Here's how to profit from China's Single's Day next Wednesday

11 November - next Wednesday -  will be Singles’ Day in China. Originally a date popular amongst young people in mainland China celebrating being single (an anti-Valentine's day, if you will), Single's Day has more recently become Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s world-famous annual online shopping frenzy. Last year, Alibaba pulled in a record-breaking US$9.3 billion from the 24-hour shopping spree.The day's excitement has now extended beyond Alibaba’s own shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall and permeated virtually every major e-commerce platform in mainland China. It's a blockbuster opportunity for brands and retailers both domestic and foreign.Let's take a look at how brands can take advantage of Single's Day. Brands should note the following:1. Mobile is officially taking centre stageMobile sales will be everyone’s main concern this year. In last year’s Singles’ Day, close to 50% of the total sales at Tmall were transacted on mobile. Without a doubt this channel is going to take centre stage in this year’s Singles’ Day. Advertisers would need to give thought as to how to execute mobile marketing effectively to achieve their desired sales and marketing goals.2. Competition will be intense, and e-commerce is keyThis year, via strategic partnership deals with a hundred top-tier retailers including Kao Corporation, Macy’s and MetroGroup, Tmall will present – for the first time – merchandise from more than 5,000 retail brands sourced from 25 countries worldwide . The product categories span baby and parenting, cosmetics, apparel and F&B. There will be participation by overseas department stores, supermarkets, FMCG platforms and duty-free shops as well.Those overseas players who haven’t established a physical presence in mainland China yet are leveraging e-commerce to set foot in the market. Also, with more and more brands participating in Singles’ Day, both overseas and domestic, the competition will only get increasingly intense. Individuals are awash with choice so more is needed to ensure any chance of standing out from the crowd.3. O2O is an unstoppable trend – and it’s no longer about buying merchandise onlyIn 2013, China’s retail trade and services contributed an all-time high to the national GDP, implying an increase in demand for retail and experiential consumption. This makes Singles’ Day a lucrative opportunity for the players in the online to offline (O2O) market as well. Those with the opportunity to benefit include industries such as food and beverage, lifestyle, entertainment, travel, hospitality and more.With these in mind, here are some suggestions for overseas brands and retailers looking to tap into Single's Day:1. Shift you ad spend towards mobileAccording to a recent survey by MasterCard 95% of consumers in China now use technology at some point during the shopping process. While media buying for desktop environments is still necessary, it is imperative for advertisers to allocate substantial marketing dollars to mobile as well if they want to effectively target their audience.2. Remember that consumers have a shorter attention span on mobilePeople are usually on the go when using mobile, so they tend to have a shorter attention span. Keep your messages short and sweet with engaging visuals or videos. Native video and social media ads are well worth considering.3. Employ cross-screen targetingIn China, consumers tend to do their research on desktop and make actual transactions on mobile. It is therefore important for brands to adopt a cross-screen, cross-channel approach for frequent engagement and interaction with their target audience that spans desktop, mobile and social.This writer is Raymond Teoh, General Manager, Southeast Asia at iClick Interactive Asia LimitediClick sponsored Marketing’s inaugural Performance Marketing conference. Click here to see all that was discussed at the event. (Photo courtesy: Shutterstock)