Five Questions with Vicki Shapiro

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Five Questions with Vicki Shapiro Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

Lauren Walters

Marketing the Perfect Match

Vicki Shapiro (Comm'93) is vice president of marketing at Match Media Group, which serves the sales marketing needs for many of the world鈥檚 largest dating sites including Tinder, BLK, Chispa, Match and OkCupid. Shapiro has held the role since 2017 and lives in New York City.

What initially drew you to marketing as a career?

I love the variety of being in marketing. For me, it never gets boring. I love working with different brands and helping find solutions for people to reach audiences in new, clever and meaningful ways. I鈥檓 using the creative side of my brain to come up with new things for different partners, and I think it keeps it really interesting.

How has the online dating industry changed over the last few years?

COVID actually brought about a lot of change in our industry. It fueled a lot of innovation because people were in lockdown. You couldn鈥檛 go out on dates. It sparked the video dating trend, and that has actually stuck. Surprisingly, a lot of people thought, 鈥極h, that will go away.鈥� But who wants to put makeup on for someone if you know it鈥檚 going to be a waste of time? Right? So I think that was something that changed for the better; more intentional dating.

What is your favorite part of your job?

I get to work with a vast array of partners. I may not be saving lives, but I am helping fuel the need for human connection. I think that鈥檚 inherent in everybody. We love love, and our team gets to spend time enhancing users鈥� experiences on these apps to help in the process of finding love. When you spend so much time at work, it has to be fulfilling and it has to be fun. And I think we get to do that.

Are there any specific marketing campaigns that stick out to you?

We did a fun Halloween activation with Peacock [streaming] and Tinder where we took over a cemetery in LA. We previewed a horror movie, and people could bring a date. It really brought to life the experience of a movie date in a graveyard at Halloween. And then we鈥檝e done really simple things 鈥� for example, promoting the Valentine鈥檚 Day 鈥楥ardi B & Offset Meal鈥� at McDonald鈥檚 to our members because it makes for great date-night options.

Any advice for people who are online dating?

When you鈥檙e writing your profile, it鈥檚 important to give people something to respond to. So if you say, 鈥業 love sushi,鈥� it doesn鈥檛 provoke a response; if you say, 鈥業 know the best sushi spot in New York,鈥� you will likely get asked what that is. Your picture should be smiling. Take off your sunglasses 鈥� no hats 鈥� and try to limit the amount of people in your photo so that they know who you are and it鈥檚 not a Where鈥檚 Waldo situation. And then I say put it all out there. If you are looking for long term, say you鈥檙e looking for long term. If you鈥檙e not sure, say you鈥檙e not sure. It has to be so authentic, and that鈥檚 when you鈥檒l get the best results.

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Photo courtesy Vicki Shapiro

Vicki Shapiro is vice president of marketing at Match Media Group, which serves the sales marketing needs for many of the world鈥檚 largest dating sites.

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Summer 2023

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