The founder of Weaver, a Tampa-based dating app, planned for the app to stay local and grow with Tampa’s interest. Now it’s nationwide, thanks to an Instagram influencer’s promotion.
Weaver is a specialized app that connects people based on a quiz. Mara Rudolph, Weaver’s founder, was inspired to create an app based on the idea of connection through “core values,” the unchangeable belief set that governs an individual’s thinking. Recently, the app received such national demand that the Weaver team reevaluated the local strategy.
The decision to open the app to a nationwide audience wasn’t easy — it went against their original plan.
“That was kind of a risky decision because we don’t have a high concentration of daters in every single city,” Rudolph said. “So it was kind of opening up the waters.”
Rudolph works with her partner and chief technology officer, Matt Spaulding. The two connected through an investor network website in April 2020, and Spaulding joined from there. The app officially launched in June.
The duo planned to stay local and grow from one city to another. That way, the team could control the user base growth in a concentrated way so users have other accounts to match within their same location. Without users in the same area, accounts might not enjoy matching with those far away, Rudolph said.
It was a moment to weigh the pros and cons, Spaulding said. Weaver has been available to download since its launch, but users outside Tampa were signing up and would email them requesting to access it. Eventually, Spaulding and Rudolph decided to open the app widely.
The user demand began seeing a steady uptick because of a savvy marketing tool: Rudolph started reaching out to social media promoters and influencers.
Online accounts with thousands of followers have created a marketing industry for businesses of all sizes. Marketing through influencers means dealing with the often-high costs and managers. Rudolph’s strategy was to recruit influencers with an audience that matched the app’s targeted audience. In this case, it was healthy dating advice and product seekers. Occasionally, those interested in the app would promote it freely or at discounted rates.
“Those were the people that it mattered a little bit more, where the values aligned, and they just believed in what I was doing with Weaver, and so they were more inclined to do content and partner with us,” Rudolph said.
One such influencer was Nashville’s Sammie the Donut Girl on Instagram. She agreed to promote the app for free to her less than 2,000 followers.
“It kind of spread organically in Nashville that way,” Rudolph said. “That was really cool to see.”
There was a slow trickle effect from other cities until now, with the app available nationwide to its over 1,000 users — more than 200 are from the Tampa Bay area. The Weaver team still plans to grow organically and, on a city-to-city basis, homing in on targeted cities.
“Let’s see how this goes and reevaluate once we have more data,” Rudolph said, referring to the Weaver team’s current outlook.
