The Client: Since soft-launching in February of 2010, HowAboutWe has created a new approach to online dating. Moving away from the static approach of most online dating sites, HowAboutWe keeps the experience active by giving members a platform where they can propose an intriguing first date, This idea is then broadcasted via email to potentially like-minded mates. Erin Scottberg, media strategist at HowAboutWe, says, “We emphasize the proposed activity. Our members go online to get offline.” With its roots in New York City, HowAboutWe has expanded to Boston, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. HowAboutWe won Mashable’s 2010 Spark of Genius award and has received accolades from Time Out New York and the New York Times for revolutionizing the online matchmaking experience.

The Challenge: HowAboutWe is just now entering the world of online advertising. So far, they have been successful by relying solely on word of mouth advertising from satisfied customers and friends in launched markets. HowAboutWe’s unique challenge stemmed directly from the nature of online dating sites. The more individual members you have in a single area, the better the chances are of matches being made. By working with Groupon, HowAboutWe was able to target a specific geographical area of the New York market where they wanted to increase member acquisition.

The Deal: On January 23, 2011, HowAboutWe offered Groupon customers a three-month membership for $18 (a $54 value).

The Results: For Erin and the rest of the HowAboutWe team, selling 200 Groupons would have been fantastic. By the end of the day, HowAboutWe had sold 433 Groupons. HowAboutWe’s Groupon not only brought in five times as many subscribers as a normal day, but also observed a marked uptick in dates being proposed in the Brooklyn area. For example, 18% of Groupons sold were in a very concentrated location in Brooklyn, and HowAboutWe immediately saw more dates being proposed and greater user activity in that area. HowAboutWe also had one of its highest website traffic days ever on the day of its Groupon feature. Its employees still hear consumers tell them that they’d never heard of the dating service until it ran with Groupon. HowAboutWe was so excited about their Groupon feature they worked with dealnews.com to help get their story out to the public.

The Proof:

• Five times the normal subscriber sign-up rate in a single day
• One of the top three web traffic days for the site
• Surge in user activity within each targeted geographic area