The Challenge
STI rates among college students (ages 18-23) are rising, but sexual health education remains inadequate. Dating apps like Tinder have massive reach with this demographic but aren't currently positioned as sexual health resources.
The opportunity: Could Tinder use its platform to promote STI testing and education while also driving business value through increased engagement and premium subscriptions?
My Approach
Target Audience Research: We identified heterosexual college students (18-23) in the LA Metro area as our primary audience. Research showed this group was more susceptible to STIs and had less comprehensive sex education than LGBTQ+ counterparts.
Partnership Strategy: We proposed partnering with Everly Well (at-home STI testing) and local universities to create a synergistic relationship between health resources and the dating platform.
Campaign Design: A year-long campaign tied to the academic calendar including:
- Free STI testing kits through Everly Well partnership
- Experiential marketing (dating chat rooms, events, influencer fireside chats)
- User-generated content featuring real stories about sexual health
- Updated in-app resources making it easy to learn about sexual health
- Free month of Tinder Gold for regular STI testing
Business Model: The campaign would drive conversion to paid subscriptions while positioning Tinder as a socially responsible platform.
Hypothesized Outcomes
Based on LA Metro area data (~1M college students):
- ~30% campaign reach through university partnerships and social marketing
- ~16% activation rate (students who test through Everly Well)
- ~18% retention of users who continue Tinder Gold subscriptions
- ~12% conversion to long-term paid users
- ~6% referral rate to other students
What I Learned: This project demonstrated how consumer platforms can create shared value by addressing social issues while driving business metrics. The key is designing incentive structures that align user benefit with company revenue, rather than treating social impact as separate from business strategy.
