The Metaverse seems to be all anybody wants to talk about, so it should come as no real shock that it's also at the heart of a lot of contemporary marketing discourse. Naturally, these discussions are accompanied by grand predictions of sweeping changes for society in the future. 

But does anybody actually have a firm grasp on what the Metaverse is? And what about all of the other questions that a Metaverse-based world brings? For instance, how will businesses that engage in commerce advertise products and services, much less spread brand awareness, in a reality that is, in a word, virtual? 

At this point, to say that there’s a lot we still don’t know is an understatement. Much of what post-Metaverse life is going to be like hasn't revealed itself just yet even though the Metaverse, at least as a concept, isn't new.

Having had some time to think about the Metaverse and our place within it, let's consider for a moment some of the implications that the Metaverse has in terms of marketing and branding.

What is the Metaverse? 

We often talk about the Metaverse as a single space and place in time, but it's anything but centralized. Mark Zuckerberg's November 2011 presentation seemed to have depicted a single platform akin to the Oasis in the novel/film Ready Player One, but a metaverse is, by definition, a 3D virtual space that meets these specific criteria: 

• A metaverse is always on.
• A metaverse facilitates real-time interaction between users.
• A metaverse is self-contained.
• A metaverse gives users agency.

Note: We will be discussing both the concept of the metaverse as well as Zuckerburg's Metaverse and we will denote between them by capitalizing the term when referring to Zuckerberg's Metaverse while leaving the term "metaverse" uncapitalized.

Some of those characteristics aren't exclusive to metaverses. For example, virtually anyone with unrestricted internet access has had the ability to interact with other users in real-time and enjoyed autonomy, meaning that they were able to use the digital tool or resource in whichever way they chose.

We can look to gaming as a model for how the Metaverse will work.

One of the main distinctions to make between metaverses and what came before is that, unlike an app or game that we might engage with today, a metaverse remains on and accessible even without a single person logged in, just as the world keeps turning while you sleep.

However, structured content delivery services like YouTube and even websites aren't metaverses. As we use them today, YouTube and the like are one-way streets for content delivery, communicating in one direction to the end-user. Of course, there are elements that can deliver real-time engagement, such as live streams on YouTube with the accompanying live chat feature; however, instances of real-time communication on YouTube are relatively infrequent compared to how most users engage with the platform.

A Metaverse in Gaming

World of Warcraft (WoW for short), a popular massively-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that is approaching its second decade of operation, may provide context for the Metaverse since online gaming has been where we've seen the most Metaverse-style communities.

However, the difference between something like WoW and the Metaverse is that the latter promises to essentially be a digital stand-in for the real world, relevant not just for gaming but also for socialization, employment, entertainment, fitness, education, and everything in-between.

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What is the Metaverse Today?

Considering gaming is the birthplace of metaverse as we currently understand it, we can probably look to gaming as a model for how the Metaverse and Metaverse-based content will work as we move forward.

Thus far, gaming has been built around a few key concepts, which are:

• The ability to create a unique digital identity; 
• The ability to explore some sort of open digital environment; 
• Immersive experiences;  
• Continuous improvement via updates. 

Although it's still early days, we can probably expect these same principles will apply to the Metaverse.

Case Study: Roblox 

Special mention goes to Roblox, a gaming giant ahead of its time for having created what's essentially a metaverse. In effect, Roblox lets players experiment with and enjoy content generated by other users (read: user-generated content) via buying and selling digital goods using a centralized in-game currency (“Robux”) that can be converted into real-world cash. 

The benefits of digital sales—i.e. minimal cost for research and design, products easy to replicate, no production and overhead costs—can’t be denied.

Though technically created to facilitate gaming, the established culture offered by Roblox can also be a means by which marketers can connect with younger audiences and build digital engagement for companies and brands. This engagement may or may not translate to actual sales, but the benefits of digital sales—i.e. minimal cost for R&D, products that are very easy to replicate, and basically zero production and overhead costs—can’t be denied. 

Gucci partnered with Roblox to release the digital equivalent of exclusive sneakers. Sold for $12.99 apiece, Gucci's digital sneakers offer an eye-opening demonstration of digital goods as a way for brands to turn a profit with nearly zero labor and material costs. 

As with the gaming industry at large, Roblox saw a spike in users and revenue immediately following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This sudden influx facilitated faster expansion for the company so that Roblox could remain at the forefront of our digital future. With millions of users and revenue, the platform could be a case study for what the Metaverse can be as we move forward.

Where the Metaverse is Going

Metaverse interactions currently occur as experiences that are separate from the physical world. However, developers are actively exploring ways to turn the 2D internet into a 3D world via a combination of virtual reality and haptic feedback, effectively merging physical and virtual realities. 

Price has historically been a major barrier to entry for next-gen technologies and has likewise proven a significant factor in preventing users from engaging with the Metaverse. Of course, the technology development cycle means that the cost of adoption will slowly but steadily decrease, making the Metaverse increasingly viable over time. 

Experiential advertising will make marketing more participative, giving users the ability to directly engage with marketing content instead of passively consuming it.

As more people start using these types of platforms, there will be more venture capitalists willing to fund the development of Metaverse technology, meaning developers will have resources with which to build more comprehensive and immersive Metaverse experiences. By this same token, we will see the development of exciting new marketing technologies that allow for more experiential advertising that will afford opportunities for marketing to be more participative. In other words, users in digital environments will be able to directly engage with the marketing content instead of passively consuming it. 

There are a lot of really exciting possibilities when it comes to marketing in the Metaverse. Notably, VR technology has the potential to facilitate "hands-on" experiences with products in a digital space, giving users the ability to make more informed purchases. This try-before-you-buy method of marketing is almost certainly going to be the future of marketing, and something that wouldn’t be possible without the Metaverse. 

Marketing and the Metaverse 

It’s difficult to predict when technology will plateau or what limitations that technology could impose. However, we can certainly make some educated guesses.

Experiential Marketing for Next-Gen Audiences 

New paradigms in marketing don't occur by happenstance. Rather, this occurs out of necessity.

Recently, we've seen data showing that younger consumers simply don't respond to traditional advertising in the same way as previous generations. Besides being perceived as less authentic and trustworthy, traditional ad content doesn't come anywhere close to providing something akin to the real product experiences that younger and more discerning buyers look for.

This desire for experiential marketing led to the rise of the social media influencer. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, influencer marketing is when brand owners work with social media creatives to promote products and services directly to those creators' audiences. This offers more of the experiential marketing situation that many consumers are looking for, made even more effective by the fact that audiences tend to consider influencer content as conveying similar perspectives as their own. So when an influencer publishes content in which he or she praises a specific feature of a product, the influencer's viewers are inclined to believe they will share that same view, making them more likely to purchase the product in question.

With today's buyers being "eager for new experiences,” marketing in the Metaverse could revolutionize how brands engage with potential buyers since the Metaverse will facilitate connections between brands and consumers on a level that had not previously been possible outside of brick-and-mortar retail.

Until evidence shows otherwise, we can assume the playbook of marketing best practices isn’t going anywhere, but adding new pages to accommodate the ever-changing technological landscape will pay dividends down the road. 

Best Practices to Adopt Now 

Just to reiterate: A metaverse is more about immersion and is generally not going to be a single platform. Corporations, companies, and even raw code come and go, and the communities they build migrate, balkanize, and reform as entirely new experiences that are governed by the principles we discussed above. 

It generally pays to be an early adopter of new technologies, giving you the ability to leverage more interactive and immersive experiences before the marketplace becomes crowded and competitive. 

Virtual influencers 

Fictional influencers like Lu do Magalu, Lil Miquela, and even Barbie are more relevant and popular than ever. Brands that leverage these digital identities benefit from an unprecedented and unparalleled set of options when it comes to finding and engaging an audience. 

One could say that virtual influencers are the epitome of social media at its most basic level: They're web-based personalities that were carefully constructed in such a way as to generate a similar level of attention as real influencers.

However, compared to real influencers, a major benefit of virtual influencers is that they circumvent some of the specific pitfalls that tend to befall influencers, namely the moral and ethical issues inherent with using real people to advertise products, or leveraging artistic popularity to influence audiences. Because there's less pretense and fewer promises made since the very beginning, a virtual influencer can’t really sell out. 

There's a certain upfrontness to virtual influencers since their fake content is made for the express purpose of promoting products, offering a level of protection from controversy. Moreover, a virtual influencer can even realign on the fly to ensure that he or she fits perfectly with a brand partner's image while commanding just as much (if not more) attention, and for a fraction of the cost of conventional advertising for brands. 

Microtransactions and in-game ads 

Digital products have been around since long before Mark Zuckerberg debuted his vision for a metaverse. A prime example is cosmetic upgrades such as branded skins in various eSports games, giving players the chance to promote esports and regional interests in the respective worlds of their favorite games. In short, these purchases are incentivized via players having the ability to express their loyalties to other players in much the same way that a person wears a jersey to promote his or her favorite team in real life.. 

The purchase of in-game cosmetics effectively converts real-life currency into digital goods. However, it's worth noting that methods for obtaining these digital goods became controversial almost as quickly as they became popular. 

Virtual events can build hype for physical goods and real-life events.

Still, digital goods like Gucci’s digital shoes are a burgeoning, very nearly untapped market. As more companies realize that digital releases can do far more than earmark profit margins, we can expect that digital goods sold via virtual marketplaces won’t be overlooked much longer. 

Companies can use virtual events to build hype for physical goods and events even today. For example, Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus hosted a launch event in 2016 for the third generation of the company's popular smartphone in a VR environment called "the Loop," giving attendees the ability to engage with the product via demonstrations and other launch content.

Demonstrations in digital environments can give users a taste of the “clout” of real ownership. This method drives engagement and is at the core of Metaverse marketing. 

NFTs and blockchain technologies 

NFTs have been on fire as blockchain-based certificates of ownership are an opportunity for users to interact with the world of the Metaverse. However, interest in NFTs among the population at large seems to be freefall.

When spatial and economic factors make ownership impossible, NFTs can give buyers of digital products a sense of true ownership within a virtual space. For instance, buying a home in a city like New York City or Los Angeles is not financially feasible for many Americans yet a digital home in an urban-themed metaverse is both more affordable and undeniably the property of its owner. Storage on the blockchain provides proof of ownership, a benefit few can match. 

Digital advertising 

The Metaverse will allow marketers to place billboards, commercials, and banner ads in games as well as in social Metaverse spaces just like we've done for decades in the real world. Sure enough, we've already seen services emerge to facilitate that exact type of advertising in a virtual space. 

NFTs give buyers of digital products a sense of true ownership within a virtual space.

Advertising in virtual environments using billboards, commercials, and banner ads isn't new. However, this type of marketing has insofar been limited to ephemeral, temporary game-based metaverses. Yet if we apply other traditional marketing techniques in the Metaverse, then what’s old could start to feel new again as we work out the best ways of applying traditional marketing processes in virtual space. 

Experiential advertising

Ever since VR headsets flooded the market a number of years ago, brands have experimented with 360-degree experiences to market their products. You may have even experienced some of these ads on Facebook where they were quite popular for a while.

These 360-degree experiences function very similarly to television commercials since 2—i.e. when user input triggers a reaction in the virtual world—has been minimal at best, but that won't continue to be the case as Zuckerberg's Metaverse materializes.

Product placement

In visual media like films, television shows, commercials, and even games, brands have worked with creators to strike product placement deals wherein these brands' products are featured in the creators' content. Besides the value it already has today, this type of marketing could be even more valuable in the Metaverse as interactivity with virtual products and environments increases. Further, product placement will likely be of increased value since users will not only be able to interact with products but actually take legitimate ownership of digital goods.

Get Ready for Marketing in the Metaverse with Alan + Company 

Much like radio and television before it, the Metaverse is going to trigger a seismic shift in marketing. For this reason, those who take the time to master Metaverse marketing will give their businesses longevity, particularly as we transition into systems for Metaverse-based commerce. 

At Alan + Company, we have carefully-laid plans with which to strengthen your business, brand, or company in this new era of the Metaverse. Want to be at the forefront of the next digital revolution? Then contact us today for a free consultation and custom marketing strategy for your brand.