In the past few months, the Metaverse has been very popular among digital natives. Ask Google – this term was most searched on April 18-24th, 2021. Is it a buzzword?
The Metaverse, although still in its infancy, is expected to have a major impact on the future of marketing as well as the business overall. It works around the clock and is powered by creators and infrastructure providers.
Marketers should be concerned about this. What should you do? This article will explain the Metaverse concept and offer some tips on how to create marketing strategies around the idea.
What is Metaverse?
The Metaverse seeks to recreate the real world in a hyper-real digital alternative space. It is simply a parallel virtual world that includes videos, augmented realities, and virtual reality, as well as 3D avatars. This combination of multiple interoperable online technologies creates an environment for people to interact, shop, trade, socialize, and travel in their virtual avatars.
The Metaverse is a functioning universe that exists in real-time, has user-generated content, and is always active.
Are you still not clear?
The Metaverse can be described as Fortnight, Animal Crossing, or Roblox. These games allow you to create an avatar that lives in real-time, attends events in a specific Metaverse, and fights with others.
The gaming industry is the first to adopt the Metaverse, with 59% of industry experts declaring that VR investment will be dominated by the gaming sector in the next few years. However, this does not mean that other companies will not follow their lead.
Why brands need to market in the Metaverse
Let’s cut through all the hype and examine some data about the Metaverse.
- Gartner ranked Metaverse as one of the five most important emerging technologies for 2022.
- Approx. 46 million people saw Travis Scott’s Astronomical show on the Metaverse.
- Metaverse users purchased a digital Gucci bag at a price of over $4,100. This was higher than the real cost of the bag.
Metaverse isn’t just for luxury brands. To engage their customers, companies like Nike, Hyundai, and Disney are investing in Metaverse. Nike has filed four trademark applications and four patents. Disney filed a patent for a virtual-world simulator and plans to create a virtual park.
Metaverse is the latest way to reach tech-savvy audiences. Metaverse is often referred to as the next internet. It allows brands to target Millennials or Gen X, and engage with them with the most recent products and technologies. One thing is certain: Metaverse will be around for a while and brands will have to embrace a digital future.
Top 4 Marketing Strategies Using Metadata
Here are four top ways to integrate Metaverse into your marketing strategy:
1. Natively insert your brand on the platform
Advertisement is by their very nature interruptive. It can be irritating to watch even a 5-second YouTube video. The Metaverse’s golden rule for marketing is to naturally insert yourself into the platform without interrupting the experience of your audience.
When advertising, remember your target audience. Choose the right platform (PC or mobile streaming), and format (billboards, music, and banner ads). Native in-game advertising via product placement is one way to achieve this. Think of brands like Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, and Samsung. They all have virtual billboards within several video games including Hyper Scape or Football Manager.
Advertisements in-game also come with their own set of benefits and challenges
Advantages
- Engagement and views that are higher
- Campaign management and control that is more effective
- Improved user experience
Advantages
- Inaccessible performance data
- Limited gaming platforms
2. Market as you do in real life
You don’t have to do everything differently when marketing in the Metaverse. You can instead replicate real-life marketing in the parallel virtual world. This is the best and most natural way for your brand to be noticed.
Deliveroo’s Animal Crossing program, for example, sends virtual riders to deliver on different islands. It also gives players promo codes that they can use in real life.
This marketing strategy has both advantages and drawbacks.
Advantages
- Greater brand recognition and engagement
- Immersive, organic user experience
- Low supply chain risk
Advantages
- Campaign planning requires more time investment
- Before implementation, a lot of marketing effort
3. Invest in Direct-to-Avatar Economy (D2A).
You can take a cue from Gucci and offer virtual retail products to digital avatars. As they do in real life, people love to invest in digital self-expression. The D2A economy is expected to grow beyond the gaming sector and reach 50 billion by 2022.
Brands will need to work with creators on-platform to invest in D2A. They can also experiment with augmented reality to create a more immersive user experience.
These are the benefits and drawbacks of investing in D2A.
Advantages
- Creates a unique shopping experience
- Has a long-term sustainability
Advantages
- Development costs
4. Create Immersive Experiences with Digital Avatars
To drive customer engagement, you should make creating experiential marketing a top priority. Why? Because 40% of customers are more likely to spend on a product if they can experience it through Augmented Reality. We all recall the Travis Scott live concert that attracted 12.3 million viewers from around the globe. TikTok also featured The Weeknd performing “Blinding Lights” in a digital avatar.
It is a great way to increase brand loyalty and engagement by creating immersive experiences in the Metaverse. While you are considering incorporating it into your Metaverse marketing strategy:
Advantages
- Engagement and customer reach are higher
- All business types are eligible
- Long-term results
- Referrals and brand loyalty increase
Advantages
- Higher prices
- Additional promotions may be required which can prove costly.
- Creative thinking is essential or it could backfire.
Are We There Yet Metaverse Challenges
Although the Metaverse is a promising future for brands there are still some challenges to overcome before it becomes a global phenomenon.
1. Accessibility issues
Accessibility is still a problem in the Metaverse. Accessibility is still a problem in the Metaverse. Not everyone has the right devices, such as VR lenses or higher-end computers, to experience the virtual experience. This severely limits the marketing possibilities for brands in Metaverse.
2. Inadequacy of seamless integration
Brands face another challenge: Creating seamless integration between the real and metaverse is one way to avoid alienating customers. It is difficult to create a cohesive advertisement that feels natural in Metaverse. Companies may have difficulty finding the right audience or product placement. Without this, they could come across as abrupt and blunt.
3. Metaverse Misunderstanding
Another problem is a lack of knowledge about the Metaverse. It is often misunderstood, with many believing that it is only a game for children. Fear of not being taken seriously, many brands hesitate to make their presence known on the platform.
4. Security issues
Data privacy and security are always concerns with new technologies. Building trust can be difficult if security measures are not updated. Metaverse must be at the core of a company’s marketing strategy. This is why there need to be new privacy regulations. Companies must create new ways to protect their users’ data.
The Future of Metaverse Marketing
The future of the internet looks bright when you look at the Metaverse through a VR lens. Although the internet has been around for over 20 years, the future of Metaverse looks bright. Humans are eager to jump into the parallel universe.
It is hard to predict the time it will take to replicate a real life in Metaverse. It is still far away from a unified virtual world. Epic Games, Microsoft, Facebook, and Microsoft are all working to integrate AR and VR to create an immersive experience. Despite the difficulties, brands continue to believe in the digital future and are open to investing and trying new things to create an immersive experience.
