Most Swiped Man on Tinder.
There are a few titles I'd like. World's Richest Entrepreneur. Funniest Person on Earth. Most Viewed Article on the Internet. Now I had a new one to add to the list of titles I would never achieve (hmm, maybe that's a new one to aspire to, Most Titles Missed Out On).
The Most Swiped Man on Tinder.
I had to find out more about this guy. Who was he? How did he win the title of 'most swiped' and most importantly, what could I learn from him? Purely from a marketing perspective of course — I am in a relationship and my partner will be reading this!
Stefan-Pierre Tomlin was awarded the title of 'Mr. Tinder' in 2017 due to his prolific number of matches. He received over 14,600 over the previous two years, which sure is a lot of swipe rights! Given the large number of people looking for matches on dating apps, to be recognised as the most successful means Tomlin must be doing something right.
The first thing my research uncovers is that he is a model and a pilot. OK, they are two pretty big advantages. Pretty, pretty big. But delving deeper I could see he has put a lot of thought into his Tinder Marketing Strategy, many of which he shares.
And as marketers, creators, and writers, we can learn from him. Time for you to all swipe up and read along.
1. Images Project Your Image
Let's cut to the chase, on Tinder, people make a decision in a microsecond based on an image. So there is no doubt image is the most important part of a profile. The same can be said for an article, a social media post, an advertisement, pretty much any piece of visual content; it is the image that attracts eyeballs.
"You need to have a photo on a bright background — it pops for people as they're swiping through," Tomlin says. He makes sure to use two colours in almost all his photos, and in a boon for the Swedes reading this, it's yellow and blue that he recommends.
"People with blue in their photos — whether that's graffiti or the ocean or bright blue skies — get more swipes than others." The other thing he recommends are photos that are a little unique and not too posed.
The cover photo I used for this article illustrates the use of colours. The yellow background catches the eye, and the colours of his shirt are vibrant without being too distracting. And yeah, he is good looking. But still, the colours work well, and by doing something a little different in the photo, he creates curiosity.
Swipeable advice for creators
Go beyond the usual stock image photos that so many people use. If you are using Unsplash, you need to move past the first couple of pages and see what hidden gems lie towards the back. Or you can use Canva to create or modify your images.
2. Characters Cut Through Cluttered Content
"Have a bit of character on your bio, definitely, there's no point in just being good looking in photos if you're bland to talk to. I always look for personality — someone who can have a laugh."
The image draws attention and gets people to dedicate some time to check out your product or content. Now you need to keep their attention. This is where your intro needs to hit home. Hard and quick. People are scrolling through so much content; you need a line to get them to stop.
Tomlin advises going for something "short, catchy and funny (or) put one of your cheekiest, favourite jokes in there." He believes being funny and intriguing gets someone to want to find out more.
Swipeable advice for creators
Have a look at the posts or articles that make you stop and read. What is it that draws your attention, and what can you incorporate into your content? For me, I try to think of a unique, quirky way to introduce my articles and attempt to inject a bit of humor in them. Attempt being the operative word.
3. You Need to Spread the Love
My Uber driver last night told me he works for four different ride-sharing companies. (His car dashboard looked like a call centre he had so many phones going.) He told me this gives him four times the opportunity to get clients, giving him an advantage over those who just drove for Uber. Maybe he was a fan of Tomlin as this is a strategy that he also advises.
While Tomlin ruled Tinder, he didn't just rely on only one platform to find 'love.' He says you need to keep your options open and not just use one app.
Tinder may be the number one app in the online dating world, but there are many others, and ignoring them would be to ignore a big segment of the market.
Swipeable advice for creators
If you are a writer, don't just rely on the one platform to publish on, work across multiple. The same goes for content creators. In fact, any freelancer should be spreading the love and have their fingers in a few different pies. Relying on just one platform or channel is far too big a risk to take.
4. Assessing the Numbers Will Get You More (Phone) Numbers
With his looks and profession, I didn't expect Tomlin to have to do much more. He had the photo and the interesting bio, now he could just sit back and watch the notifications come in.
But that is not how you earn the title of Mr. Tinder. He looked at stats, did some research, and had a strategy based on the best time to swipe. He found that Sunday afternoons were the best time to match as 80% of Tinder users are online on Sundays.
"Sunday at 2 pm is the peak time. It's because everyone is so hungover, feeling a bit sorry for themselves and literally everyone is indoors on their phone — especially in the winter."
Sunday was also the day that people planned the week ahead and tried to lock in dates. It was the optimal mind to be online and ready to engage. In effect, he was reaching consumers when they were making their purchasing decision.
He also logged onto Tinder at 10:30 p.m. every weeknight. "When people are scrolling through Instagram right before bed, they're gonna have a cheeky look at Tinder too. "
The man certainly optimised his time online.
Swipeable advice for creators
If you aren't looking at stats, you aren't doing yourself any favours. Look at which days of the week get you the best results. Narrow that down further into the time of day. Mix it up to see what works best.
Most online platforms provide detailed analytics, and you should be poring over them and perfecting your timings.
5. Zuckerberg Is Always Watching, so You May As Well Leverage Social Media
I'm still not sure whether Mark Zuckerberg is an AI robot, a Russian spy, or a brilliant entrepreneur. Perhaps a mix of all three. What I am sure of is that he watches every move you make. And this includes online dating.
Tinder uses your Facebook and Instagram information to collect information and utilise that to decide what users you see. Tomlin took full advantage of this.
"Tinder goes by the Facebook algorithm so if you 'like' a page — let's say, the Lamborghini page — it will match you with people who like Lamborghinis on Facebook first." So Tomlin would like certain pages that would impact his future matches.
Swipeable advice for creators
Using social media is necessary for all marketers and content creators. For writers, they should be using author tags where possible. This makes it easy for Facebook readers to start following the author of an article they just read and enjoyed. Information on how to set this up can be found on this Facebook Media page.
Another useful strategy that is more closely aligned to what Tomlin does, is to like pages related to topics you write about and then engage with posts from community members. You don't want to be too self-promotional, but you can reference your work where it's relevant to a discussion topic.
6. Build a Brand, Baby
Tomlin has parlayed his title into a brand. Initially, he thought it was all a bit of a joke and after his 15 minutes of fame, he would join the ranks of quickly forgotten internet sensations. But he decided to leverage the publicity and marketing opportunities and create a brand while he had the chance.
He became a guru on dating advice and how best to use dating apps. He released a single called Swipe Right. It's about as good as you would expect, but at least he tried.
Warning — bad music alert below.
He kept his name in the spotlight and went on TV dating shows which made him even more recognisable. This helped his modelling career, and also his social media accounts took off. He even had his own personalised luggage.
Even three years after his title, he profits off his title. He was on my local news this week as he is coming to Australia and he aims to meet actress Margot Robbie. He certainly has extended his 15 minutes of fame as much as he can.
Swipeable advice for creators
Once you find success, have a plan in place to build on this. Whether this is a follow-up campaign or article or project, you need to strike while the iron is hot.
As a writer, when I have an article do well, I look for ways to build on it and create more content from the initial piece. This might be pitching follow-ups to the editors or looking at the same topic from a different angle. Sometimes I will repurpose it for a different platform. The very successful writers will turn their articles into books, podcasts, videos, and more.
Maybe next time, I can release a cheezy, poorly sung single.
7. At the End of the Day It's All About Your Marketing
I know what you are all thinking. With nearly 15,000 matches Tomlin must have spent most of his time in bed. While he had 20 women a day matching with him for over two years, he actually only had 15 dates in that time. For much of the time he was in a relationship (why he still kept matching on Tinder he doesn't say.)
Fifteen dates in two years is not a lot. However, with the title of Mr. Tinder and so many matches, the assumption is that he is a full-time lothario. He did nothing to dissuade that notion as it was best for his brand. He couldn't have activated many of the brand-building extensions noted above if he publicised the fact he didn't actually date. Instead, he followed the old marketing mantra that perception is reality. What consumers think about your brand is important, whether it is actually the truth or not.
Swipeable advice for creators
Marketing rules. Yes, I am biased as I studied and have worked in marketing. But it allows you to create a brand, a voice, a message of your choosing. Great marketing can often sell even the poorest of products.
Many writers use pen names. This allows them to write as a member of the opposite sex (i.e. JK Rowling/Robert Galbraith or my favourite, Benjamin Franklin who wrote as Mrs. Silence Dogood) or project a voice that is different from their own.
I know authors writing erotica and sexual stories under pen names as it allows them to create a different persona and voice to their own. As long as you can project that voice and write it well — then the perception becomes the reality. As content creators, we can project the reality we want our audience to see.
Mr. Tinder rarely dated but his online person and brand suggested otherwise.
The Most Swiped Man on Tinder not only has looks but it appears he has the brains to capitalise on his opportunity. And that's enough to make me swipe right on his marketing and creativity and use some of his insights.