How does the dating app Hinge market and acquire interest before they enter a new city?

They are getting interest through their traction in other cities. Since they are already in 20 cities and have approximately half a million users if you look at their Android app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.hinge.mobile.android), they can simply wait until one city "tips".

This might also just be a strategy to artificially use scarcity since it works sometimes, such as with Mailbox(http://www.nirandfar.com/2013/07/psychology-of-scarcity.html).

I think it doesn't really matter if they launch city after city, as they have $8M in funding and can just spend $5,000 on Facebook Ads and get 1,000 user in one city within a day. The effect of scarcity makes sense, if you are new and if you're a hyped startup such as Mailbox used to be. On the other hand, it makes sense if you don't have the resources to launch in many cities such as Uber, because they need the drivers first.

I can also schedule a call, where I can tell you more about this as I've done a lot of apps and have a social network myself with Tennis Buddy.

The dating app Hinge should start out by doing concentrated marketing campaigns on a city-by-city basis including social networking ad, billboard, bus and subway ads, and offer a contest for those who register.

Organizing a launch party with VIP's and celebrities, in order to get their support and testimonials, is also beneficial.

A brief marketing video describing the app should be aired on youtube and pay-for-placement ads should be taken out on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc...

Press releases and interviews should be given to all media.

Match Group, which operates dating apps like Tinder and OkCupid, completed its acquisition of the 7-year-old app Hinge in February 2019, following its purchase of a majority stake in June 2018.The basics of Hinge are remarkably like Tinder. When you sign up, you are presented with a list of fellow users according to criteria you specify (age, gender, physical proximity to you); if you like them and they like you back, you're matched and can message each other. In both apps, you build your profile by importing pictures and other personal information from Facebook. But that is where the similarities end. While Tinder gives you a never-ending stream of nearby users, Hinge only provides a select list. Previous iterations of the app gave users new potential matches once a day, but now matches come in a regular trickle, like Tinder but with lower volume.
The main difference, though, is that Hinge focuses on matching you with people you share Facebook friends with, if you have a Facebook account. If nobody is friends with your friends — or if you have already made your way through all those potential matches — the app starts recommending more tangential connections, like people whose Facebook friends share Facebook friends with you. But the focus is on finding people who are somewhere in your social network. Tinder will tell you if a user happens to have mutual friends with you, but you cannot screen to see those users first.
While you can specify that you want people close to you, there are limits; whereas Tinder lets you look for users within one mile of you, the lowest Hinge goes is 10 miles. The app also does not automatically update when you change locations. If you live in Boston and go on a day trip to New York City, Tinder will start showing you New York matches, while Hinge will keep serving up Bostonians unless you manually change your hometown in your profile. The focus is not on finding a quick hook up close by; it is on finding people you could actually date, whom you might ask out if you met at a mutual friend's party. "It's all friends of friends," McLeod said on CNBC. "It's quite hard to use it for casual encounters."

Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath