Advertise Your Brand in the Metaverse: The Future of Digital Advertising
The world is expanding beyond the physical boundaries of humans. Metaverse is one such example! Metaverse is a virtual world that can be accessed using augmented reality and virtual reality headsets.
Facebook Introduced Metaverse to make social interaction realistic. Although events happen in virtual reality, they feel natural. It has opened numerous doors of opportunities for businesses across the world. Users are purchasing lands, and building real estate by creating their avatars. Therefore, it opened a doorway of opportunities for brands to advertise their products.
Metaverse has generated numerous possibilities. Brands are eager to grab this opportunity and explore futuristic ways to create an everlasting impact on their audiences in this new virtual universe. Thus, the time is opportune to get started and establish a milestone in the metaverse.
The concept of the metaverse is not new. It was first coined in the year 1992 in a science fiction novel “Snow Crash”. The term was used to describe a fictional or advanced universe. A virtual land filled with opportunities!
Since then, the word creates an image in the mind of readers painted with the world of a sci-fi movie. It created an image of new possibilities and advancement. As we proceed, we will discuss the area of possibilities and opportunities of advertising in the metaverse.
Guide to getting started with advertising in the Metaverse
We have learned that the metaverse is an augmented reality designed by humans to expand the horizon of their experiences. Virtual reality promises far more than what we can experience in our physical reality. Therefore, it will not be false to say that advertising will require additional efforts in the virtual world.
Metaverse is a promise! It is a leap in the future beyond imagination. Therefore, to make your brand worthy of advertising in the Meta-universe, brands must re-invent. They must re-think and re-evaluate their brand following the new reality. Advertisers must design their campaigns following their virtual audiences.
Metaverse has been evaluated to be a trillion-dollar market. No one can have it all! Thus, everyone will get a chance to sustain the audience by using the best creative minds in the market.
Factors to be considered before advertising in Metaverse
Before we get started with our advertising endeavor in Metaworld, we must understand the area of opportunities. As every game has its own rules, so does metaverse. Here we are listing some key categories that one can try their hands on if they are planning to start their journey with advertising in Metaverse.
Expansible: Metaverse is a multi-million business due to the presence of millions of people on the platform. People are creating their avatars and coexisting in the metaverse.
Easy to access: The world is accessible to all without any boundaries. You can be of any age and ethnicity. You can belong to any region or background, metaverse will provide you with similar opportunities.
Social hive: Metaverse is the key attraction for people. Everyone in the metaverse is trying to explore possibilities. Therefore, this could be the best time for brands to step in and establish themselves through fine-crafted advertising in the virtual universe.
Unique content: Users are using interactive and immersive content. It is helping to shape the virtual reality of the metaverse. Users are exploring the boundaries of the Metaverse and trying to achieve goals that they find unattainable in the physical world.
Patching the gap: Metaverse gives their users a real-world experience where they can interact with one another, explore products and enjoy the services. Therefore, this makes the metaverse a perfect place for advertising.
Understanding Metaverse:
Before we start advertising in the metaverse, it is crucial to understand the basics. These basics will help advertisers to portray their products effectively. The word Metaverse is a combination of “Meta” meaning beyond, and “Verse” meaning universe. It is often defined as the land of opportunities and origin. Using the virtual world as a platform to portray their products, brands will no longer be enslaved or will feel bounded. They will have maximum opportunity to sell their products to the consumers.
The possibilities in the metaverse are endless, and users can multitask. It gives the virtual world an edge over the physical world. For example, users can purchase from their favorite brands while attending concerts or dining at their favorite restaurants.
Here are some terms that advertisers should familiarize themselves with as they start advertising in the metaverse.
Virtual Reality (VR): Virtual reality is a simulated reality created using a 3D technique. It is similar to a hologram. However, unlike a hologram, people can see their projected avatars and other avatars in a 360-degree virtual simulated environment. Using head-mounted devices (AR/VR) users can sense, feel, and get audio feedback. This experience is interactive and immersive.
The technology is still maturing, and we might get past the limitations of VR headsets in the future.
Augmented Reality (AR): AR is a technology that uses computer-generated imaging. These images are superimposed to achieve a single image. This image occupies physical space in the real world. To enhance the immersion, sound and visuals are added.
Mixed reality(MR): Using the technology of AR and VR, mixed reality is designed. Mixed reality lets users interact with artificial content in the real world. AR and VR are the components of mixed reality. These create a bridge between the real and digital worlds.
Extended Reality (XR): Extended reality is a step forward. It is created by immersion in AR, VR and MR technologies. XR enhances the experiences through a bridge between human and machine interaction.
Avatars: The word is self-explanatory, and most of us have already seen the movie “Avatar”. The phenomenon is the same as it was in the movie. In the metaverse, one can create an avatar and experience virtual reality using these avatars.
Blockchain: A method enabling digital security and storage of digital data. This data can be stored on a local server or over the cloud. The technology has been proven successful and empowers cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin. It has also proven to be helpful in the succession of NFTs in the metaverse.
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies. They are used for payments in the virtual world. These currencies are usually stored in digital wallets. To make the storage and transaction secure blockchain technology is used. Some common examples of cryptocurrencies are Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.
Non-Fugible Tokens (NFTs): These are unique assets(digital) stored in blockchain. These represent real-life products/items such as art, music, and other collectible items. You will gain true ownership of these items in the digital world.
Trends Of Advertising In Metaverse
We have already understood the scope of opportunities and possibilities in the metaverse. However, it is crucial to understand the ways and trends that will help us to advertise in the virtual world. Metaverse is still at its inception. It will not be unjust to say that it is still a sampling, and calculating its true potential will not be justifiable. Therefore, in this evolving technology one must understand the ongoing traits and trends.
Virtual Influencers: We have already seen the power of influence marketing. Platforms like Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have already proven the possibilities and impact of influence marketing. Similarly, metaverse empowers brands to choose their favorite influencers and create a high-impacting campaign. These campaigns are not only effective but also cost-efficient. Dior, Valentino, and Calvin Klien are using influencers like Imma, Shudu, and Lil Miquela to advertise their products in the virtual universe. R3 a marketing consultancy has already emphasized the impact of influencer marketing in the metaverse. Therefore, it is a proven technique to establish your brand in the virtual universe using influencer advertising.
Events In Metaverse: We all understand the value of advertising at major events. Concerts, summits, Super Bowl, and sports events gather huge audiences. Therefore, placing your products or campaigning with a full-time advertisement help to create an impact on consumers.
Ariana Grande, Lil Nas, and Travis Scott’s concerts gathered millions of fans. Hence, creating huge revenues for the brands.
MetaCommerce: People love to follow trends not just in the physical world but also in the metaverse. Users are spending money to recreate their avatars. They are spending money to purchase all types of products, clothing, and accessories with the help of the in-app purchase. The in-game purchase market has already seen huge success. The in-game purchase market is already predicted to surpass the milestone of 74.4 billion USD.
Similarly, Metaverse is also seeing a high demand for in-app products that users are purchasing to recreate the value of their avatars. Metaverse is also monetizing the products using its economic currency used to exchange goods. The currency used is NFTs, and brands like Coca-Cola, Tommy Hilfiger, Wendy’s, Samsung, and Gucci are offering their NFTs in the virtual world. Users can also the NFTs are non-fungible tokens supporting virtual economies. They can protect their ownership of products using NFTs.
Direct Advertising in Metaverse: One of the oldest and most eye-catching ways of advertising is digital advertising. We all can agree that this old and proven method is not going to vanish any time soon. Virtual platforms are already providing virtual billboards, and brands like Samsung, Coca-Cola, Adidas, and Balenciaga are already trying to grab all the attention by capturing the maximum presence that they can get their hands on.
Wrap Up
- Metaverse is at its primitive stage, and several developments are going to happen with time. People are still trying to figure out the most suitable ways to gain the best out of it. Therefore, creating a footprint in the metaverse is easy at this stage of its evolution.
- Continuous study of the latest trends and areas of possibility will prove to be beneficial in the long run perspective.
- The possibilities are endless! As there are no barriers to creativity one can explore multiple dimensions of opportunities and enhance the user experience by providing them with a hassle-free journey through their products and services.
