Singles Day Marketing: Double Down for the Big Double Eleven

What’s all the hype about?

November 11 is Singles Day, a unique, timed shopping event. The Chinese e-Commerce company, Alibaba, turned it into a massive phenomenon that contributes as much as 25% of the yearly sales of some rising brands. 

One of the most interesting things about Singles Day marketing is that nearly 90% of the sales came from mobile shoppers. This presents marketers with a never-seen-before opportunity to implement mobile-first strategies that are complemented by smart cross-channel customer journeys. 

What’s in it for brands?

In the previous section, we saw how mobile users contributed to a huge majority of the sales during Singles Day marketing campaign in the previous years. Here’s something even more interesting: only 51% of the consumers in the Southeast Asian market, who are the target audience for Singles Day sales, are active mobile users. 

However, this is a number that is rapidly changing as mobile penetration in Southeast Asian countries continues to grow at an incredible pace. This means that there is a constant supply of first-time users who can be wowed by attractive mobile and web marketing technology. 

Digitally savvy brands will lead the way in the coming years as Singles Day snowballs into a truly global eCommerce shopping day of epic proportions.

Are you ready to double down on your marketing for the big double eleven day? Insider can help. Read on to find out how.

Insider information to nail Singles Day marketing

1. Design immersive, delightful mobile experiences to enhance the customer journey and product discovery

In the first quarter of 2019, global online shopping orders from mobile contributed to only 46% of total online shopping orders. In three years, this number has grown to 61% in 2022. While this growth is substantial and only continues to steadily improve, pain points in mobile sites and applications hinder the pace of this growth. 

Customer pain points in mobile shopping:

• The smaller screen size on mobile devices leads to image and text size being too small
• Inconsistent navigation and user experience between desktop and mobile versions
• Slow and inefficient checkout pages
• A general apprehension about sharing sensitive information like payment details because of data security concerns

The Insider Fix:

1. InStory

InStory brings the power of stories to desktop and mobile websites as a new way to engage and convert audiences. The full-screen, vertical format provides an immersive and fresh experience for desktop and mobile web visitors. 

By using a social media-inspired design that users are already familiar with, InStory aids in improving product discovery that is refreshingly different from conventional website filters and categories. 

With InStory, you can

1. Personalize stories for customers based on their product preferences, helping individuals reach relevant products as soon as they land on your mobile website
2. Share bestsellers, celebrity product lines, sale items, last-minute deals, customer stories, news updates, influencer diaries, and other noteworthy products or updates from your brand

2. Architect

Architect is Insider’s Al-backed cross-channel customer journey builder, designed to smooth over customers’ multichannel experiences, driving brand revenue and growth. Architect covers all stages of the sales funnel, from Acquisition to Activation, Retention, and Revenue, creating multiple journeys that target customers at all stages of their life.

With Architect, you can do a three-step re-engage to reclaim cart abandoners and promote the next best channel feature.

Here is an example to re-engage using three main channels: web push, email, WhatsApp.

2. Improve conversion rates and customer loyalty with gamification

In a crowded digital world where brands face intense competition, it takes a lot to stand out to your customers and earn their loyalty. 

How do online retailers achieve this? Here’s an interesting piece of data for some perspective: 75% of consumers say they favor companies that offer rewards. Personalized, gamified templates are an interesting way to engage and reward website and mobile visitors.

The Insider Fix:

1. Wheel of Fortune

Most Singles Day shoppers are one-time buyers. But companies can change a one-time mindset by using tools that open and nurture long-term communication across multiple channels and devices. 

The Wheel of Fortune is the perfect mobile feature to showcase gamified UX experiences to your users and reward them when they leave their email information. Plus, it’s a great mobile web lead generation tool to promote customer loyalty. 

It can be used as a clever Singles Day marketing hack that enables users to spin and win discounts that are claimed by entering their contact details. Once filled, the visitor’s email goes into the brand’s CRM.

Recommended reading: 20 lead generation ideas for 2021

2. Web Page Curl

The Web Page Curl is a way to display a personalized discount message with an irresistible page-curl design that can also be integrated into tablets. 

A feature like this can be extremely effective for customers with a high affinity for discounts, who also seek unique, one-of-a-kind experiences. Insider’s Al-backed technology identifies customers with high discount affinity, triggering personalized messages to entice them as they hunt for their discount deals. 

With millennials making up the largest group of online shoppers, gamified features like this are a sure-shot way to capture their attention, leading them to make a purchase at the right time.

3. Increase average order value with smart recommendations and purchase triggers

On Singles Day marketing strategies, brands are likely to see flocks of customers with long lists of carefully pre-planned purchases. In other instances, attractive offers bring in customers who casually browse looking for better deals than they can find on another retailer’s website. 

Whatever the intent of the customer is, there is always the opportunity to increase their AOV through intelligent cross-selling and upselling.

Recommended reading: 11 strategies to grow your business

The Insider Fix:

1. Smart Recommender

Insider’s Smart Recommender can be used to suggest add-on purchases on the cart checkout page. Brands can set a maximum price for products featured on the checkout page, similar to a brick-and-mortar in-store experience where the items in the checkout line are small impulse buys worth $10 or less that don’t involve too much consideration.

This smart recommendation technology serves up personalized recommendations across web, mobile, and devices, including:

1. User-based recommendations
2. Trending products
3. Complimentary products
4. Substitute products
5. Auto-optimized algorithms (Chef)
6. Manual merchandising
7. Highest discounted products
8. Location-based top sellers

…and much more!

Leveraging this strategy can improve AOV and revenue, without potentially leading to cart abandonment.

2. Purchase Triggers

With purchase triggers, you can entice avid shoppers on their way to check out with extra Singles Day deals after they add items to their shopping cart. This feature speeds up the path to purchase and increases AOV, helping you deliver the right incentive at the right time.

These purchase triggers are powered by Insider’s razor-sharp AI technology. By creating custom predictive segments for different kinds of customers, retailers can truly personalize their shopping experience.

4. Get an edge over your competitors by delivering personalized experiences at every turn in a customer’s journey

Research indicates that 76% of online shoppers are more likely to make a purchase if brands offer personalized experiences as if the brand is talking specifically and only to them. In another personalization study, it was found that 83% of shoppers would exchange data for a more personalized experience. As more people turn to online retailers for their shopping needs, it would be a good idea to move personalization to the top of your marketing strategy. 

Singles Day marketing campaign is ripe with the opportunity to acquire large numbers of new customers, and when followed up with well-personalized cross-channel journeys, these customers can be converted to returning, long-term shoppers with a growing loyalty to the brand.

The Insider Fix:

1. Banner Personalization & Management

Gone are the days of boring banners with generic content that a customer becomes blind to. Insider helps you bring personalization into every aspect of your marketing, and banners are no less. 

Banner Management is an Al-backed technology that optimizes your website real estate, allowing you to showcase product banners according to each user’s purchase and browsing history. It entices specific customer segments, showing only relevant banners timed by frequency capping, that is, you can assign different time frequencies for each banner. Set up rules for how many times a customer sees the same content and beat banner blindness.

When customers don’t see the same products and content on the banners every time they visit your website, their curiosity is piqued, you have their attention, and with that, you can subtly nudge them to the next step in their journey.

2. Custom Tailored Search & Navigation

Personalization is not just about getting the words right or suggesting relevant products. It is a real experience that leaves a consumer feeling heard, seen, and understood by the brand. At Insider, we breathe a refreshing new life into personalization, taking it to the next level.

Some of the amazing things you can do with Insider’s personalization capabilities include:

1. Search results tailored to each visitor: Let’s say a customer loves watches, but they’re only loyal to one brand. Insider’s AI segmentation engine knows what they’re seeking when they type “watch” into your site’s search bar. What’s more, relevant affinity-based recommendations automatically populate for a spot-on user experience.
   
2. Show them what they want to see: Shuffle what each user sees on your navigation menu with Category Optimizer. Switch up categories to reflect individual user behaviors, shopping patterns, and preferences without having to ask IT for help.

Are you ready to make the most of Singles Day 2022?

Shopping days like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday & Cyber Monday have been around for a while and get their fair share of shopping madness. But Singles Day is the biggest, baddest new contender and the numbers already indicate it only getting bigger and better in the coming few years. As mobile shopping continues to grow significantly in APAC, global brands are catching the Singles Day marketing campaign fever.

With deep personalization, mobile-focused marketing strategies, and enhanced, cohesive user experience across channels, you, too, can become a winner and grow big during this colossal shopping event. 

If you’d like to see how Insider can help you achieve this, get in touch with us to schedule a demo with one of our experts!