This blog was originally published on LocalizeDirect website. I prepared some Chinese keywords for ASO and SEO but Gamasutra doesn't support support Chinese characters, so please check here if you are interested.
What is Singles’ Day?
Singles’ Day (Guanggun Jie) is one of the biggest new holidays “invented” by the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. 1 (one) means “single” and resembles an individual so Chinese call 11.11 a Singles Day. Double 11 is another popular name for 11.11.
Today, it’s the largest online sales event for all businesses, no matter whether online or offline. And it has already spread outside China - to Thailand, Singapore, and more.
Don’t Ignore Singles Day
Forget about Black Friday - Singles’ Day is now the largest shopping day in the world.
In 2018, according to Adobe Analytics, consumers spent $6.22 billion on Black Friday in the U.S., which sounds like a lot. However, $30.8 billion was spent on Singles Day in China, almost 5 times more than US.
Data: Alibaba, Wikipedia, LocalizeDirect
Why should you, working in the game industry, care?
You’ve translated your game, or part of it, into Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese. Now it’s a great opportunity to skyrocket downloads during Singles’ Day. Show the market that you’re aware of Chinese culture and you care about Chinese gamers.
Pro Tip:
We recommend you start advertising one week before 11.11. If you miss 11.11 unluckily, don’t worry, you can also choose 12.12 alternatively to promote your game.
In China, consumers start placing Double 11 pre-orders in mid-October! It’s high time for you to prepare your Singles’ Day campaign.
Singles’ Day promotion by LingYu, Seasun games, saying “Notice! Singles Day, buy, buy, buy”
10 tips when offering gifts and discounts on the Chinese app and game market
#1 For new players. If a gamer registers or logs in on 11.11, an extra life or a chest box is a great gift.
#2 For existing users. Send out coupons before 11.11, allowing gamers to use it only on November 11. Remind them about the bonus a day before.
#3 Make the process very simple. If gamers need to take several steps before receiving the gift, the risk of losing interest is high.
#4 A general rule is that the discount has to be attractive enough to catch Chinese gamers. Don’t try to raise the original price and offer a huge discount. These kinds of tricks don’t work nowadays.
#5 Utilize numbers. Chinese like lucky numbers, such as “88” (sounds like “becoming rich”), “99” (forever), “66” (lucky), “1314” (forever and ever) and “520” (I love you). Try to avoid “4” (sounds similar to “death”) and “13” (meaning “silly”).
#6 Don’t forget your mobile game ASO! Keywords to use in English are: “Black Friday”, “Singles Day”, “Free”. “11.11”.
#7 Promote your video game campaign via Wechat - with its 1 billion daily users, you’ll reach as many potential gamers as possible. Unfortunately, Wechat only allows videos from QQ so inserting a link from Youtube won‘t work - upload your promo video to QQ instead.
#8 Make sure your server is reliable and can host a large number of gamers.
#9 If you want to have an animal in your ad, then it should be a dog. In Chinese, a single person can be called a single dog or a single king.
Singles Say Slot from Booongo. They used 2 dogs in the game.
Fun fact:
Animals’ images are frequently utilized in China. For instance, dragons are used in the Dragon Boat Festival in May, and rabbits have their own festival. But: avoid cats, especially black ones unless you want to advertise TMall - one of the largest marketplaces in PRC.
#10 What’s more important - you shouldn’t limit your Singles’ Day campaign to the Chinese market. Western game developers adopt it for an international audience too - check Jurassic World: The Game by Ludia. A great reason to interact with and engage your gaming audience once again, isn’t it?
Chinese Game Localization
Read this blog post, and get useful tips on what to keep in mind when building a Chinese web presence.
Contact LocalizeDirect if you want more help with game localization, or if you have any questions regarding the Chinese game market.