To begin with, let’s start by defining the metaverse. In simple terms, the metaverse is a virtual cyberspace where users will use augmented and virtual reality technology to interact with the visuals projected in front of them. A simulated world that lives parallel to a physical one is an idea that wasn’t very far away anyway. The term “metaverse” was coined by Neal Stephenson in 1991 and mentioned in his sci-fi novel Snow Crash.
The term social marketing was coined in the 1970s by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman, two of the greatest marketing minds in modern history. While the first job for social media marketers came out around 13 years ago, we see today a lot of job openings titled “Social Media Intern (Metaverse)”.
If you ask me what will differentiate metaverse marketing from “old-school” digital marketing, the word immersive will be the first thing that comes to mind. Just like how the agencies that jumped on the bandwagon first and included digital marketing under their wing of conglomerates and business fields have made significant financial rewards, agencies nowadays who miss out on including metaverse and immersive experiences will miss out on a portion of the lion’s share.
Metaverse marketing is more than just utilizing your client’s 3D avatar and creating an experience for consumers. It is truly a significant opportunity for brands to make money on a whim! To celebrate what would have been its founder’s 200th birthday, Louis Vuitton released the video game Louis in the metaverse. The game’s main character searched the globe virtually for collectable NFT candles, and each candle signifies an important story from Louis’ life journey. Louis Vuitton is clearly positioning itself in the future and has successfully attracted a big chunk of potential gen Z and millennial customers.
We see several metaverse marketing agencies arriving on the scene with various clients who want to jump on the bandwagon. It’s very easy to garner visibility and commercialize your name as a brand with metaverse as it’s a current trending topic. Punching the term in the Google search engine will retrieve around 1.4 billion results.
Nowadays, marketing strategies should include possible ways to incorporate this technology into existing digital marketing strategies. Certain concepts like UCG or user-generated content that made social media stand out from traditional channels such as TV and radio can be leveraged and taken to a whole new level in the metaverse. Users in this virtual world can easily create and share payable content. With around only 3 per cent of the content on the internet can be categorized as interactive, metaverse will change the game.
Digital marketing will move beyond creating creative and attractive content and promoting it online to elevate a brand’s name. It will shift towards putting people “in” the internet rather than being “on” it. Creating brand experiences that mimic the physical world to reflect what the brand does in real life is only the beginning.
