Johannesburg, 17 Mar 2023
Dating apps are not just about meeting and engaging with single people in your area. The finer details matter. With the rise of innovative app developers, more dating apps have become specific and targeted to a particular niche. That way, the relations formed online are more inclined to being truly intentional and you can evaluate each other's suitability.
Factors such as personality, culture, interests, hobbies and even religion play a significant role when someone is considering dating. This is why KOER, an Afrikaans dating app available on AppGalley, took the opportunity to create a hub where individuals who share the same language, interests and culture can mingle.
Here is what Armand Aucamp from KOER had to saying about modern dating, building the first Afrikaans dating app in South Africa and growing the business:
Describe the value your app brings to the South African market?
What do most Afrikaans single people have in common? One: that they are looking for love in the ‘language’ of their hearts.
Enter the KOER app. KOER is the world's first and largest Afrikaans dating app. Love hits differently in your mother tongue, but it skop, skiet and donners sparkles in Afrikaans. Since 2020, the KOER app has been showing Afrikaans-loving singletons that there’s opportunity to date within your ethnic group.
By downloading the app, you can KOER (yes option) and KOES (no option) your way through thousands of Afrikaans hearts the world over. We wanted to convey this message to our market (based mostly in South Africa).
Why choose Afrikaans, specifically?
Afrikaans is the youngest language in the world, created in South Africa, which has evolved to about 20 million speakers thus far. We created KOER so that finding love in Afrikaans can feel as comfortable as a home-cooked meal. We wanted to catch every nuance and flavour of Afrikaans and combine it with a spicy twist.
Online dating has kind of a bad reputation. And with South Africa (and especially the Afrikaans market) being very conservative, we wanted our subscribers to feel comfortable and safe when it comes to approaching love online. We also wanted them to be spoken to and to communicate in their love language (in this case, Afrikaans). There are other dating apps available not only in Africa, but worldwide. But we wanted to create something that sparks that African spirit of love that can only be found on our continent.
What area of the business are you hoping to advance?
KOER is essentially a start-up. As a language-specific dating app, KOER is a fun platform to work from where we can explore the elements of chance and Afrikaans with equal vigour. But for that, we need the money to keep the experience and magic alive. Number one: marketing. We would most definitely allocate money towards brand building and awareness campaigns. This is so Afrikaans people all over Africa (and the world) can discover the opportunities of KOER. We were lucky enough to be chosen as one of the AppGallery's top three app solutions at the MTN Awards in 2022 and that has generated a lot of marketing opportunities as well. With millions of Afrikaans-speaking hearts out there and to reach those in the far corners of the world – there is actually a whole Afrikaans community in Argentina – we would have to have a good reach to match the miles. Secondly, we are constantly updating our app, creating a better user experience and, of course, the maintenance and growth of our product. KOER needs to evolve not only with the times, but also with our subscribers' needs. We never want our market to fall out of love with the wonder (and in-app spoils) of online dating and, as an extension, KOER itself.
As an app developer, what experience have you had on AppGallery?
The experience has been a "treat" thus far. The demand for KOER has grown exponentially because of our place on the AppGallery – as South Africa has a huge Huawei market. Because of this, more people have downloaded the app, leading to more people finding love! Actually, it has been a win-win for everyone. In February, we did a Valentine's Month give-away in partnership with AppGallery and it has been creating a real buzz. We are impressed with the AppGallery's willingness to partner up with apps and create equally beneficial marketing opportunities.
Why is it important for app developers to get onto the front-end app market?
The smartphone and tablet generation (yes, that includes our mothers now) wants "on demand" viewing and tends to look for their kicks (and romance and crochet patterns) online. With the world being in the state that it is and everything (and everyone) getting smart(phone)-er by the minute, a platform like AppGallery is just what the new generation needs, to inspire them to be more, do more and create better opportunities for themselves. AppGallery does not only create a benchmark for app development, but also displays inspirational ideas.
What would you say goes into building an impactful app?
Number one: an original great idea. Whether your idea came from a random braai night comment about looking for an "ordentlike Afrikaanse ou" (normal Afrikaans guy) or whether you woke up with a lightbulb and a dream at 3am. If it is useful, fun and has potential, that is where you start. Secondly, keep it simple and be creative. Any app speaks to a remarkably diverse market, thus you need to make sure that all of them feel comfortable and are inspired by what the app offers.
Thirdly, for an app to work, you need to focus on the variety of talent, tastes, personalities and prospects available to you. In our case, we were incredibly lucky; we have an amazing team of four partners with skillsets that were perfect for what we wanted to offer Afrikaans people, South Africa and the world. We went wild, despite the pandemic panic, with creativity and a solid plan!
Want to meet someone with the same preferences as yourself? Explore the KOER app and various other dating apps on the AppGallery today.
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