How to Prepare for Singles’ Day 2020 and Increase Your Sales in China Market

Singles’ Day 2020: It’s the time of the year again as global brands prepare for the Singles’ Day shopping festival.

Alibaba took advantage of the festival and transformed it into a goldmine of sales. Last year, the company had $38 billion in sales, surpassing the previous year’s record.

If you’re in retail, fashion, beauty, and other related sectors, here are a few tips to help you prepare for the big day.

#1 Set up a WeChat mini shop

If you already have a WeChat mini shop, you can skip this part. However, if this is something new to you, read further.

Sign up for a mini shop to get started that allows you to sell virtually as it supports live streaming.

WeChat mini shops aim to help small businesses sell online without service charges. It has basic eCommerce features that support order management, transactions, after-sale support, to name a few.

What’s more, you have access to analytics to understand the behavior of shoppers.

If you’re interested in getting started with WeChat marketing, the team can also help you navigate in setting up an official account and eCommerce store.

#2 Launch teaser videos and campaigns

With the popularity of short video apps like Douyin (TikTok), this is the best time to teaser videos on your channel.

For example, you can give your audience something to look forward to on November 11 and offer products at ridiculously low prices.

There are other ways to publish videos, but short video apps are the best ways to communicate and engage with young consumers if they are your target audience.

Youku and iQiyi are great platforms to promote your videos and spiels coupled with Chinese subtitles and Mandarin voice-overs.

If that’s not enough, you can start promoting your collection as early as today before the big launch like Dior. The luxury brand releases its first Singles’ Day capsule for China on the official website and WeChat account.

#3 Create engaging, punchy copy on your advertisements

On top of the teaser videos and campaigns, invest in engaging copies on advertisements, from flyers to banners and social media captions.

Choose whether you’ll advertise your campaigns via an organic (free) or paid approach. You may also do both. Just remember to spend your efforts and money on platforms that generate more leads.

For instance, if WeChat works for you, make sure that the product descriptions and content on your WeChat official site catch your customers’ attention.

Work with Chinese copywriters on your advertisements and don’t rely on machine translation tools. With human expertise involved, they know very well what your target audience wants.

#4 Be present in virtual and plan live stream broadcast

While online selling via eCommerce sites always work as customers click ‘Add to Cart’ and ‘Buy Now’ buttons, you can’t overlook the potential of live stream selling these days.

Thankfully, aside from WeChat mini shop, JD.com and Taobao already support a live stream option. That said, you can partner with influencers in your industry to sell for you on the big day or even at your pre-selling stage to create momentum.

Collaborating with KOLs or Key Opinionated Leaders may require a large amount of money, but the investment return is rewarding.

For example, Kim Kardashian West partnered with Viya, a popular live streamer in China, and within minutes Viya sold 15,000 perfume bottles during the live stream.

Although not all companies can work with such high caliber influencers like Viya, you can always start somewhere to generate some buzz on your 11.11 launch.

Single’s Day 2020: Final Thoughts

Singles’ Day is a once in a year event filled with noise from global brands as they promote deals and discounts. If you’re a retailer and wonder how you can take advantage of this festival, this is the best time to do so.

There are handy tools and platforms worthy of exploring but keep in mind that partnering with local talent will be more effective than doing it on your own.

Don’t forget to do the basics in China digital marketing: translate your materials, create Chinese copywriting content, and localize your channels for better engagement.

Which of the points mentioned above do you think should you start? Let us know how LIMPID can help you on Singles’ Day launch.