Metaverse Marketing - The New Horizon Of Consumer Outreach

Looking for the next possible disruption in the marketing domain? Well, then it is knocking at your doorstep, and it’s none other than the intriguing world of Metaverse. With Gen Z & millennials forming a sizeable portion of the consumer space, Metaverse Marketing is soon becoming a necessity for marketers. If you have been smitten by sci-fi fiction like the Matrix Series, then it’s now time to embrace the world of Metaverse in the real marketing domain.

Metaverse marketing can help a brand connect a lot of “life-like” experiences for the consumers. Offline activities are still prevalent, however, the world, in general, has understood the supreme importance of online all the more in the last couple of years that went past. It is important to think out of the box and one has to be able to reach out to consumers through channels that are not traditional. This is where Metaverse Marketing will play a dominant role as the virtual avatars will help the consumers experience stuff that would be very close to them being present at an event or situation physically.

The existence of an investment fund for Metaverse NYSE: META, talks volumes of the potential that one could unleash. The world of SEO also cannot stay untouched from the metaverse revolution that’s on the anvil for all marketers. Google also now allows the creation of engrossing 3D experiences via AR/VR from local listings and others. Having the keyword of metaverse associated with your brand itself will increase the findability of your brand in Google and other search engines as the keyword search for metaverse has seen a monumental uptick.

Here are some of the real-life applications across industries that can help marketers see an enhanced ROI for their efforts:

• The Retail Industry can provide an enhanced user experience to its consumers if Metaverse-related virtual avatars are provided that can try the product before buying it. This will be a game-changer and will provide the consumers with the appetite to try various designs and pick the one that suits them the most.
• The Hospitality Industry can leverage Metaverse to connect with the different communities of travellers that are out there. If there are events conducted that could give a traveller access to experience a lavish resort or hotel stay and the user could interact with the various amenities available, then choosing by booking the next vacation becomes more enriched and informed.
• Of course, the Gaming industry has been the forerunner in embracing and adopting virtual avatars, AR & VR to provide their gamers with a real-life gaming experience. There are a few Metaverse success stories that give a lot of food for thought to the marketers to make their strategies and plans of conducting events, concerts or placing their ads, etc. in collaboration with these gaming brands to reach out to a wider audience and at the same time, it helps in generating alternate revenue streams for these Gaming brands.
• There is also a huge scope of getting newer avenues for revenue using the world of a metaverse in the Fashion & Apparel industry as well. Recently, a very well-known fashion brand launched their collectibles online and also created a virtual event to facilitate a never-ever-seen experience of their consumers using metaverse which generated a lot of leads and revenue for them.
• The real estate industry can also benefit a lot from the world of metaverse marketing. The probable dwellers can get an experience of how their living space or office space could look like and feel if proper effective metaverse marketing campaigns are rolled out. This would consequently increase the generation of an active pipeline of hot leads for the real estate brands which can be pursued for successful sales conversion.

So it’s time now to pave the way for virtual billboards, in-app metaverse ads, 3D viewing of digital photo collections, and many other real-time experiences. The immersive experience that consumers can have through virtual advertising by adopting the metaverse universe will go a long way in developing the consumer’s connection with the brand thereby resulting in enhanced consumer experience and heightened brand recall. 

Conclusively, it will be an understatement to say that there is a lot of time for brands and businesses to embrace 'Metaverse Marketing'. Time is running out and you have to catch up soon as the consumers are getting smarter by the day. The domain of marketing is gearing up for a paradigm shift as far as ‘test & buy’ is concerned. Therefore, adopting Metaverse Marketing to reach out to consumers while providing them with a ‘never like before’ experience for one’s products & offerings will go a long way in business expansion, market dominance & brand cognizance.

Dr. Karunakar Jha

Guest Author The author is the Academic Director, Univeral Business School. Formerly Professor, Department of General Management, School of Business, UPES