SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zoosk, a leading technology-driven online dating company, released today a study uncovering simple tips for making dating profiles stand out and get attention, just ahead of what many consider peak season for Americans signing up for online dating sites. Zoosk studied a sample of nearly 4,000 members in the United States to learn the most effective ways to construct an online dating profile to ultimately increase inbound messages and response rates to the messages they send.
Over the past three years, Zoosk has consistently seen a more than 25 percent increase in signups of U.S. users during the two weeks after Christmas as compared to the two weeks prior, as Americans make New Year’s resolutions to find relationships. With 36 percent of American adults who are single and actively looking for a partner turning to online, according to Pew Research’s 2013 study, there is no better time to make some key profile adjustments in anticipation of the busiest online dating season of the year.
“What makes Zoosk unique is our technology-driven platform, which gives us the ability to learn from our members’ clicks and interactions to match our members with singles they’re likely to be mutually attracted to,” said Shayan Zadeh, Co-Founder and CEO of Zoosk. “We looked at our anonymized data to better understand how singles can optimize their profiles. We looked at the three main elements– pictures, profile text and message content – to see how to create the most effective online dating presence. Data drives everything we do at Zoosk, and we want our members to have the best information to help them find love in 2014.”
Highlights of the study include:
User Pictures
- Full-Body Shot > Head Shot. Users who share full-body shots in their main photo receive 203 percent more messages than the average Zoosk user, and are 33 percent more likely to get a response to their outgoing messages.
- Not all selfies are created equal. Men who use a selfie photo get 8 percent less incoming messages and get 6 percent less responses to their outgoing messages, while women who use a selfie get 4 percent more incoming first messages than average.
Profile Content
- Highlight your hobbies! Members who mention hobbies like jogging, yoga, piano playing and reading in their profiles receive 15-21 percent more incoming messages from potential matches, depending on the hobby.
- Keep it short and sweet. Profiles with 100 to 200 words receive 10 percent more messages, and users with positive identifiers, such as confident and outgoing, receive 23 percent more incoming messages and 4 percent more replies to their outgoing messages.
Messaging
- Use spellcheck. Profiles with simple spelling errors (i.e. teh, ur, dont, im, etc.) get 13 percent fewer responses.
- Dear Men: “Pillow talk” isn’t that attractive. Messages containing any of the words ‘hot’, ‘sexy’, or ‘cute’ are 44 percent less likely to get a response; even messages from men with the word ‘beautiful’ have a 13 percent lower response rate.
More than 25 million global singles use Zoosk’s website and apps - including the #1 dating app for Apple products - to meet members with whom they’re likely to discover mutual attraction. Zoosk’s Behavioral Matchmaking™ technology uses a series of algorithms to take a “big picture” look at what members are actually interested in for a potential love match, versus solely relying on user questionnaires and filters.
To view the full study and accompanying graphic, please visit blog.zoosk.com.
To learn more about Zoosk’s Behavioral Matchmaking™ technology, visit www.zoosk.com.
About Zoosk
Zoosk is a leading online dating company that learns as you click in order to pair you with singles you’re likely to be mutually attracted to. Zoosk’s Behavioral Matchmaking™ technology is constantly learning from the actions of over 25 million members in order to deliver better matches in real time. With the #1 grossing online dating app and a top 20 grossing app overall in the Apple App Store, Zoosk is a market leader in mobile dating. Available in over 80 countries and translated into 25 languages, Zoosk is a truly global online dating platform.
