Although not as popular as Black Friday or Cyber Monday in Western Countries, Singles’ Day is, in fact, the biggest eCommerce event in the world. Yup, in the world. Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined do not reach the same level of lucrativeness as Singles’ Day.
Take, for instance, Amazon and its Prime Day – $10.4 billion in just one day in 2020 sounds mighty fine, right? The same year, China’s eCommerce giant Alibaba outperformed Amazon more than seven times, pulling an impressive $74.1 billion on Singles’ Day. So, yeah, a pretty huge event!
The most important question here is how you can cash in on Singles’ Day. Don’t worry; we have some great ideas and will share them with you in this article!
But for starters, let’s figure out how Singles’ Day came to be and what’s the story behind it.
What Is Singles’ Day?
Singles’ Day, also known as Double 11 Day, has its roots in China, where it is celebrated on November 11th. The premise here is simple – people who are not in a relationship treat themselves with gifts.
It is thought that Singles’ Day, a sort of anti-Valentine’s Day commemoration, was first celebrated in 1993 when four male students from Nanjing University decided to celebrate their singledom on this day.
Why this date? Well, in Chinese internet slang, the number 1 means an unmarried man, and the date 11/11 looks like four single men standing together. Hence the four male students who started this celebration!
And well, Singles’ Day caught on like wildfire – the celebration soon spread among other Chinese universities and found its appeal both among men and women.
Fast forward to 2009, and the first time Alibaba launched a 24-hour shopping marathon dedicated to this celebration. Then, they pulled a nifty $7 million in revenue. Finally, fast forward to 2021, and that’s when Alibaba’s revenue shot up to a staggering $84.54 billion. And that’s just for one retailer!
As you can see, Singles’ Day has loads of potential. And although it is still primarily celebrated in China and Southeast Asia, Western markets are also taking a liking to it. So how can you take advantage of this eCommerce event?
Planning Your Singles’ Day Campaign
Before planning your launch, you should know what topics lie behind Singles’ Day and how to make your campaign relatable to people who celebrate it. So, aim to stick with at least one of these topics:
Celebrating singlehood – Singles’ Day is not meant to be all angry at those paired-up or feel sorry for yourself about being alone. Instead, it’s all about celebrating the individual and embracing all the good things about yourself.
Self-Love – although self-love should manifest each day, 11/11 is like a crown jewel for taking care of yourself. Wellness, pampering, and treating yourself are the three staples of this celebration.
Party of one – spending time alone can be just as luxurious and wholesome, and you should translate this idea to your audiences!
Celebration of friendships – just because you’re sans a boo in your life right now, it doesn’t mean you’re actually alone. And Singles’ Day makes the perfect occasion to celebrate the good friends around you!
Singles’ Day Campaign Strategies
If this would be your first time entering the waters of Singles’ Day, it sure helps to know how other brands successfully did it in the previous years. So, after looking into some examples, we came up with these steps for a great Singles’ Day campaign:
Know where your audiences are – say your idea is to target all the singles that represent Gen Z. To find them, you wouldn’t look on Facebook, right? So, if you wish to target Gen Z and also Millennials, you should try to reach them on Instagram or, even better – TikTok. However, if your range of singles is pretty broad, then Facebook should still do the trick.
Livestreaming – now this comes from the highly successful Alibaba’s practice. Each year they do a live-streamed fashion show called ‘See Now, Buy Now,’ which attracts loads of buyers. However, if fashion isn’t really your thing, you could also do other versions of Livestreaming, like:
- Q&As
- A countdown to a sale
- Product announcements
- Event launch
Gamification – everything’s better with gamification. It just amps up the excitement and enriches the online experience. Again, you can rely on Alibaba’s experience here. The retail giant offers its users to play interactive games to unlock special offers or win discounts.
Singles’ Day Promotions
Okay, so now you have a stepping stone for your campaign, but you need some actual examples of what to do. Try one or couple of these tried-and-tested promotions:
Time-limited coupons – now that’s an old trick, but it definitely works! By issuing time-limited coupons, you’re making it easier for your consumers to decide whether to buy the goodies you have on offer or not. Practice says that it is usually ‘buy.’
Giveaways – not only are they great for creating engagement, but they also work like a charm in spreading brand awareness. Comment-based giveaways work great on Instagram, but if you’re looking for more flexible participation rules, try your hand at TikTok. This platform is notorious for original content, so you can definitely let your creativity loose here.
Eye-catching content – this one goes all year round, but with Singles’ Day, you can amp up your content to make it stand out from the crowd.
End Note
Singles’ Day is here to stay as the Western markets are gaining more and more interest in this eCommerce event. So, there’s probably no need to wait around until everyone’s doing it when you can absolutely take advantage of the event this year!
