How will the metaverse transform digital marketing?

November 18, 2022
Paula de Leon Ramirez
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Ever since Mark Zuckerberg announced that the fantasy world, metaverse, was finally coming to life, many leading brands have already started to dip their toes into it. The Metaverse transformation in digital marketing is a topic that is gaining attention as the platform offers inconceivable prospects for AI, VR, AR, and the marketing industry.

As an open platform that allows users to express themselves, connect, and exchange knowledge through digital creation, businesses are given a new format of connecting with customers. The landscape of digital marketing is predicted to undergo significant change in the near future, facing the challenge of meeting new customers’ demands while remaining at the forefront of technology and adapting to the Metaverse transformation in digital marketing.

But what exactly is the metaverse, and how will it affect digital marketing?

What is the metaverse

The metaverse is anticipated to transform our lives in a similar way to how the radio, the internet, and smartphones once did. In a nutshell, the metaverse comprises multiple emerging technologies to create a shared space that fuses physical reality with 3D virtual reality. In this digitalized world, users create avatar representations of themselves and utilize virtual reality headsets and voice commands to shop, live and connect with other users, in real time and from the commodity of their house. Nevertheless, the creation of this virtual environment must not only be seen as a platform for gaming, but also an opportunity for companies and brands to promote their product and service.

Opportunities and challenges for digital marketing

The metaverse brings an infinite number of opportunities for digital marketers, to gather data and understand consumers’ behavior. By having no restraints nor limits for the imagination, the metaverse has incorporated an innovative commercial element to observe how individuals operate their economic power in the metaverse and how this behavior might become more prevalent. Even though the mere ideology of purchasing items with real money only to use and enjoy in a virtual world seems bizarre, many companies are forced to think outside the bounds of conventional campaigns.

Opportunities for Digital Marketers in the Metaverse

Businesses currently use text, photos, and videos to advertise their products and services online via search engines and social media platforms. However, in a world where avatars can try on and purchase virtual clothes, digital marketers are in need to shift away from data insights that have previously relied on cookies and algorithms.

Challenges for Digital Marketers in the Metaverse

Even though brand marketers are developing ever-more creative strategies to include NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and virtual or augmented reality in their portfolio, when it comes to the content found available online, in actuality, only 3% can be currently classed as interactive. Building on this precedent point, digital marketers must master immersive marketing technologies, methods, and platforms to ensure providing users with an experience that resonates with the rest of the environment.

While the popularity of AR technology skyrockets, according to some industry insiders, Google will adopt a more immersive approach and provide a mixed-reality search engine that enables users to access websites using VR technology. As the metaverse is affecting, from start to finish, customer’s journeys, brands are forced to change their narratives for 3D media in order to keep up with new demands.

Even though the metaverse does come with a waterfall of opportunities, the challenges to stand out and achieve greatness are considerable. It is possible that the metaverse audience evolves into a brand-new society, adopting somewhat different consumer behaviors for their virtual avatars and their real-life personas. This threat can be overcome by identifying two different target sources when designing future campaigns.

Balenciaga leaping into the metaverse

Straight from Fashion Week catwalks, luxury fashion brand Balenciaga was one of the first to publish an NFT capsule collection via a video game called Fortnite. The Fornite x Balenciaga store was made available for users to visit and purchase virtual Balenciaga goods, ranging from skins to accessories wearables to be used across multiple gaming modes. Balenciaga provided the Fortnite team with 3-D scans of each item of clothing, which allowed the game’s designers to reproduce it with realistic features, including visuals, textures, and how it would appear on a character. Additionally, Balenciaga created a limited-edition line of apparel with the Fortnite and Balenciaga emblems, including hoodies, shirts, jackets, and hats.