Building valuable, healthy relationships are central to living a positive and productive life. Bumble has helped change the way we interact, breaking down old-fashioned power dynamics and encouraging women to make the first move. Over the next month, we’re celebrating love. We’ve partnered with Bumble to highlight interesting ways to start a conversation, how to find love in the digital age, how to cultivate intimacy as we emerge from isolation and more. Alongside our helpful and inspiring content, we’ll also share stories of ‘the one that got away’ — because sometimes it’s the love before that leads you to The One.
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It’s not enough to add one pixelated photo and a half-hearted bio reminiscent of your Facebook status in 2009. If you really want to see your swipe rate soar on Bumble (and believe us, you do), then you’re going to want check off a few extra boxes in the profile set-up phase.
As of June 2020, there are four million registered Bumble users in Australia, presenting a heck of a lot of chances for love, intimacy or connection. This means users have more choice in their quest for companionship, but more fish in the sea also means more competition.
When creating a new profile on Bumble, or in updating an old one, Lucille McCart, Bumble‘s lead marketer and associate director, says it is important to the success of your profile that you spend time setting it up properly in order to leave a lasting impression on potential matches.
“The devil is in the detail!,” says McCart. “In Australia, you are 93% more likely to get a match if you use three to six profile photos (in comparison to less than three) and 32% more likely to get a match if you include a detailed bio (compared to no bio).”
Recent Bumble data found that just a few tweaks such as these to a user’s profile could greatly increase their chances of finding a match, no matter the relationship they were looking for.
With McCart’s help, and referring to official data from real users on the platform, we break down what makes a successful Bumble profile. Lovers, take notes.
☆ What makes a good profile picture
It’s perhaps the first thing a potential match will see when landing on your profile, so in the case of your profile photo, a picture really can tell a thousand words. Bumble data finds users with three to six photos in their carousel received 93% more matches compared to users with less than three photos. But not all photos are created equal!
“There are a few things that you should definitely try and avoid,” warns McCart. “Too many group photos so that your match can’t tell which one you are, grainy or blurry photos, wearing sunglasses in all your shots, or anything with the Snapchat dog filter. It’s great to show photos of you spending time with friends, but make sure your first photo is just you and that you can see your whole, unfiltered face (you are beautiful as you are!).
“Sultry selfies might work a treat on Instagram, but here is where you want to connect with people, so show off your smile! All of this being said, the most important thing is not to spend six hours sitting on the couch stressing over what photos to choose — using Bumble should be a fun experience where you can meet new people, so don’t take it too seriously.”
When choosing your pics, opt for a mix of recent visual aids that speak to who you are and your interests. Show off your pet (Bumble users LOVE furry friends), showcase a hobby skill you’re proud of, like surfing or painting, and remember to secure the blue tick by photo-verifying your profile. Users who do so received 24% more matches.
☆ Create a balanced bio
It can be tricky to craft a bio that summarises who you are in 300 characters or less, but this feature is worth putting time into — particularly when you take into account the fact that Australian users with a detailed bio receive 32% more matches than those without one.
McCart says the best bios are short and snappy and lead with positivity or humour. Include an interest or hobby, give a fun fact about yourself, or dangle an intriguing titbit that a match will definitely want to hear more about in your first meeting.
“A strong bio will do wonders for you! It’s the launchpad for a great conversation, and the easiest way to help your potential new matches get to know what you’re about,” McCart says. “A blank bio, or one that is just a series of emojis, is wasted real estate and will leave your potential match guessing when you want to be reeling them in. The more information on your profile, the easier the conversations will flow.”
And if you’re feeling at all stuck about what to write? “Ask a trusted friend to write your bio. Sometimes we are blind to our own best features, but our friends see us for who we are and will usually come up with something perfect!”
☆ Make the best of badges
When you’ve reached your bio character limit, but still have more to say, consider adding Badges to your profile. The Bumble Badge feature allows users to share snippets of information in a succinct and easy-to-read way, and actually, those profiles that make the most of badges receive up to 227% (or 3.3 times) more matches. WOW.
“Badges are the little icons you can add to your profile that indicate things like your height, star sign, if you drink/smoke/exercise, your political leanings, what type of relationship you are looking for, and more. These are important as they help signify valuable information about you as a person to your potential matches.”
In April, Australian profiles that added an Astrology badge saw 27% more matches. The Exercise badge brought in 20% more matches, while the Height badge received 50% more matches. Badges are a great way to break the ice in conversation, and allow potential matches to find common ground more easily.
☆ Know when to make your move
The saying goes, “Strike while the iron’s hot”, and ladies, since you’ll be making the first move on Bumble, it may be helpful to know just when this is. While you could spend time on Bumble at any time in the day, it could be worth reserving your swipe sessions for the Bumble ‘peak hour’, when users spend the most time on the platform.
The most active time of day in Australia is between 8.00pm and 11.00pm, specifically on Sundays. So log on before the week commences and watch your swipe rate boom.