With all the commotion surrounding the metaverse, there is a fair amount of uncertainty and confusion. And that is understandable, as we are all still figuring things out as we go.
According to Gartner, a quarter of the world will soon be spending an hour or more each day in the metaverse working, shopping, learning, collecting, and playing.
It is potentially big money for businesses. Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts that the scope for market opportunity is around $800 billion.
In essence, the metaverse is a progressive universe where participants exist as avatars that allow them to experience the 3D world beyond what they are capable of in the real world.
How Does It Work?
With web 2.0, centralized entities hold power over access to the service. Now, thanks to a more decentralized web 3.0, you can own, control, and monetize content through blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the metaverse. Brands get to choose where they want to exist within the space. They could have different styles and forms simultaneously active across different virtual lands, depending on who they are trying to reach, how they want to reach them, and with what services or products.
But how can we prevent the metaverse from becoming a lawless mess with all this freedom?
With the growth of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), we see the combination of the blockchain and the metaverse revolutionizing how crypto, community involvement, and autonomous governance are applied.
Why You Should Care About Brand Building In The Metaverse
Aside from the potential to make big bucks, the metaverse is a great way to connect with your customers. There is tremendous power in owning the omnipresent experience with your clients.
As with all things post-2020, authenticity, and personalization are key, and the metaverse provides a great opportunity to grow both. It opens up new, more effective ways to build closer relationships between brands and customers.
Brands can afford to be more creative, experimental, and personalized in this space than with traditional platforms. The immersive experiences and interactions that can be had in the metaverse are unparalleled.
How To Build Your Brand In The Metaverse
Brand-building in the metaverse certainly has its challenges, but if you get it right, you will reap the rewards.
The currency of choice in the metaverse is often NFTs (non-fungible tokens). NFTs are digital assets stored on the blockchain that can’t be replicated or overwritten.
In the metaverse, NFTs are authenticated by metadata and time stamps—code stored on the blockchain. They can be owned, collected, shared, traded, bought and sold, desired, and admired within the virtual world you exist in.
Through the use of NFTs, brands can ramp up revenue and build. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Coca-Cola have now set up shop in the metaverse and are all advertising products to this plugged-in consumer base with great success.
But it is not just the typical tech-heavy brands that are doing so. Here are some tips on how you can do it.
Get Your Head In The Game
You could take this literally if you consider brand-building on platforms like Roblox, as Gucci did. However, we should reiterate that this isn’t something only big brand budgets can afford. Content creators for companies of all sizes have the opportunity of building awareness in the metaverse.
Start out by thinking about immersive experiences—things that you do in the real world that you would like to replicate in the virtual world. Your target audience may want to watch a movie with friends, walk down a busy street, or go to a concert. You could even give a corporate presentation in a virtual space, or do branded giveaways and promos.
All types of marketing should be aligned with your core branding objectives, so be sure to do your research. Who is the target audience? What problems do you solve for them? Do they spend any time in the metaverse? Will your brand benefit from radical marketing digitization?
Explore Brand Gamification
One of the benefits NFTs offer is that they can be integrated with most games. This makes them a great option for rewarding loyal customers as they are desirable, one-off digital assets.
Don’t underestimate the power of desirability and scarcity—especially in the digital world. Brands can use this innate trait that is present in all of us to align messaging, grow awareness, incorporate brand values, and gain customer attention.
Create Immersive Experiences
Think about the sales process in the real world and create out-of-this-world experiences that support that kind of journey in the virtual world. Sales teams could give live presentations or demos to prospective clients in bespoke locations of your making. Avatars could try on outfits virtually and play a game in the bespoke branded clothing.
You could even use the metaverse for internal brand-building tactics, such as training, staff onboarding, and meetings hosted in a 3D space for optimal immersion. Rewards and recognition could even be given through NFTs and cryptocurrency.
Hunker Down And Wait It Out
As with any emerging tech trend, it is tough to know what direction this will take. Check out what the competition is doing, see what works, and then adopt, adapt, and improve.
But don’t wait too long. The threat of getting lost in the metaverse crowd might end up as challenging as being on page two of Google over the coming years.
Final Thoughts
The metaverse offers unique, fresh, and highly immersive platforms for brands to connect with customers in a whole new way. It is set to become the new powerhouse of digitized marketing.
As with all things marketing, make sure you are clear on how your brand can feature in the virtual world without losing your authentic brand voice. Keep your eye on the future of immersive brand-building without losing sight of your current marketing objectives.
