Marketing in Metaverse: The New Way of Promotion

The world of technology is changing faster than we can cope with. Metaverse is one such technology that has been discussed for a few months. Especially with the rebranding of Facebook as Meta, it has walked the talk. While major private capital business owners are doing everything in their power to place the building blocks of the metaverse, there is only some time before this virtual world comes to life in our everyday reality.

Let us first talk about what is the metaverse. The metaverse is an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds. It is a VR-based world that is independent of our physical world, wherein people can socialize and engage in a variety of unlimited virtual experiences, supported by a digital economy of its own.

Characteristics of Metaverse

Some of the defining characteristics of the metaverse include the following:

It is always active, even when the user leaves it.
It operates and exists in real-time, as a timeline similar to that of the real-world time. It is thus easy for marketers to reach and cater to the target audiences in real-time using B2B SaaS.
It is a universe that is fully functional and self-contained, which enables the users to not only buy and sell as per their choice but also create, learn, invest, play, learn, and own as per their wish.
It offers recognition and acclaim to the users who work towards expanding the metaverse.
It offers free individual agency to the users to conduct and engage in multiple activities simultaneously.
It allows users to create and share their content to others, similar to social media marketing and its user generated content.
It is a universe of a range of different platforms that can work together or independently of each other.

Metaverse Marketing Strategies

Here are some of the best metaverse marketing strategies to look into:

Dive deep into the world of the metaverse and become a native of the platform.
Make sure to include and replicate what you offer in the real world into the parallel virtual world. This will increase brand engagement in the metaverse.
Create virtual identities to market your retail virtual goods.
Create/open your own virtual shop in the metaverse.
Engage in experiential marketing. Offer an immersive experience to the users. This will help create long-term consumer relations.
Offer digital brand collectibles to your consumers. This will offer a unique brand building opportunity.

In Metaverse: How Will Advertisement Look?

Human race has been highly adaptive to transformations over a vast period of time. They have witnessed and adapted to the shift from TV, radio, and hoardings as advertising tools to today’s time of social media. Now they are pacing towards a shift from digital marketing to metaverse marketing. Currently, businesses look into SEO, search engines, graphics, and designs on social platforms to carry forward their core message via advertising.

With a rise in VR technology, these will get transformed into virtual and 3 dimensional advertisements. It is predicted, and mostly likely that, with the rise of the metaverse as a tool for marketing and advertisement, major changes would be witnessed in search engine optimizations too. In this scenario, marketers would be expected to stay abreast and updated of the rapidly developing technology, trends, and adapt to them readily.

Moreover, with VR and AR taking over, creativity and uniqueness in content would be required more than ever. However, it will also give content creators and marketers freedom to explore more into the creative realms and offer space for increased innovation. As per a quote by Cathy Hackl, the Co-Founder and Chief Metaverse Officer,

“Brands will need to rethink their narratives in three dimensions, and marketers will need to embrace emerging technology at a faster speed. In the Metaverse, everyone is a world builder, including brands.”

According to some other experts, it is expected that Google will take a more fascinating and immersive stance in making the metaverse promotions and advertisements more engaging and effective. They believe that it will offer a search engine of mixed reality that allows users and consumers to use VR technology to visit brand websites. As for the brands to adapt, they would need to rework their storylines to make it fitting for the 3D world.

How Marketing in the Metaverse will Shape Digital Marketing?

The metaverse is all set to become a part of everyday life and it will most likely change the currently existing social media and digital marketing. How will today’s digital marketing look like in the era of the metaverse is a looming question. According to experts, the social media and digital systems of the future would look like Roblox and Fortnite. It means, this will allow users into augmented reality and create 3D avatars that can be used to make purchases and browse the websites. Amongst a wide array of endless possibilities, one thing of certainty is that through 3D character in AR and VR, the consumer journey would be completely transformed from the first to the very last step.

When it comes to content marketing, the metaverse will prove to be an experiential and exciting place for content creators and marketers. Unique approaches and shared realities could be adopted for marketing in the metaverse. As of now, out of all the content social media, only 3% of the content is interactive and engaging. Most of the content is passive photos, videos, and other forms of graphic. The user-driven characteristics of the metaverse will allow interactive content like never before, that will further allow discovery and exploration for both consumers and brands. It will help create a better connect with the consumers through a parallel reality of the real-world and the virtual reality of the metaverse.

Looking at today’s social media and its interactive content, the videos and GIFs that are already prominent would gain much higher prevalence in the metaverse for its maximised interactivity. Brands could use this for creating better brand awareness and know their consumers better. Consumers could learn more and in a better manner about the products, services, and solutions offered by a brand. They could engage in fun and interactive ways to make the transaction happen.

Marketing in the Metaverse: Challenges

Well, it is going to be a bed full of roses with the advent of the metaverse. Here are some of the major challenges that both marketers and consumers would face using the metaverse:

Hindrances and limitations in mass marketing could be created as not everyone could access or afford using the metaverse and its related devices.
There would be the risk of brands alienating their consumers if they miss to seamlessly integrate their marketing endeavours.
Data privacy and overall security issues would become highly at risk with virtual reality becoming an everyday reality at this level, intensity, and extent.
With users having maximum control in the metaverse, brands stand the risk of falling prey to questionable and offensive media as well as disrespectful placements. Brands need to be extra cautious of the privacy and security of their customers as well as protecting their own brand identity.

Marketing and Advertising in Metaverse

For brands and marketers to succeed in the metaverse, they must be updated about the latest technological developments and prove themselves to be highly tech-savvy. To gain full benefits of the metaverse and to make use of its full potential, they must understand metaverse for what it is and what it brings for them, both the good and the bad.

In order to adapt to the expanding metaverse, they must keep the millennials and Gen-Zs as their target market for metaverse marketing. As the metaverse is the future of marketing, marketers must offer more than just good products to capture the attention of the target audience. They must present a powerful and immersive brand story, present the lifestyle, and cater to their needs with extraordinary and creative assets to gain and sustain their attention for a longer span. For this, it must be presented in a way that the probable consumers buy the brand story, the lifestyle of the avatars created, and either resonate with them or be in awe of them for the brand to work effectively.

The Takeaway

Major companies of the world have already started investing in the metaverse. The relatively novel concept and technology of the metaverse is a highly anticipated technology that is surely to enter our daily lives in no time. Businesses stand a massive chance of profiting from this technology by allowing them to indulge in creating immersive and highly creative marketing and advertisement strategies. Opportunities of endless experimentation is the key to marketing in the metaverse. By offering users the space and environment to create, learn, explore, and make purchases by experiencing new realities makes the metaverse the beginning of a new era of marketing!