A Strategic Plan for the NYC Dating Market

NOTE: The following strategy is not 100% endorsed or recommended by the author as a means to a healthy relationship, those take a long time to be nurtured and grown. This assessment is a satire based on all of the authors ridiculously obvious observations and a few too midnight calls from sobbing girlfriends about “why he didn’t call.”

Dating in NYC is no longer a game. The old cat and mouse rules no longer apply. We women are in a saturated market and need to apply some of the business savvy that we use in the office to our personal lives. The dating market needs to be navigated in the same way that we strategically market products, yes, ladies, we are the product and the men are the client. We must remember

In today's very competitive marketplace a strategy that insures a consistent approach to offering your product or service in a way that will outsell the competition is critical. However, in concert with defining the marketing strategy you must also have a well-defined methodology for the day-to-day process of implementing it. It is of little value to have a strategy if you lack either the resources or the expertise to implement it.

The Dating Landscape

It is a well-known fact that there are more women than men in New York City; we spend countless hours wondering why they do not call us back or why they won’t just commit? The answer is simple, men have too many options and they are unwilling to put forth any effort to get what they want. In a nutshell, they are willing to go for the low hanging fruit knowing that they can easily trade up at a later date. In such a market a Differentiation Strategy is recommended, to set yourself apart from the competitors in the market.

A DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY is one of creating a product or service that is perceived as being unique "throughout the industry". The emphasis can be on brand image, proprietary technology, special features, superior service, a strong distributor network or other aspects that might be specific to your industry. This uniqueness should also translate to profit margins that are higher than the industry average. In addition, some of the conditions that should exist to support a differentiation strategy include strong marketing abilities, effective product engineering, creative personnel, the ability to perform basic research and a good reputation.

If in fact the differentiation strategy is achieved your product will experience the high profit margins, more dates. Let’s begin with a quick overview of the dating market.

Product Analysis

In marketing any new product a simple SWOT analysis is helpful in determine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

SWOT Analysis is a very effective way of identifying your Strengths and Weaknesses, and of examining the Opportunities and Threats you face. Carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework helps you to focus your activities into areas where you are strong and where the greatest opportunities lie.

By determining these factors you can then easily differentiate your product to the prospective client.

Sample Analysis: What??

Strengths: Funny, Smart, Independent, Unique style and Nice Rack
Weakness: Likes quality dates, nice dinners and movies
Opportunities: Not “looking” for a boyfriend
Threats: Uncontrollable need to tell men what she “thinks”

After careful analysis of what??, in order to differentiate herself, she should rely heavily that she is not “looking” for a boyfriend at this time, this will allow her to maneuver freely throughout the market potentially pitching multiple clients at one time, this will create a certain “demand” for her product creating a perceived “must have” value in the market place. Another differentiation tactic that she should utilize is her independence, she can position this to the client as a positive attribute of the product however understanding the clients need to show off and take care of things this quality will over a short time serve as the closing element of the deal.

Client Analysis

Before going into any meeting you must understand your clients needs. Lets take a quick moment to assess his pros and con’s.

It is essential to understand the market segment(s) as defined by the clients characteristics you have selected as the target for your offering. Factors to consider include:

The potential for market penetration involves whether you are selling to past customers or a new prospect, how aware the prospects are of what you are offering, competition, growth rate of the industry and demographics.

The prospect's willingness to pay higher price because you’re offering provides a better solution to their problem.

The amount of time it will take the prospect to make a purchase decision is affected by the prospects confidence in your offering, the number and quality of competitive offerings, the number of people involved in the decision, the urgency of the need for your offering and the risk involved in making the purchase decision.

The prospect's willingness to pay for product value is determined by their knowledge of competitive pricing, their ability to pay and their need for characteristics such as quality, durability, reliability, ease of use, uniformity and dependability.

Likelihood of adoption by the prospect is based on the criticality of the prospect's need, their attitude about change, the significance of the benefits, barriers that exist to incorporating the offering into daily usage and the credibility of the offering.

Sample Analysis: Actor Man

Background: What?? met the actor man at an event that she was attending. She learned from others that he was a highly successful actor and was currently working on several Broadway productions. They were introduced and then engaged in idle banter next to the crudités and dip, it became clear to her that there was an obvious interest when he told her about his recent breakup. Idle banter is a great way for feeling out the client, in doing this What?? learned several helpful bits of information. Currently he was single (2 months broken up), residing in NYC only until the summer, working on a new Broadway play, loves France and very into working out. He invited What?? to come and see his new show and they exchanged emails.

After reviewing the facts What?? has determined:
1. The actor man would be looking for a product that would provide some short-term companionship during his stay in New York City.
2. Given his profession he is likely to be very busy.
3. The actor man is very serious and finds What?? to be funny and was very interested by her experiences in Paris.

Strategic Plan: What?? will proceed with her differentiation strategy by showcasing her independence and flirty whim to grab his attention.

Stay tuned for the results of this campaign…