What began as an obscure “anti-Valentine’s” celebration for single people in China in the 1990s is now the world’s biggest online shopping day—Singles Day, November 11th.
The date was chosen to be visually representative of the holiday. November 11th, written 11.11 or with four ‘ones,’ speaks to the single life. Alibaba, the Chinese equivalent to Amazon, adopted the holiday in 2009. It has evolved into the day when everyone in China, regardless of their relationship status, buys themselves gifts.
For the eCommerce industry, Singles Day makes Black Friday and Amazon Prime day look small. In 2016, businesses on Alibaba platform brought in $17.8 billion, compared with the $3.34 billion spent online globally during Black Friday.
Originally a Chinese holiday, it’s popularity is gaining traction globally. Even the biggest Southeast Asia eCommerce site, Lazada, is promoting sales.
This is why retailers around the globe should take notice.
Retailers in China already know the value of Singles Day for eCommerce—Forbes reports that the volume of online orders by Chinese Americans jumped by 900% in the three days leading up to November 11.
Dealmoon, an eCommerce recommendation site in China, reported its retailers saw a 40% increase in Singles Day sales traffic, with $2 million in sales through their promotions.
“They are looking for a better life and only want the best products,” said Jennifer Wang, Dealmoon’s Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer.
“The amount of retailers every year who have come on board for Singles Day is growing. In the past, we were explaining to them what is Singles Day. Now most have heard of it and it’s one of the biggest holidays for them to prepare,” Wang said.
While Chinese retail tycoons are on board with the holiday, there is still major opportunity for retailers around the globe—it’s possible for you to get in on the action too.
Singles Day is already getting bigger and bigger in the US every year, and the UK’s adoption of Black Friday is proof that one country’s shopping holidays can be exported to another.
If you’re thinking about running an eCommerce Singles Day campaign in China or in any other country, you’ll want the best campaign to stay competitive.
Here’s how to create the perfect singles campaign.
Our eCommerce best practices will help you ensure you’ve created the best converting Taboola campaign possible for this year’s Singles Day.
We go through a three stage buyer journey to help you reach people who don’t know you exist, who might be considering a purchase, and those who are ready to buy—awareness, consideration and decision.
If you’re targeting people who don’t know you exist.
Consumers that don’t know you exist yet are still in the awareness stage. They need to discover your brand before they dive in to purchase.
For this stage, we recommend editorial content over a landing page with a hard sell—but qualify your audience by creating content that’s relevant to your product. Language learning company Babbel is a good example of this. Once your content is ready to go, here’s how to target:
- Try targeting tablet devices, we see more purchases here than any other device.
- Use a mix of media, including video, enticing photos, and photo galleries.
- Use images of people interacting with your product.
- Try words like “honest,” “addict,” and “only,” for top converting headlines.
If you’re targeting people who are considering a purchase.
People considering purchasing either your product or a product like yours are, of course, in the consideration stage.
Your content here should be directly related to your value proposition—check out this case study with Mack Weldon as an example. Once the content is ready to go, here’s how to target:
- Desktop is your best bet for device targeting.
- Give your audience something of value in exchange for what they’re giving. For example, Bombfell turned their purchase form into a quiz.
- Continue to use photos of people interacting with your product.
- Try words like “quiz,” “essential,” and “awesome,” in your headline.
If you’re targeting people who are ready to purchase.
People that are ready to make a purchase of your product are in the decision stage—they just need that final push to head to the checkout counter.
Your content here is should be directly related to your product. Once your content is ready to go, here’s how to target:
- Couple content with a robust retargeting strategy. One successful example is mattress company Leesa.
- On your landing page, provide multiple opportunities for the user to shop.
- Write titles that include the price for a higher conversion rate.
- Use words like, “buy,” “checkout,” and “sale,” for the best performance.
With Singles Day just around the corner, retailers are poised to get started targeting for the major Chinese holiday.
Stay competitive with global retailers in your market by optimizing your Singles Day campaign for optimal returns.