Any good marketing tips

Hi,

I have recently opened a new dating site based on Dolphin 7.1. I am trying to advertise it on Facebook and Google Adwords. As you can guess, they love to rip you off with high CPC bids. I know that dating is a competitive business and you certainly need a lot of members to make money. For those of you who have been running dating sites for awhile, can you please share your knowledge with newbies like me regarding to where to advertise/promote your sites?

Thank you.

I would say it completely depends on what sort of dating site it is! 

Is it general or niche?

If its general then you are up against a lot of competition and marketing will be difficult.

If its niche, then look to where the niche users can be contacted...

It's a dead business for late comers.

I don't agree with this.
If  you come up with a brand new design and create a one of kind site people will join.
if you ever hit the top... only time will tell.

Stick to a great concept and make it better and better!! don't overkill your site with to much features.
Ask for members feedback. 

 Good luck :-)

Unless you have a completely new dating concept or a Niche with very little competition then do not touch dating sites. You will be throwing your money and time down the drain. Either way, for marketing, you will need a budget big enough to buy a small country.... If you aint got the cash spare to advertise on a huge scale then you are sunk...

Soz... but I say it as it is : )

How about a dating site for celibate people!

Don't think thats been done yet...

I don't think anyone has answered my question yet. I asked where to promote it, not if I should get into the business or not. No one knows how much budget I spared for this. What if I say I have 1 million dollars to advertise it, do you still think the business is dead?? If so, then maybe Boonex should be also closed.  Being pessimistic about this won't get me anywhere even if the competition is high. 

If you have 1 million $, then I can help you spend it on great marketing ;-)

Seriously, though, you haven't given much to go on for advice...

What niche if any does your site fill?

What links do you have to people / communities / organisations etc in that niche if any?

Are you looking for online marketing, print marketing, people marketing... there are lots of ways to market a website, but choosing the one that will work for you depends on you and who your site is aimed at, as well as what you are willing to do yourself to market it.

Or you can just do the way most people do, give your 1 million to google, facebook etc... and they will guarantee you first page listings with all the people who you need to see your website... of course.

Tell us a bit more about what it is you are marketing, other than just another dating site...

I dont think it is that we are being pessamistic, just realists. To have any chance you really would need a budget of $1m. The big companies probably spend that each month on advertising and still have trouble competing with eachother.

Howeaver, if you site is a niche site then you need to find out where abouts on the net members of that niche hang out, and then hit the advertising there. If it is a general dating site (not gay or fettish or similar) then you will need to hit FB advertising - but not normal FB ads - You would need expensive sponsored ads or the ads that greet every member on the sign in and out screens. Google ads would be worth while if you didnt do it cheaply... #

I think this is why a niche was recommended, because it is easier to locate, get to and influence your target market.

My main tip - join all of the other dating sites, research the shit out of them, check their business records, marketing budgets and stratergies (at company house) and look very closely at where and how they advertise.

Also, make your site have two membership options - standard and premium. The get Antons membership vouchers module. The go to the largest groups on FB and drop free upgrade codes into those groups - it can encourage sign ups.

Mainly target women - If you have lots of women on your site then the men will come naturally looking for them!!!

I have personally spent over £30 000 on a site and advertising, that does not guarantee success - believe me - I wish it did. But, like everyone else, I do wish you luck.....

Nathan

SocialMonkee is a great place to start add a url and it will create backlinks to your website . You can add a new url everyday . start create 2nd level backlinks . You will want to creat other backlinks as well but this a powerful tool that will only eat up a few mins a day once you get the hang of it.

 Cheap cheating with backlinks is not really good for success. It's basically the same as to order a million of FB likes or tweets: they could disappear tomorrow and you'll be ashamed. 

In order to advice anything, we need to know what kind of dating website you have and what country is your main target.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but for mentioned here 1M you can get something pretty good...

http://www.timessquarenyc.org/advertising-sponsorships/digital-screens-billboards/index.aspx

the links do not disappear they remain there its a good deal and did wonders for my clickbank sales. they are also dripped over a number of days not placed all at once. these days linking and content is how you rank.