• 0

Marketoonist | Tom Fishburne

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne. Marketing cartoons, content marketing with a sense of humor, keynote speaking.

  • Campaigns
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Cartoons
  • Contact
  • Book
  • 0

social media engagement

January 31, 2016 4 Comments

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Marketers are increasingly eyeing Tinder, the dating and hookup app, as a potential advertising platform. With 50 million users and 1 billion-plus swipes, the numbers are attractive, particularly to reach Millennials. And as Brian Norgard, VP of Advertising at Tinder, put it, “If you think about the way Tinder works, with ‘like’ and ‘pass’, we have a really amazing signal for advertisers.”

Part of what attracts advertisers to Tinder is that level of engagement. “Swiping right” is how people make a relationship match on the app. And brands are salivating at the potential of consumers swiping right to engage with them.

But as with any rising social media network, brands can be tone deaf to context. They sometimes awkwardly barge in with a standard advertising approach and forget that users might not appreciate the intrusion. Just because Tinder is a high-engagement app doesn’t necessarily mean that people will want to engage with brands with the same intensity. Tinder may be hot, but it’s not a good fit for every brand.

Gap misfired last year by trying to run a guerrilla ad on Tinder. They created a Tinder profile with ad messages like “You’re invited to the pants party” and then “we’re taking 30% off all Gap denim” when people swiped right. Tinder responded by shutting it down. In the ads, Gap tried to use cheeky language to fit in to Tinder, but the approach felt totally disconnected from the mindset of daters scrolling through potential matches.

Contrast that with Bud Light’s #UpForWhatever campaign on Tinder. Their “spontaneous fun” platform is a good fit for Tinder and their brand fits naturally into the frame of mind of people using the app.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I imagine a lot of brands will try to make a Tinder connection in the next couple weeks. But in chasing social media engagement, it’s important to remember that engagement has to be earned. Consumers can swipe left as easily as they can swipe right.

Filed Under: advertising, social media

Get a new marketoon each week:

Previous Post Next Post

is it on brand?

ambush marketing

Browse similar cartoons in: advertising, social media

Browse By Category See All Marketoons

4 Comments

Join the Discussion
  1. Robbie says

    February 1, 2016 at 7:11 am

    Hate the fact that brands are using Tinder. To me it’s a dating app – more private media than social!

    Reply
  2. Jonathan says

    February 1, 2016 at 7:14 am

    At the fast pace of swipes on Tinder, I’m surprised this is effective at all. I’m curious at the payment model. Is it Cost per Swipe Right? or CPM?

    Reply
  3. Sean says

    February 2, 2016 at 4:58 am

    As the agency who conceived and executed the guerrilla campaign tactic for GAP, that had a ‘rebel’ and ‘the establishment’ swap roles for a day – we politely disagree with your POV. The issue, as indicated by our preliminary results and the language of the explanation from Tinder in shutting down our account, wasn’t user complaints or poor engagement, or lack of relevance. It was clearly an issue of us not paying to play. Having Tinder act as ‘the man’, kicking rebellious GAP off the network for a cheeky denim promotion they didn’t pay the toll on… is far more ‘earned’ by our estimation, than Bud Light’s recent campaign efforts on Tinder. And if the argument is predicated on what ‘right’ GAP had to venture into Tinder, given its other Social engagement, the last counts of Facebook have Bud Light at 7.4MM and GAP at 7.5MM likes, and GAP leading Bud Light in followers on Twitter too. So, it’s not a question of social engagement in other channels being the right of passage into Tinder. It’s whether you pay the cover charge. Tom, we’d love to buy you a Bud Light, and talk about it – if you’re #upforanything like that 😉

    Reply
  4. Bob Roach says

    February 15, 2016 at 7:53 am

    So the Tinder crowd basically told Gap to go swipe itself?

    (The bubbling cant of SM marketing makes the Tower of Babel look like a beacon of clarity.)

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Your Ad Ignored Here Book Image

15 years of Marketoonist compiled for your marketing pleasure.

Order Now

About Marketoonist

tom_image

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne a career marketer and cartoonist. Learn More...

Subscribe

Get a new marketoon delivered to your inbox each week.

 

Browse Blog Posts

Most Popular Cartoons Browse Categories

Marketoon Campaigns

contentmarketing

Content marketing with a sense of humor.

Learn More

Keynote Speaking

speakingworkshops

Insightful, funny, and visual keynote talks and workshops.

Book Tom to Speak

Search Blog Posts

Marketoons

Browse Categories

Get New Cartoons Weekly

About Marketoonist

Tom Fishburne is the Founder and CEO of Marketoonist, a content marketing studio that helps businesses reach their audiences with cartoons.

© 2021 Marketoonist

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.