September 21, 2022
Eyes4Research
Like many other areas in our lives, healthcare is trending towards a more personalized and targeted patient experience. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the expanded use of telehealth services, which patients have continued to use for the sake of both convenience and privacy. And preventative care is more effective when medical care is tailored to the patient and is supported with careful follow-up by healthcare providers. Here are three ways to optimize personalized healthcare to benefit both patients and healthcare professionals alike.
Refine Patient-Doctor Communication
More targeted, personalized healthcare also means that healthcare providers can and should do a better job with how they communicate with patients, especially regarding important follow-up care post-surgery. Simple things, like giving clear, easily understandable instructions to patients after surgery, can prevent hospital readmissions as a result of infection or other issues.
A recent McKinsey study found that 33 percent of respondents stated that they had to pay high, unplanned medical costs due to reasons that they considered to have been avoidable at the time, such as poor communication from healthcare staff. Mitigating post-surgical complications can lead to better future health outcomes for the patient.
Make Better Use of Data
Patients are giving their healthcare providers more information about themselves than ever before. In return, they expect their patient experiences to be tailored to their needs and aligned with what their healthcare team already knows about them. It’s mind-boggling to think about how much data even one patient generates in their lifetime.
The fact that this data is more likely scattered in several different places (often with the intent to monetize it), makes it easy to see how poor communication has become a problem in healthcare. While protecting a patient’s data should be a priority, placing the patient in the center of the healthcare equation, and crafting a way to consolidate all the bits and pieces of data into one story of a patient’s health can lead to a true healthcare success story.
Collaborate for a Holistic Approach
Another way that intentionally personalized healthcare can better serve the patient is to embrace a more collaborative approach with other care providers in the patient’s healthcare community. It is already well-known that mental health and physical health are deeply connected.
If a patient feels better mentally, they will be in a better place to achieve physical recovery. Pulling in a patient’s therapist, nutritionist, psychologist, and other care providers into their treatment plan is a more holistic approach to healthcare. It can increase the chances of recovery, as well as be a major factor in effective preventative care.
Read more about the healthcare industry on the Eyes4Research blog. Eyes4Research also has everything you need to collect high-quality insights in the healthcare space. Our panels are comprised of B2B, B2C, and specialty audiences ready to participate in your next research project. Learn more about our specialty panels here.
September 15, 2022
Eyes4Research
Branding might seem like a buzzword that everyone has front of mind, but for a small business, the right branding matters, and it can capture and keep loyal customers for a lifetime. Whether you are in the pre-launch phase or thinking about a way to reintroduce an established business to your audience, here are 3 ways entrepreneurs can tap into branding to propel your small business forward and stand out from their competition.
Identify Your Audience
Starting a small business is more than just unlocking the door and propping it open. For the best chance at success, you need to know who will walk through that door. Who is your audience and why would they choose your business over your competitor? One way to do a deep dive into who your audience is is to create a persona for your ideal customer. This will help you learn exactly who your audience is, as well as how your business will be perceived and experienced by your customers.
Considering things like demographics, location, education, income level, and even online habits will help you understand if you are truly offering something your potential audience needs or whether you are simply a new version of what a competitor is already providing to the same audience. Creating personas for your ideal customers also identifies potential challenges and will force you to think about how your business will solve them. How your audience behaves, what they need, and what they want will be the foundation of how you tell the story of your brand.
Define Your Brand Identity
Once you know who your audience is, what you will offer them, and how you will reach them, you now need to clearly define the voice and identity of your brand. In addition to being able to briefly describe your company and what it does, this is also the time to think on a deeper level about the core values of your brand and how you want your audience to talk about your business. This will all coalesce into the singular voice of your brand. It is what will be communicated across your marketing channels and all of your public-facing communications, like emails, social media posts, and blogs. Think of it as what you want your potential audience will feel and think when they experience your small business.
Working with a designer to decide the core visual elements of your brand story will bring your branding to life and help you get noticed by a potential audience. Codifying these elements into a Brand Bible ensures that regardless of how your team evolves over time, the branding will remain consistent. A Brand Bible is also helpful when you partner with other brands and need a straightforward way to identify your brand visually quickly.
Be Consistent
When you are establishing the voice of your brand, consider every place where your brand is present as a first-time entry point for your company for a potential customer. Your branding should look and feel the same, whether a customer is in your brick-and-mortar location, browsing your website, scrolling through your Instagram feed, or reading through one of your newsletters. Consistency is key for your brand to be cemented in the minds of your audience, and it can have a direct impact on your bottom line. A 2019 State of Brand Consistency study by Marq found that brands estimated that their revenue would increase by 33 percent if they maintained consistent branding across all of their platforms.
The rush to fling open the doors in your newly launched small business might be difficult to resist, but taking the time to consider your brand messaging and how to effectively capture your potential audience carefully is worth the investment.
Stay informed on all things small business and branding with the Eyes4Research blog. Eyes4Research also has everything you need to collect high-quality insights from a wide variety of audiences to boost your small business marketing efforts. Our panels are made up of B2B, B2C, and specialty audiences ready to participate in your next research project. Learn more about our specialty panels here.
September 13, 2022
Eyes4Research
When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in October 2021 that the brand
would be changing its name to Meta, most people didn’t know what to think of it. After
all, it took years to build Facebook into a brand name known in just about every corner
of the planet, so people were left asking a few questions, most importantly, what does
Meta mean or stand for? In the subsequent months, more information has been
revealed about this name and how it relates to what many experts believe is the next
big step in the tech revolution – the metaverse. Many companies are beginning to jump
on board with the metaverse, hoping to catch this latest tech wave to reap what they
believe are untapped profit potential. An examination of the metaverse does reveal that
there is in fact plenty of potential, but brands that decide to take the journey into the
metaverse and hope to be successful will have to understand how they can develop this
new technology to give consumers a better experience.
There’s no doubt that the metaverse will involve plenty of money, as it does already, For
example, the virtual reality (VR) market, which is part of metaverse technology, is
expected to exceed $180 billion in 2026 and will likely far exceed that once the
technology is more widely accepted. But before examining the potential benefits of the
metaverse for consumers and companies, it’s important to define what it is exactly. The
metaverse refers to things, such as work and play, that can be done completely in an
online “world.” The metaverse is a fully immersive internet where participants use VR
headset and avatars of themselves to interact with other people in a variety of different
environments.
Currently, the metaverse is primarily known for gaming, but companies are developing
ways for people to work and conduct day-to-day business in the metaverse, while other
companies are eyeing the metaverse as a way to expand their branding. And as the
metaverse expands and a more developed infrastructure is needed, even more
business opportunities will open. So, let’s take a look at the background of the
metaverse, how companies are currently utilizing it, and what the metaverse has in
store for businesses and consumers.
An Idea Is Born
As futuristic as the idea of the metaverse may seem, the idea was born more than 100
years ago. The first step into metaverse technology took place in the mid-1800s, when
stereoscope goggles were the rage in North America and Europe. These goggles
essentially let people see photographed images in 3-D, which was quite advanced for
the time when one considers that photography itself was quite new. For decades,
though, stereoscope goggles were the closest anyone got to the metaverse until Morton
Heilig made a major breakthrough.
In 1956, Heilig invented the “Sensorama Machine,” which was a device that put a
person in a truly interactive environment. Heilig’s machine simulated the experience of
riding a motorcycle through the streets of Brooklyn by combining 3-D video through
goggles with sounds, scents, and a vibrating chair. The Sensorama Machine was
primitive by today’s standards, but it got quite a few people thinking about the
possibilities, including sci-fi writer Neil Stephenson.
Stephenson first coined the term “metaverse” in his 1982 dystopian sci-fi novel, Snow
Crash. In the novel, people of the future connect to the metaverse via terminals and VR
goggles, often spending most of their waking hours immersed in the virtual. In fact, an
entire class of people were created called “gargoyles,” whose physical features became
distorted due to their excessive time in the metaverse and a lack of sleep, exercise, or
proper diet. Some viewed Snow Crash as a warning, while others saw it as a call to
move in that direction. Those who saw the benefits of the fictional metaverse won the
debate and now the metaverse is no longer science fiction.
The Metaverse Becomes Reality
The first steps to make the metaverse a reality came in the late 1990s with the release
of VR headsets, but they were technologically crude and not truly immersive. The
breakthrough came when an 18-year-old entrepreneur and inventor named Palmer
Luckey created the prototype for the Oculus Rift VR headset in 2010. The Oculus Rift
gave the user a 90-degree field of vision and a much more immersive experience,
kicking off the current interest in VR and metaverse technology. This was technology
that was bound to make an impact.
Seeing the possibilities, Zuckerberg and Facebook acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion in
2014, publicly stating that they would develop the Oculus platform with different
partners. Facebook then officially changed its name to Metaverse Platforms (Meta) in
2021, further signaling that the metaverse would be an integral part of its company’s
future. Sony, Samsung, and Microsoft then followed with plans to develop their own
metaverse platforms. The initial thrust into the metaverse has been spurred by the
gaming industry, but other companies and tech leaders are beginning to see other uses.
Even before Facebook became Meta, tech leaders around the world were laying out the
roadmap for the current metaverse. The first Metaverse Roadmap Summit was held in
May 2007, which predicted that by 2016 the internet would become a world where
people could immerse themselves in a virtual world to more easily access digital
information. Although the summit may’ve had an ambitious timeline, the idea that the
metaverse can be utilized for more than just games is becoming a reality.
The Future of the Metaverse
There are a number of potential uses and benefits that businesses, brands, and
consumers can expect to gain from the metaverse, not the least of which is how work is
done. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people began working from
home via the internet, which some experts believe will transition into the metaverse.
Employees will be able to access virtual office suites and interact with their colleagues
in a way that is more personal than phone, email, or text. Businesses will also have the
ability to conduct virtual training of new and existing employees in virtual classroom,
which will be more efficient for businesses and more convenient for workers.
The metaverse will also likely affect specialized industries and help brands that are
willing to be forward thinking and utilize its potential. Because consumers view brands
that use the metaverse as innovative and positive, companies that use the metaverse
can expect a boon to their profits in the coming years. As interest and use in the
metaverse grows, new opportunities will open as metaverse infrastructure is built.
Because the metaverse requires a strong digital infrastructure, more workers and
resources will be needed to make it happen. Each node in the metaverse requires
infrastructure support, which will include new datacenters and hardware such as chips.
The metaverse’s connection to blockchains will also have impacts for investors. Since
many of the platforms that host the metaverse use blockchain technology – such as The
Sandbox, which is on the Ethereum blockchain – there could be major investment
opportunities for investors in the metaverse-blockchain and metaverse-crypto currency
spaces. Eventually, as the metaverse becomes a standard part of the internet
infrastructure, consumers can also expect several benefits.
As brands expand into the metaverse, it will be important for them to adjust to growing
consumer needs and tastes. An important thing that brands need to keep in mind is how
consumers currently view the metaverse and how those attitudes can be utilized or
changed. For example, a poll of 10,500 people showed that 61% of respondents plan to
use the metaverse for shopping, 49% for gaming, 49% for concerts, and 44% for sports,
demonstrating that most people still view the metaverse as a pastime. The same poll
shows that although all respondents had heard of the metaverse, 49% admitted they
don’t quite understand it. These numbers show that there’s still plenty of room in the
space for growth in sectors other than retail and gaming and that it’s just a matter of
brands taking the initiative.
Another poll showed that 39% of the respondents cited an ability to overcome real-world
disabilities as a reason to use the metaverse, while 37% said it could help enhance their
creativity and imagination. And as brands take these consumer attitudes into
consideration, or at least they should, social media is already making the transition into
the metaverse to give its users a more interactive and fulfilling experience. Consumers
will no doubt take advantage of the expanding metaverse in the years to come, but so
too will investors.
As mentioned previously, tech and gaming companies have jumped on board to the
metaverse trend and in the coming years advertising and non-tech companies will also
look for opportunities in the metaverse, which will open up new opportunities for
investors. In 2021, metaverse related companies raised $10 billion for their projects,
which was more than double the previous year. This trend will surely continue, although
it remains to be seen how much those numbers will increase and at what rate.
The metaverse has arrived and although many people still don’t know what it is, or its
possibilities, it will definitely grow in size and influence in the coming years. As more
companies invest in the metaverse, it will move from gaming into other sectors that will
benefit workers, consumers, and investors. Brands that understand the potential of the
metaverse and how it can relate to their customers are poised to benefit from this new
technology that may change all of our lives.
September 7, 2022
Eyes4Research
Health and wellness trends come and go, but the current that runs through what most of the health-conscious audience has demanded in recent years can be summed up in one word: clean. In addition to fewer, cleaner, higher-quality ingredients, the health-focused audience also wants those ingredients to DO something. Keep them awake, calm them down, and make them feel great.
Perhaps as a reaction to the increase in problematic alcohol consumption during lockdown, and as a result of younger audiences wanting to live a healthier lifestyle, zero-proof drinks have exploded in the beverage industry. Not really a mocktail, zero-proof beverages are drinks that are meant to taste like an expertly crafted cocktail, but without any of the detrimental health effects of alcohol and free of the dreaded hangover that they could bring the next morning. This is a largely youth-driven trend, with almost half of the Millenial audience saying that they would give up alcohol completely in order to improve their overall health.
But just because this audience wants to slow down on the alcohol, it doesn’t mean that they don’t want to be part of the party. Teetotalers are an underserved market, and the restaurant business would be wise to tap into this ever-growing segment of the food and beverage industry– after all, a delicious zero-proof drink is more friendly to the bottom line and is much more exciting to drink than a glass of lukewarm tap water.
Tagging along for the ride on the popularity of the zero-proof trend is the increase of mood-boosting drinks in the beverage market. With at least 2 out of 3 the adult audience stating experienced increased stress during the pandemic, it’s no wonder that people are simply looking to chill out and relax. Many of these beverages contain ingredients called nootropics, a class of ingredients that are claimed to boost mental functions, such as memory, mood, and overall creativity. Examples of nootropics include medicinal mushrooms and Lion’s Mane, which are both known to enhance focus and memory.
Adaptogens, another common ingredient in many of these beverages, are known for counteracting the effects that stress has on the body. These include ashwagandha and ginseng, among others. CBD is also a key ingredient, which is no surprise, considering the steady rise in the use of all manner of CBD products, across the wellness, beauty, and food and beverage industries. It should be noted that as this is a new category of the food and beverage market, there is no reliable medical research on the actual benefits of these products.
Stay up to date on what’s trending across the food and beverage industry with the Eyes4Research blog. Eyes4Research also has everything you need to collect high-quality insights from food and beverage consumers. Our panels are made up of B2B, B2C, and specialty audiences ready to participate in your next research project, including spirits and wine drinkers. Learn more about our specialty panels here.