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Love in the time of data: Dating app strategies and Valentine’s Day insights
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Valentine’s Day is no longer just about roses and love letters—it’s a full-on digital event. While dating apps aren’t seeing massive spikes in installs at the moment, there’s still room to make a big impression. Users are seeking deeper, more meaningful interactions—something beyond the typical “Hey, how’s it going?” message. Apps that can deliver personalized experiences are more likely to capture hearts (and retention rates).
And it’s not just dating apps that can win during this season of love. Valentine’s Day opens up unique engagement opportunities across all app categories. Whether it’s a restaurant app pushing dinner deals or a video streaming app curating a special Valentine’s movie marathon, there’s potential to boost installs and engagement.
In this blog, we examine the latest dating app benchmarks, explore broader Valentine’s trends across mobile apps, and share strategies to help marketers make the most of this romantic, high-traffic season.
Key Valentine’s Day app insights 2024
- Restaurant booking app installs and sessions surged by 156% and 88% on February 14.
- Recipe app sessions peaked by 60% on February 12.
- Music & audio app installs grew by over 35% on February 10.
- Messaging app sessions increased by 31% on Valentine's Day.
Dating app industry benchmarks
Installs and sessions: Seasonal opportunities beyond declines
Looking at dating app installs and sessions from January 2023 to December 2024, it’s clear that user interest has been gradually declining. From January 2023 to December 2024, dating app installs and sessions saw a 13% year-over-year (YoY) drop. Despite this overall decrease, sessions remained resilient, particularly during key seasonal periods.
In February 2023, installs were 2% below the yearly average, but sessions grew 2%. This trend continued in February 2024, with installs dropping by 5%, but sessions increasing by 0.5% compared to the yearly average. While these figures show a downward trend, they also highlight an opportunity: Valentine’s Day still presents a window for dating apps to spark renewed interest through personalized, targeted campaigns.
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Specific months also emerged as strategic moments for marketers to drive installs and sessions. May 2023 saw installs surge 10% above the yearly average, with sessions increasing 5%. Similarly, in August 2023, installs rose 5%, and sessions climbed 2%, indicating steady user interest during late summer months.
In 2024, July saw notable gains, with installs 14% above the average and sessions up 4%, reinforcing summer as a key period for social engagement. October 2024 also showed 6% above-average installs and a 1% session boost, likely due to Halloween-themed campaigns that continue to resonate with users.
Retention rates: The ongoing challenge for dating apps
Retention rates for dating apps continue to decline YoY, highlighting a persistent challenge in sustaining user engagement. In 2023, 26% of users returned to the app on day 1, but this figure dropped to 24% in 2024. By day 7, retention rates fell from 12% to 11%, indicating that keeping users engaged after the first week remains a challenge. The trend continued through day 14, with retention dropping from 9% to 8%, and by day 30, long-term retention rates decreased from 6% to 5%.
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While installs are crucial, the real challenge is retaining users beyond the initial engagement period. Apps that deliver unique experiences and build trust are more likely to keep users coming back.
User engagement and ad performance
Below are the key trends and insights shaping dating app user engagement and mobile ad performance:
Active users are engaging longer
The average session length increased from 12.95 minutes in 2023 to 13.21 minutes in 2024, showing that users who open dating apps are spending more time on them. This suggests that active users are more engaged and willing to explore features.
Acquisition costs are increasing, but campaigns are becoming more efficient
The average cost per install (CPI) rose from $1.37 in 2023 to $1.46 in 2024. At the same time, cost per mille (CPM) increased from $3.36 to $4.37, reflecting higher competition for ad placements. Despite rising costs, install per mille (IPM) saw a significant increase from 3.73 in 2023 to 6.24 in 2024, meaning that campaigns are more effective at converting impressions into installs.
Marketers are focusing on smarter targeting
Click-through rates (CTR) improved from 1.7% in 2023 to 2.2% in 2024, indicating that ad creatives are becoming more effective at grabbing users’ attention. Additionally, the decline in cost per click (CPC) from $0.23 to $0.18 shows that advertising efficiency is improving, even as overall acquisition costs rise.
How dating apps can improve performance
To stay competitive in a saturated market, dating apps need to focus on user engagement strategies that foster deeper connections. Based on current user sentiment and performance data, here are key strategies dating apps can implement to improve performance:
- Focus on shared experiences and social clubs: Introduce weekly challenges, virtual events, and interest-based social clubs to encourage users to participate beyond swiping. These clubs can be based on hobbies, professions, or interests, allowing users to join discussions, participate in challenges, and even plan offline meetups in a safer, community-driven way.
- Humanize the experience with profile authenticity badges: Trust is essential for user retention. Apps (who haven’t already) can introduce profile authenticity badges to verify user activity, interests, and responses, ensuring that interactions feel more authentic.
- Reduce burnout with swipe limits and icebreakers: Swipe fatigue is a common issue for dating app users. To combat this, apps can introduce daily swipe limits paired with preloaded icebreaker questions to make conversations more engaging.
- Seasonal content and mental health focus: Seasonal campaigns shouldn’t just focus on romance—they should also promote self-love, friendship, and community bonding. Apps can offer mindful dating features, such as reflective prompts about relationship goals or wellness tips to help users manage online dating fatigue.
- Incorporate audio and video profiles: Users want more interactive and personal ways to connect. Audio and video profiles allow users to answer fun prompts or share their personalities authentically.
- Enhance discovery with smart matching algorithms: Leverage AI-driven smart matching algorithms to improve the quality of matches by analyzing user behavior, preferences, and engagement patterns.
Valentine’s day app trends
Social app engagement surges ahead of Valentine’s Day 2024
Across all social apps, installs grew by 6% above the 2024 average, with sessions peaking at +29% on February 14 as users turned to these apps to connect and share moments. Messaging apps saw the most notable growth, with sessions increasing by 31% on Valentine’s Day.
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Social networking apps showed steady, smaller increases. Sessions peaked at 5% on February 3 and maintained consistent growth through February 12.
💡 Tip: Marketers should focus on promoting in-app features such as personalized stickers, virtual Valentine’s cards, or conversation starters. Create campaigns that tap into broader themes like friendship to engage a wider audience beyond romantic relationships.
Entertainment apps see a love-driven spike in February
Entertainment apps, particularly video streaming and music & audio apps, saw a steady increase in installs and sessions leading up to Valentine’s Day 2024. From February 1 to February 10, music & audio apps showed the highest install growth, peaking at over 35% on February 10, indicating users might have been curating playlists for the occasion.
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Video streaming apps followed a similar trend, with installs growing 25% on February 3 and peaking again at 21% on February 10, likely driven by interest in romantic movies or TV shows. Sessions for video streaming apps also saw significant spikes, peaking at over 10% on multiple days between February 9 and February 13.
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💡 Tip: Run targeted in-app promotions featuring Valentine’s Day playlists or watch parties to encourage longer user sessions. Use Adjust’s Subscription Measurement to monitor engagement with premium content, analyze retention across different subscription tiers, and optimize promotions during key periods like Valentine’s Day to increase lifetime value (LTV).
Food & drink apps experience a Valentine’s Day boom
Install growth for restaurant booking apps peaked at 156% on February 14, as users finalized last-minute dinner reservations for their Valentine’s Day plans. Recipe apps also saw steady growth leading up to the holiday, peaking on February 12 (+60%), reflecting increased interest in home-cooked meals. Food delivery apps showed consistent growth, with a notable spike on February 14 (+27%), indicating users’ preference for ordering in.
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In terms of sessions, restaurant booking apps surged by 88% on Valentine’s Day, leading all categories. Recipe apps also saw session spikes between February 12 (+38%) and 14 (+28%).
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💡 Tip: Launch time-sensitive promotions, such as discounted meal kits, exclusive recipes, or free delivery offers, in the week before Valentine's Day to engage both planners and last-minute users. Utilize Adjust Measure to analyze campaign performance in real-time, identify the most effective promotions, and optimize future efforts to maximize conversions.
Valentine’s Day app marketing tips
Valentine’s Day presents a unique opportunity for app marketers to capitalize on. Here are some actionable data-backed strategies:
- Time the push notifications right: Use AI to offer personalized push notifications to remind users of relevant features, promotions, or content. A/B test to optimize the timing and messaging of push notifications.
- Incorporate gamification: Introduce fun challenges, quizzes, or rewards tied to Valentine’s Day themes. For example, food delivery apps could run Valentine's-themed scavenger hunts within the app to unlock discounts or exclusive deals.
- Collaborate with brands for exclusive experiences: Partner with relevant brands to create exclusive in-app experiences. For example, food & drink apps could collaborate with wine brands or local restaurants to offer curated Valentine’s meal kits.
- Tap Into micro-influencers for targeted reach: Work with micro-influencers to reach niche audiences more effectively. Influencers can create authentic content showcasing how they use the app to celebrate Valentine’s Day, driving installs and engagement.
Interested in unlocking new opportunities for your Valentine’s Day campaigns? Request a demo today to discover how Adjust’s solutions can help you drive engagement, boost conversions, and turn seasonal users into loyal customers.
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