Hinge Created Snapchat Geofilters to 'Crash' 25 Weddings Across the U.S.

Only two people plan on getting hitched at a wedding. However, one dating app is hoping all the single friends of the happy couple might want to get hinged. With a Snapchat campaign deployed to 25 weddings in eight states across the U.S., dating app Hinge created custom geofilters for every wedding specifically for those sitting at "The Singles Table." The filters—launched on July 22 and 23—featured a baby blue table in the lower left hand corner next to the phrase "Where's my date, Hinge?" [kickout id="1"] The campaign seems to have been a hit. According to Hinge, 1,500 people saw the geofilters during the weddings, with around 10 percent actually using it for their own photos –which Hinge says were seen by another 5,o00 people. The company also saw an uptick in total downloads. During the geofilter's activation, Hinge saw a 60 percent increase over the prior hour. (No kittenfishing was even required.) "We knew that these weddings would likely have couple filters," said Olivia Abramowitz, Hinge's vp of marketing. "So we wanted to sneak in the singles, since some people might feel like it's more appropriate or relevant to them than the one that was designed for the wedding." So how did Hinge pick which weddings to hook up with? According to Abramowitz, the company contacted users through surveys within the app and asked if they planned on attending upcoming weddings. Focusing on the core wedding demographic of adults between the ages of 26 and 32, Hinge then looked at the locations of the weddings in Hinge's biggest markets by relying partially on users informing the app where they were going to be. (Abramowitz and her team then selected weddings on a specific day they wanted to "crash.") [kickout id="2"] Hinge, which relaunched last fall, has been adding features aimed at increasing engagement—perhaps leading to actual engagements—across its user base. To distinguish itself from gamification competitors like Bumble and Tinder, the app in October created an animated short film about the often dystopian world of online dating, and recently began featuring the "most eligible users" in various categories. (Past lists, which come with real-life events for the honorees, have featured most eligible doctors, social-media stars and LGBT users.) This summer, it added video as a way for users to introduce themselves. Hinge isn't the only app pushing more ways of meeting users in real life. This summer, Bumble (founded by a former Tinder exec) opened a physical space in New York City for dates or date-seeking singles to meet other Bumblers IRL. While Hinge has been spending more time with Snapchat, it’s been ghosting rival Facebook. In fact, the dating app doesn’t spend any money on advertising, Abramowitz said. Part of that is because it’s trying to find new ways to get people chatting about the app at weddings or brunch. But she said it’s also because Snapchat is providing better results. "I’m not going to commit that we’ll never buy Facebook again, but it won’t be a signature part of our budget or strategy,” she said.