With Facebook rebranding itself to Meta and many bluechip projects seeing all-time high engagement rates on their platform, 2021 has been a dream run for metaverse and its proponents. Though at their infancy, metaverse projects have seen an unprecedented amount of engagement, curiosity, and interest of big companies in building their own metaverse.
Metaverse is poised for tremendous growth that will open up opportunities for various stakeholders in numerous fields. One such party could be marketers that want to target millennials and Gen X to engage with their products. Metaverse marketing could be the site of marketing where marketers can target their prospects in a new non-intrusive way.
Before we move ahead with metaverse marketing, it would only be fair to brush up on our knowledge about metaverse. So metaverse, in the words of Mark Zuckerberg, is an embodied internet, say internet+, in which we don’t only consume content, but we are right in the middle of it. It’s much more than engaging with your friends on Facebook; you now can dive into the metaverse and engage with them personally in a 3d environment. You can read the in-depth analysis of Mathew Ball on the Key characteristics of metaverse here for more in-depth knowledge here.
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Marketing In Metaverse
It’s a general pattern up until now that whenever humans venture into someplace new, marketers and advertisers tend to follow. When highways were first built, one saw numerous billboards springing up; when the internet grew popular, banner ads came into being. Now, metaverse has broken onto the scenes. It’s the glowing site of opportunity for these marketers for product placement and getting the attention of these millennials.
The possibilities with metaverse for marketers are truly endless across almost every industry.
Influencer marketing, in particular, is going to thrive in this new space. Metaverse offers an excellent opportunity for everyone to start our influencer journey by offering us a chance to build our personas in this virtual space. Every brand will flock to metaverse for marketing in pursuit of staying ahead of the game.
Into The Metaverse Madness: Best Marketing Strategies
Metaverse for companies is the newest spot where they can market their product and services by engaging with the new-age audience and exploring the potential new revenue streams. The audience demographic of these spaces spectacularly falls below 16. With such a massive dominance of Gen Z in the metaverse, their value as consumers for marketers is immense. With the goal of targeting these Gen Z audiences, let us look into some killer metaverse marketing strategies. Sn
1. Immerse The Brand Within The Metaverse
Marketers have an excellent opportunity to engage with the target audience in the metaverse and plug their products in a non-intrusive way. This will not disrupt their gaming experience and more likely to have a positive impression of the brand. In-game advertising is the way to go for the brands in the metaverse. Brands like Samsung, Cocacola, Volkswagen all display their products on virtual billboards within the games and metaverse. It also adds to the realism of the gameplay.
The correct metaverse marketing strategy depends on the brands, their product, and prospective customers. To plan an effective marketing strategy in metaverse through in-metaverse assets, it becomes very important for the brands to research the target audience and the products it is most likely to appeal to them. They can divide the audience in the game into categories like casual, mediocre, or hardcore gamers.
Once the target audience is locked, marketers should strategize and plan which gaming platform to focus on. There are mainly four gaming platforms right now— mobile gaming, PC, console, and online streaming. The choice of platform should directly increase the brand’s reach and generate leads. For instance, if the brand intends to target casual gamers, they should focus on mobile gamers, and if their target audience is mediocre and hardcore gamers, their focus should be players playing games on PC and console. In addition to billboards in the metaverse, there are several other formats for advertising in metaverse that include video, music, banner ads.
2. Retail Of Goods In The Virtual Space
The direct-to-avatar (D2A) economy is emerging in the metaverse as the majority of audiences in the metaverse are ready to spend money on self-expression. This provides an excellent opportunity for the brands to market themselves by selling and retailing virtual products like dresses fashion accessories to these human avatars in the metaverse. Fashion brands are seemingly taking more significant advantage on this front. There is indeed a huge market for such kind of stuff. Balenciaga sells a customizable set of virtual outfits, accessories, and weapons to Fortnite players.
The partnerships of brands with these gaming places and metaverses is a tremendous profitable proposition for spreading brand awareness among a hyperactive community that is most likely to take action. Technologies like AR and VR are also great options for brands; leveraging these technologies can make their presence felt most effectively. One another killer metaverse marketing strategy would be leveraging the power of NFTs. Brands can mint their unique products into NFTs, which could be bought and sold in metaverse because of its value proposition and proof of on-chain authenticity.
3. Organize Virtual Events
Experiential marketing is the most incredible modern marketing troop; studies prove a brand focusing on building customer experiences has the loyalty of its customer. When brands offer them experience, this builds their perspective about the brand and is more likely to foster trust for that brand. Giving them immersive experience in metaverse should be the goal of the brands. There are several effective ways in which it can be done. The live concert happens to be the most effective one based on the sheer numbers it has garnered.
Music is the unifying factor for all. This could be used to the brand’s advantage by organizing a virtual concert. Rapper Travis Scott performed a full house concert in Fortnite that drew the attention of 12 million players. Brands can organize interactive live events where the audience could interact with the representative of brands. One other immersive way to promote a brand is through Advergames; they are basically ads in the form of a game. It’s another way to gain much-needed traction of audience towards your brand.
4. Provide Value By Offering Digital Collectibles
Collecting rare pieces has been human nature. Brands can use this innate human nature in marketing their brands in metaverse by offering the audience rare collectibles with proof of on-chain ownership. Offering these collectibles in the metaverse is a huge marketing prospect with pretty high returns. Brands can smartly market themselves with NFTs by offering a bundle of benefits to their owners.
For example, the Budweiser NFT cans are actually the entry pass to Budverse a mystery collectible called Budverse. This collection was sold within an hour and its resale value went through the ceiling. There are several other ways for brands to market in metaverse with NFTs and collectibles. One more way that has a huge impact is using these offerings as a reward. Brands can reward the customers with NFTs for purchasing products. It will surely increase brand loyalty and engagement with the brand.
Conclusion
Metaverse marketing will soon become the most exciting space for brand marketing. Donning AR glasses and looking through them, and leveraging these immersive technologies is the way to move ahead. It is undoubtedly going to be one hell of a journey for everyone. Silicon Valley, in particular, has been very persistent in making metaverses as internet next generation. The possibilities that metaverse opens in every facet are truly endless.
The metaverse concept is still in its infancy, and for the great potential it has for marketers, it certainly has some challenges as well. The new tech means there would be a scarcity of guiding principles that could help the marketers the kind of strategies and tactics that could be deployed. This also opens up an unlimited scope for the brand to be innovative and experimental. If you wish to get in touch with an expert strategist that could plan out an innovative metaverse marketing strategy for your project, Contact us now and schedule a free-of-cost 30-Minute Strategy session with our experts.
