Business today is not a set of quintessential rules and practices but an ever-changing ecosystem marked by emerging trends and technologies. The abundance of possibilities facilitated by technology has provided brands with new avenues to improve processes, enhance customer experience and becoming more competitive in the marketplace.
The foundational shift accelerated by the ravaging covid-19 crisis compelled businesses to redefine industry norms and rapidly embrace the change threatening the ecosystem.
The pandemic hit the industry like a gigantic iceberg hitting the Titanic. Businesses had to spontaneously design a digital media strategy to adapt to the change. The healthcare industry that was at the forefront of all the action, quickly redesigned itself to navigate the crisis, shift focus from cure to prevention, and build an ecosystem that virtually connects the consumer with the service provider.
Here’s how digital will accelerate in 2021 and transform the personal-care and beauty business.
Online - the new Shopping Hub!
With 77000 search queries typed in Google every second, we don’t need a genius brain to imagine where the real business is taking place in 2021. Online emerged as the new shopping oasis in 2020, with about 34% of consumers buying beauty products digitally. According to a survey, about 52% of consumers participated in online quizzes to identify the right product for themselves, and 77% made a purchase following the result of the quiz. Brands collaborated with beauty influencers to livestream small videos of multiple products to grow business. Moreover, popular platforms like Instagram built an elite ambience for beauty and self-help brands to showcase their products aesthetically and amplify personal care marketing efforts digitally amid the pandemic.
With such enthralling innovations, the consumers are organically fascinated by the digital solutions that give them all the vital information about a product just with a tap on their smartphones.
This trend is only going to intensify in the future. With only 7% of consumers claiming to be staunch loyalists of the traditional shopping routine, brands are looking for ways to invest more in creating online shelves for consumers and are encouraging a systematic change in how the consumers interact with them.
Refined Services
Healthcare is no longer just about patient care but about caring for your mind, body, and spirit. Consumers are now all game for convenience. They want care with comfort. In 2020, a gradually growing trend got momentum, with about 80% of patients seeking virtual consultations from physicians. Pandemic has evidenced how consumers are comfortable sharing information over the phone or an automated system to get the services that give them a quicker and more accurate diagnosis. With 60% of healthcare staff admitting their focus has shifted to prevention, and holistic well-being of the mind and the body, AI integration with healthcare will only augment people's proclivity for virtual consultations and personalized medical attention.
With dramatic action taking place on virtual platforms and people's comfort and reliability on digital platforms and services, only a planned personal care and beauty marketing strategy would give brands the exposure and bring the business that they intend to generate in the future.
Big Data and Product Development
Big data and analytics will continue to rule in 2021. We have witnessed a surge in how brands collect and evaluate data to derive insights into consumer behaviour and design products that offer just what the consumers seek.
Data and analytics would help self-care & beauty companies access precise information about consumer's product penchants, likes and dislikes and their expectations from the company and build a value chain of this data to determine the life trajectory of a product and what should they be offering in the future.
Brands will continue with a data-inclined approach to integrating solutions that complement their personal care & beauty marketing efforts.
Cyber-Safety
The pandemic has given an exponential push to work from home culture. Consumers have also migrated to virtual platforms that provide them with quick, efficient and next-gen services with the help of AI and AR integration. Industries, including the self-help and beauty industry, were the fastest to adapt to the new solutions that elevate the customer experience. But the abundance of data and the consumer's enhanced willingness and gumption to share data online has also amplified the need for cyber-safety. Brands that promise data protection while producing results that precisely match the needs of the consumers will be the internet marketing strategy heroes. They will be the ones churning the best ROI with their grasp on quality data, the trust of their consumers and novel ideas and products that keep the consumers excited.
Artificial Intelligence & Personalization
Artificial intelligence is bringing a paradigm shift in the beauty & healthcare industry, with 35% of companies admitting they have AI integration of some form in their system and 90% of the early users considering it critical for their business growth.
Some apps examine your skin, hair, and heart to prescribe just the proper care and nourishment for your needs. AI has done a mesmerizing job, especially in the skin and dermatology stream. Some apps can examine your skin, texture, tone, wrinkles, and pigmentation to give you a personalized routine to revitalize your skin and texture.
With advancements in digital technology, more and more brands are incorporating AI into their apps and systems to give consumers a personalized and precise treatment. According to a reliable survey, 75% of companies admit their websites are integrated with a personalized program. With AI and data value chain, brands can conceptualize services and products that are unique to their needs and thus build a chain of dependency and trust for their services.
Augmented Reality and the Future
Augmented Reality is an effective weapon in the marketing arsenal that targets the consumer’s pleasure points and makes for an enchanting customer experience. Augmented Reality enables the consumers to experience the feel of a product before buying. Renowned brands have incorporated AR features in their apps to give an exceptional experience to their users. The gesture control features, fuelled by AR platforms, is specifically transforming the beauty industry. While some brands have incorporated features that tell you how a new make-up or a new haircut would look on you. Some illustrate how a new hair colour or an eyelash will elevate your entire look. Embracing AR as part of the digital media strategy never fails to impress and gives users an added reason to opt for the services offered by brands in the future.
How we transformed Avon’s Customer Experience with our AR solutions!
Check out the video above to find out more about the AR and visual programming led engagements we conceptualized and developed for Avon.
As Avon’s digital marketing consultants, we designed a Gesture Control feature and catapulted their customer engagement to the next level. Gesture Control, enabled by AR, opens new avenues for brands to generate traffic, augment brand awareness and customer engagement, and acquire quality leads simultaneously.
Using gesture control, a product can be brought to life with a blink, or head or hand movement, or just a pout. This enables the consumer to see how a piece of new jewellery or make-up or a hair-do would look on them.
We designed a next-level experience for Avon's target audience with our AR integrated Gesture Control solution that enhanced engagement, brand recall and lead quality.
Emerging technologies such as AR, AI, Big data, and data analytics, knitted with a well-planned and executed digital marketing strategy, will help beauty and personal care brands acquire more customers and achieve business growth in 2021. Brands that promise value along with an omnichannel approach, accommodate diversity & inclusivity and care for the environment at the same time are the ones that would benefit the most from the changing business landscape in the post-pandemic era. Digital has revolutionized how consumers interact with brands and empower them to make informed decisions regarding what they want and how they want.
