Are you struggling to understand how to market in the metaverse? Or, what the metaverse even is?
CMOs and CEOs can’t be experts on every marketing shift or technology, but developing a high level understanding of the metaverse should be one of your marketing goals for 2022, because it will be critical to leading your brand to marketing success in the years ahead.
Before you can develop marketing strategies for the metaverse, you must have a foundational understanding of what it is.
Some have called it a type of second internet. Really, it’s the next version of the internet; the version that advancements in augmented reality and virtual reality apps are making possible.
Essentially, the metaverse is an online universe that feels increasingly “real” as it incorporated 3D holographic avatars, video, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), AR and VR elements. All of those elements combine to create a new space where people can work, play, shop, and talk with friends.
The metaverse is exciting, not just for the new avenues it opens for people to connect with each other, but also for how it enables consumers to interact with brands.
Mark Zuckerberg believes the metaverse will become mainstream within the next five to ten years. As ultra-fast internet connection speeds become available to more of the developed world, and VR headsets come down in price, becoming accessible to more consumers, more people will join the metaverse and more developers will create applications to connect within it.
But marketers shouldn’t wait years to develop a presence in the metaverse. By keeping their customers at the heart of their strategies and tactics, brands can profitably engage audiences in the metaverse.
Millennials and Gen Zers are the most active participants in the metaverse, but as with all things new and shiny, parents and grandparents will follow in the paths teenagers have trod. Navigating the metaverse may seem scary to marketers, but it is made easy by letting two types of insights guide your activity.
Remember that the metaverse is a blend of real life and virtual reality. Complement high-performing tactics you are executing in the real world with VR marketing and AR marketing experiences in the metaverse.
For example, if you place digital billboards inside of real world sporting and concert venues, complement them with virtual billboards inside targeted metaverse placements.
Experiment and take calculated risks by grounding your efforts in solid customer insights gained through research that reveals who your customer is and what they want from your brand.
Nike’s foray into the virtual world of Roblox, and McDonald’s sponsorship of a virtual event with nine gamers and content creators through OfflineTV featuring a VR scavenger hunt and exclusive digital prizes, are great examples of an established brand engaging a new generation of consumers where they’re active in the metaverse.
An estimated 85 million people used augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) in 2021. Usage has been growing steadily and has more than doubled since 2017, as technology advances have made VR and AR more enticing.
There’s a reason Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook, Meta; he knows it’s coming and he wants to build a business around it.
Bill Gates believes Zoom will give way to using “your avatar to meet with people in a virtual space that replicates the feeling of being in an actual room with them.”
His former company, Microsoft, is actively working to incorporate 3D avatars into Teams. Chances are excellent that your customer is already in the metaverse, or will be soon. Still, test this assumption out by asking your customer base where they work, play and shop online so you can intersect them in meaningful ways and add value to their lives in those places.
The metaverse is new, and yes, a little scary, but it’s brimming with opportunities for brands to connect with consumers in exciting ways. It will bring both risk and reward for those who are willing to enter it.
And I’d encourage you to do exactly that. Because brands that play it safe and wait to dive into metaverse marketing will find themselves outpaced by their competition.
Want help navigating the metaverse? Connect with the professionals at OBI Creative today for a metaverse marketing plan.