omething is coming to the marketing world—almost everyone agrees on that. Disagreement begins with the question of what exactly it is: the metaverse. At least it’s the talk of the town at current marketing events and will give the marketing industry a considerable innovation boost. Because even though many things and developments around marketing in the metaverse are still uncertain, one thing is clear: without the right marketing technology, there’s no point in setting foot in the metaverse. But first, new software and tools need to be developed and brought to market. That’s why we’re already preparing you here for MarTech in the metaverse.
The metaverse first became a major topic of conversation when Facebook’s parent company changed its name to “Meta.” By now, it is considered the next generation of the internet, Web 3.0. The metaverse makes it possible to recreate a wide range of social activities from the real world in a virtual world. In fact, countless such metaverses exist with different focuses, functions, and target groups.
What they all have in common is that users create a digital identity and interact with one another. One of the best-known virtual universes at the moment is the game Fortnite. But the metaverse is not only a topic in the gaming sector. Alongside tech giants such as Apple, Google and others, around 4,000 companies worldwide are currently working on building a virtual world. Forecasts suggest that the metaverse market could be worth around 800 billion dollars by 2024.
The figures mentioned are promising and reason enough not to view the topic of the metaverse in marketing merely as a fleeting hype. Although the metaverse is often not yet counted among the currently relevant innovations for the marketing industry, it is worth keeping an eye on the development and establishing yourself as an early adopter in the virtual world.
These opportunities are available to marketers in the metaverse:
The advantage of advertising in the metaverse is that the shift from digital advertising to metaverse marketing enables brands to reach a large audience, usually at a lower price than through traditional channels. For example, invest in virtual billboards to address your target audience.
Similar to social media platforms, the metaverse also makes use of influencers. Such virtual brand ambassadors offer some advantages compared to real Influencer:innen, as the latter are significantly more expensive and less controllable. However, you can also use avatars modeled on real people.
A more interesting approach is the development of advergames by brands: games are used as a means of advertising products or services. So brands don’t advertise in games by other parties, but design their own games.
Not only due to the pandemic, virtual Events are becoming increasingly popular. At the moment, they are mainly hosted by the entertainment industry. But other companies are also increasingly recognizing the value of virtual events for their customer experience.
One step further in metaverse marketing are brands that claim real estate for themselves in the metaverse with their own virtual venues. There, for example, art can be auctioned.
Perhaps the most interesting opportunity for marketing in the metaverse is metaverse commerce. It is also referred to as the Direct-to-Avatar (D2A) economy, in which brands sell digital goods within the metaverse. Currently, the market for NFTs, where unique digital artworks and assets are traded, is particularly popular.
It is already becoming apparent that the metaverse will open up a new marketing channel that offers innovative opportunities, but also requires marketers to rethink tools and methods. In the area of social media marketing, for example, shifting communities from a 2D feed on Instagram, LinkedIn, and the like into a virtual space is conceivable. This space can not only serve as a stage for user-generated content, but events can also take place here.
Augmented reality is also a key term when it comes to MarTech for the metaverse. For example, AR glasses and eye-tracking methods can be used to identify content that users like to consume. These methods help create target-group-oriented and personalized content. AR technologies also play a central role in search engine optimization. Initial developments can be seen in local SEO at Google, for instance: the search engine giant plans to use AR tools in the future to generate 3D experiences directly from local listings. However, exactly what SEO marketing will look like in the metaverse is still unclear.
Since the metaverse is still in its infancy, the development of many tools and software solutions is still at an early stage. However, three technologies will definitely be relevant in the future:
Virtual Reality
Augmented Reality
Artificial Intelligence
They are a basic prerequisite for brands that want to take place in the metaverse. Even if, for example, sales figures for VR software solutions already confirm this trend, many questions regarding the technical implementation still remain unanswered. It is also unclear how privacy and data protection can be ensured and how virtual intellectual property should be handled.
The metaverse is not a short-lived fad. Even if many solutions and tools for Web 3.0 are still pending, it can be assumed that it will continue to grow—both in terms of the number of platforms and the number of users. Virtual universes create space for innovative content and activities. Seize this moment to establish your brand in the metaverse as an early adopter! From virtual events to NFTs—there are no limits to your creativity. The metaverse offers an exciting new world for marketing!
For your first steps toward metaverse marketing, you’ll certainly need partners and experts to support and advise you. Matchilla brings you together with the right fellow travelers via the matching process. Simply use our form, enter the keyword “metaverse” at the top (and a bit more information), and we’ll take care of the rest for you!
Is the metaverse still too far off for you? We’ll also match you with the most relevant partners for all other areas in marketing (software and tools, agencies, consulting).
Till Zier is CPO at Matchilla and, as a MarTech expert, reports in MatchZINE on news and trends in marketing, automation, analytics, and data.
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