HomeBlog for TikTok Industry InsightsInfluencer marketing success storiesHow Bumble Uplifted App Installs By 5X with TikTok Marketing

How Bumble Uplifted App Installs By 5X with TikTok Marketing

Bumble App Installs Campaign TikTok

Bumble TikTok Marketing Strategy Revealed

For some, TikTok is a place to catch those new connections, meet new friends and develop and deepen relationships. To some, TikTok is a place to catch up with trends and an entertainment source. However, for Bumble, TikTok has been the platform to boost app installs with influencers, user-generated content, and direct response ads through TikTok Marketing.

It is undeniable that the creativity on TikTok is second to none. Their commercial platform currently offers users several features like self-self-serve ads and many great options that make advertising and marketing on the platform possible.

TikTok is particularly unavoidable when it comes to targeting Generation Z. Thanks to the playful and creative approach of the platform. It makes it possible to reach an otherwise difficult audience when using conventional marketing channels.

At House of Marketers, we are taking the initiative to help like-minded businesses stay abreast in the changing marketing landscape. However, in the following article, we discuss how the team behind the popular UK dating app, Bumble has made their digital footprint on TikTok.

TikTok Gen Xer wearing a blue denim jacket

What is Bumble?

While the pandemic damaged many businesses, with some even facing imminent closure, Bumble, the social connections app, came to TikTok to make a difference and connect with a new audience. Bumble is a dating app launched by Whitney Wolfe in 2014. Recently, in 2021, Bumble actually IPO’d (initial public offering) on the USA stock market.

In comparison, the app is conventional enough to be identified as a dating app. Nonetheless, it has unique features that stand out from its peers. One unique feature that makes Bumble different is, it gives women an upper hand in the dating space. The app is programmed such that when there is a connection, it is the woman who sends a message first to kick off communication.

According to Bumble, this reduces the large volume of unwanted messages that flock to women’s inboxes in dating apps and websites. While it is a place for men and women to connect, it is also a place for those looking to create new friendships, those looking for new business mentors, and business too. Bumble is simply a place where people come to make empowered connections, friendships, and new romances.

Bumble company profile and history

As mentioned, Whitney Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014, aiming to create an empowering digital dating space for women. She was initially one of the founders of Tinder – Bumble’s main competitor. But resigned from Tinder citing sexual harassment.

The dating app has since expanded exponentially. From its humble beginning, currently, the app is not only a dating platform but also a place for professional networking and friendships.

What makes Bumble unique?

One of the reasons Bumble is popular amongst its peers is its emphasis on bringing sanity in the dating and social interactions space. For instance, it has features that detect unrequested nude photos and give the user an option to choose or decline to view the images. In its latest features, the app can detect inflammatory language, racist, fatphobic and homophobic comments.

Once detected the comments go through an evaluation process. This could result in bumble serving the user a warning or flagging their account. Equally, they can ban the user from the platform if found guilty. It all depends on the heftiness of the violation.

young couple on a date

Bumble company performance and value

As discussed, Bumble went public in Feb 2021 and is now trading on the Nasdaq exchange under – BMBL. It has an estimated market cap of over $8.3 billion. The company surged in growth after going public. It was valued at about $3 billion. The company made $370 million worth of revenue in 2020, with its average annual revenue per user standing at $27.7.

In 2021 the company delivered impressive financial and audience growth. The total revenue, for instance, increased by 38%, the average pay per user increased by 20%, and the app revenue rose by 55%.

How Whitney Wolfe Built a Billion-dollar brand

Today Bumble has made headlines and history as a female-first app that defies traditional norms. With many successes to count on, what did it take Whitney to build this billion-dollar brand?

Originally, Whitney intended to create an Instagram-like competitor app, but Andrey Andreev (her co-founder) convinced her to venture into the dating industry. After establishing a working partnership, the duo recruited fellow Tinder departees Sarah Mick and Chris Gulcynski, who designed the Bumble interface and helped the app to launch. Since its launch in 2014, Bumbles’ primary marketing strategy has mainly relied on social media to make market inroads.

The company also relies on social networking. For instance, in the wake of COVID-19, the company initiated the Bumble Grant program. The social program aimed to help small businesses face the losses due to the Pandemic. Other methods include using brand ambassadors and event marketing.

Working with Influencers – A Bumble TikTok Marketing Campaign

@sarabellem5

I guess I’m giving dating tips now #bumble #hinge #dating

♬ original sound – 💘 Sara & Penny 💘

While the pandemic has made it difficult to grow, with some facing the imminent danger of closing down, on the contrary, several dating platforms gained mileage. They recorded better revenue and audience increase throughout the pandemic.

Specifically, there has been a sudden increase in video consumption throughout the pandemic. This has seen the rise of video-based platforms as potential alternative sources of entertainment and affluent channels for reaching out to the masses.

In particular, TikTok achieved massive growth in the pandemic, and Bumble took advantage of this. Five months before 2020, TikTok had just 1.5 billion downloads, which rose to 2 billion as of July 2021. With this massive growth, the stats point at TikTok as a potential fertile marketing and advertising destination.

Among the many brands leveraging TikTok to amass growth, Bumble is one of the brands with massive success at using TikTok to advertise and market their company.

A new advertising and marketing opportunity

With most in-person interactions moving digital, following the 2020 lockdowns, Bumble and TikTok partnered to create an alternative space for people to commiserate on their dating lives, get advice and keep the conversations going.

With that Bumble, aimed to inspire their users to express themselves and showcase their true personalities to make more quality matches on the app. Bumble came to TikTok to “lean into the authenticity that the TikTok community loves.”

The app exploited the available channels on TikTok and expanded its marketing mix for new users and subsequent profitability.

How Bumble saw 5X return with TikTok Marketing

a teenage lady chatting on TikTok on her Phone

Bumble’s transition into TikTok involved creating content that users could relate to, and interact with. The dating app cracked the code partnering with influencers and running direct response ads on TikTok.

The results were terrific. At its lunch in 2014, the app had 100,000 downloads in the first month of the launch; the figures have since soured way higher though. For example, the app was downloaded 19million times according to 2020 figures.

Furthermore, according to TikTok for business, the app saw unprecedented highs, with app installs hitting an impressive 5X increase and a 64% reduction in the cost per registration since their partnership with TikTok.

The app commands a 19% market share, coming second only to Tinder.  And according to Backlinko, 56% of its total worldwide downloads came from the Americas.

 

Gymshark TikTok followers - influencer campaigns

 

Tactics Bumble used to Uplifted App Installs through TikTok

A woman holding a phone and chatting using both hands

In an effort to seamlessly blend their content into TikTok, Bumble uses several tactics that involve working with notable TikTok influencers, creating relatable and user-based content, creating their trends, active community engagements, and posting consistently.

Collaborating with TikTok Influencers to Grow Bumble Massively

In the most recent, Bumble has had a keener interest in utilising influencers to position their brand on the global stage. The company partnered with TikTok creators like David Dobrik and Brittany Broski to create TikTok native content that resonates with their audiences.

While its main competitor worked with TikTok creators like Alaine Limjoco, who shared inspirational stories commiserating over their past dating lives, Bumble chose an alternative path.

Bumble launched their TikTok campaigns focusing on a variety of popular interests. Instead of influencers posting creatives about their dating lives, most of the influencers who made appearances on TikTok were inspirational creatives ranging from cooking advice to freestyle soccer tricks.

Additionally, Bumble used TikTok’s native app features, TikTok ads, and optimised in-app events to push their content to the right audiences.

Creating TikTok Trends when TikTok Marketing

Bumble’s first app install campaigns came during the period when dating habits on social networks were beginning to change. In particular, so much has happened, and video consumption ranks higher than other content consumption methods.

Subsequently, the company adopted this change in consumer habits. And its successes are testimony to brands using influencers to boost their campaigns and expand their reach through engaging TikTok videos. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, a survey carried out by HuffPost indicated that 11% of respondents want to spend at least 40% of their budgets on influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Accordingly, its market value is projected at 15 billion, an aggressive increase of about 8 billion from 7 billion in 2019. Isn’t that lucrative? Meanwhile, as a business owner or marketing manager, you can’t afford to miss incorporating the strategy in your next campaign.

Using user-based content to Boost TikTok followers

Bill Gates is famously known to have coined the phrase ‘content is king’, therefore working with an influencer is not enough. And with that, we are drawn to one critical question, ‘what value do you offer your audience?’

Indeed according to TikTok, Bumble’s content strategy “leaned into the ‘Don’t Make Ads, Make TikToks” mantra and served relevant, relatable content to an engaged community. Their content emphasised that ‘natural’ feeling – authentic content resonated with their audience tremendously.

As Naomi Walkland mentioned, “we want people on Bumble to be their authentic and true selves when dating and create a safe space for them to do so.” It was through this shared interest that they partnered with TikTok to tap into the creativity of Tok-Tok’s creators to empower people to date how they wanted – Naomi Walkland Bumble’s Vice president.

Using TikTok Hashtag Challenges to Uplifted App Installs.

@aynbernos

Bumble tips from your fave success story. Char. Thank me later! Enjoy your Bumble era!! ✨💅🏽 #MakeTheFirstMove @bumble #bumblepartner #BumblePH

♬ LoFi Hip Hop Rainy afternoon Chill(852289) – Takatsugu Wakabayashi

Every marketer knows that social media life has never been the same since the advent of the hashtag. Hashtags permeate the digital space and are rich ways for users to locate content online. Bumble runs run many hashtags on TikTok that aim to help them build a better community, create better interactions with their audience and help their target audience find them.

Their range of hashtags includes trending hashtags, which are popular hashtags. They take advantage of these hashtags to build massive awareness and increase their brand visibility. The company also often utilises branded hashtags which also encourages their audience to do so.

Bumble TikTok hashtags

Bumble’s TikTok hashtags are mostly campaign-specific. Their leading #bumble, a branded hashtag, has over 1.1 billion views on TikTok.

Other hashtags like #bumblesuccessstory, #bumbleopeners, and #bumblepartner have 1 million-plus views on TikTok, which is an impressive count.

The creative concept behind these hashtags was to have TikTok creators share their love stories and success using these branded hashtags.

3 Bumble TikTok Marketing Campaign Examples

A couple on a camp out

Bumble TikTok hashtags run concurrently with hashtags. Here are some of the top Bumble TikTok campaigns that have graced the TikTok world.

1) The ‘Date With Better Answers’ Campaign

The ‘Date with better answers’ campaign encouraged TikTok and Bumble users to showcase their authentic personalities while dating.

Accordingly, Bumble collaborated with TikTok creators across Germany, France, and the UK. The influencers helped create creatives revolving around inspiration cooking tips and freestyle tricks. Bumble then broadcasted the creatives on advertisements both on their app, TikTok, and individual influencer channels.

Bumble used several popular hashtags to push forward their Bumble TikTok campaign. Among the leading hashtags included #foodtiktok, which has garnered 34 billion views so far and #freestylefootball which has over 1 billion views.

2) The ‘Dating Just Got Equal’ Bumble TikTok Marketing Campaign

The #DatingJustGotEqual campaign aimed to push for equality in relationships. Of course, this sought to reinforce the app’s values of instilling kindness, equality, and accountability as an effort to rewrite ‘archaic’ pre-gender roles in the dating space.

The brand partnered with influencers Karan Kundra, sherry Shroff, Larissa, Anushka Ranjan, Rohit Reddy, and Aayushi to spearhead content creation for the campaign.

3) The ‘Love Will Find A Way’ Bumble TikTok Marketing Campaign

#LoveWillFindaWay aimed to celebrate the importance of resilience, hope, and love as people were getting worried about their lives post-pandemic. Bumble ran this campaign to remind users that love will always find its way.

As Priti Joshi, the Vice president of strategy at Bumble, puts it, “Healthy relationships and meaningful conversations are foundational to one’s wellbeing.” The campaign focused on instilling confidence in daters even as the pandemic lessened and post-pandemic worries crippled in.

Bumble amplified the campaign mainly through the hashtag #LoveWillFindaWay. While the campaign targeted the Indian audience, the hashtag currently has 688.1K views, dripping from across the world.

To Summarise…

dating couple with matching clothes sitting on a white bench

In 2015, a month after its launch, Bumble only had about 100,000 downloads. But in just 7 years after launch, it has over 12.3 million installers. A whopping 5.5 million of these followers are from the USA!

This is a testimony of how undeniably powerful social media has become. As a matter of fact, working with influencers can be incredibly fruitful. It remains an ever-growing, aggressive marketing platform for brands to promote their products to a new audience and expand their market reach. And TikTok Marketing has fuelled a lot of this growth.

As brands warm up to TikTok advertising, Bumble is a great example to look at. After partnering with TikTok, the dating app uplifted app installs by 5X and subsequently reduced their cost per registration by a whopping 64%. In part, they achieved these fantastic results working with notable influencers.

TikTok guarantees massive opportunities for brands to boost their visibility and reach, especially millennials and Gen-Xers. Of course, this is true when they can successfully leverage its strengths.

Work with a TikTok Marketing Agency

Are you wondering how you could launch an interesting TikTok app marketing strategy? Or still, confused about diversifying your marketing mix with TikTok ads? Talk to our TikTok experts today!

At House of Marketers, our expertise is centered on real-world, measurable, and sustainable growth. Whether you want to uplift app installs or grow your TikTok audience, we will work closely with your brand. We create authentic content and take advantage of TikTok influencers to get you your desired goals.

Take a dive with us and see what we have to offer! We grow leading brands with the best TikTok Influencers & TikTok ads. Get a free proposal here.

 


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