Should online marketers begin dating?

Online dating is an incredibly fast-growing segment of the Internet. Dating sites received more than 2 million unique visitors from the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in Q1 alone. But, is that a good enough reason to advertise within dating sites?

Yes. If the ad is targeted correctly.

by Kristina Knight

According to a new study from comScore, one in every six people living in that region of the world visited a dating site in Q1, an increase of 3% from Q1 2006. Of the 2.2 million Nordic visitors, men actually visited datings sites more often than women. Match.com visitors were 53% male and 47% female, visitors to DKBN.DK were 63% male and 37% female and visitors to E-KONTAKT.SE were 61% male and 39% female. Though the numbers aren't staggeringly different, it is clear that ads could be targeted to men more than women.

As far as age, the majority of visitors to dating websites are primarily (67%) between the ages of 35 and 55.

With a wide range of ages represented in the visits to dating sites it seems clear that online marketers should tap in to this market. Travel marketers, automobile manufacturers and even entertainment (movie makers, book sellers and video game developers) would all benefit from this particular segment of the population. The age range and the fact that many visitors are male indicate a higher level of affluence. Studies have shown that affluent people are more likely to buy products or services online, making this a great target market for advertisers.

Tags: 35-55 age group, online advertising, online dating, targeted marketing

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I didnt think that match dot com was that close in male to female ratio, I had read somewhere that it was more like 70/30 but maybe it has change.... Great info jason

Posted by: Jason was here on May 27, 2007 02:46