you trust all advertising campaigns? Well, trust is a key indicator. If a user suspects the presence of spam, fake accounts, or weak security measures, they will always hesitate before signing up. Conversely, if clear rules, honest advertising, verified profiles, and a simple complaint system are visible from the start, the app immediately inspires more trust and seems safe.
But the risk is very real. For example, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported 64,003 complaints of romance scams in 2023. It was reported that total losses amounted to $1.14 billion, with an average loss of $2,000. Since dating apps are closely tied to emotions, users’ personal data, privacy, and money, security directly impacts growth.
The number of downloads does not equal the quality of the app Â
Although the number of downloads looks impressive in a digital report, it doesn’t always mean that users are actually making good use of the app.
You also need to consider:
- Whether users have completed verification
- Have they given their first like
- Have they sent their first message
- Did they return after a week
- Were there any complaints or blocks
These metrics show just how effective a particular campaign really is. It’s very easy to confuse noise with real growth when reports show high download numbers, but users aren’t engaging with the app at all. Cheap traffic can also harm the product. By attracting people who aren’t actually the product’s target audience, it increases the workload on moderators, lowers the quality of user matching, and makes it harder to find genuine connections.
Useful Scenarios for Growth Teams
A dating app can use paid acquisition to expand into a new city or country. It can also test specific audiences: young professionals or people looking for serious relationships. Another option is product education. If the app introduces verification, video profiles, or privacy settings, the marketing team can explain to users in advance why these features matter.
A good campaign integrates marketing with the product. The marketer must understand which channel drives active users. The product manager, in turn, needs to see at which stage people drop off during registration. The moderation team needs to know which campaigns generate the most reports.
Match Group provided a good example when, in 2024, Hinge’s direct revenue reached $550 million, representing 39% year-over-year growth. This result is achieved not only through traffic. It also depends on the product experience, which retains and brings back the right users.
A Healthy Growth Model
Dating apps give people the chance to meet others, but they retain them only through trust. Therefore, growth should be based not just on the number of sign-ups, but on the quality of users, a clear onboarding process, safety, and reasons to come back.
