The Ultimate 2023 Guide to Marketing in Metaverse: Best Practices, Examples

Metaverse is no longer science fiction but a real possibility. The need to be at the forefront of building this revolutionizing innovation has made the metaverse a primary goal for big names like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google. Facebook has even rebranded itself as Meta, intending to “bring the metaverse to life”! Marketing in metaverse has become the need of the hour with more and more businesses dipping their toes in the metaverse. But what exactly is marketing in metaverse? Read on to know more about its strategies, best practices, examples, and marketing jobs. 

Understanding the Metaverse

There is no clear definition of metaverse as it’s still in its nascent stages. It can be best described as an immersive virtual experience for users represented by avatars to interact and purchase products online. 

According to metaverse expert Matthew Ball, some common elements of the metaverse include: 

• Metaverse never ends and continues indefinitely 
• Exists consistently in real-time 
• Enables people to have a virtual identity, presence, and individual agency
• Allows users to create, own, invest and sell in a fully functioning universe
• Spans the physical and virtual worlds
• Offers interoperability of data, items, and content between platforms
• Allows contributors to create content and experience 

Future of Marketing in the Metaverse

According to McKinsey, the metaverse has the potential to impact commercial and personal lives significantly. Investment into the metaverse crossed $120 billion in 2022 and is expected to generate $5 trillion by 2030. 

Games such as Fortnite, Minecraft, Illuvium, and Axie Infinity are already incorporating elements of the metaverse and providing an immersive experience to individuals. Similarly, brands like Nike, Samsung, and Coca-Cola are already utilizing the metaverse to reach out to their consumers. It is not a stretch to say that digital marketing is dominating traditional marketing; with the addition of the metaverse, digital marketing is expected to evolve to a new level, making the latter obsolete. 

What Will Marketers Find in the Metaverse?

According to Gartner, 25% of people are expected to spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for work, shopping, education, social media, and entertainment by 2026. Metaverse offers exceptional opportunities for marketers to immerse and engage consumers in a 3D digital experience integrating virtual and augmented reality. With the help of the metaverse, brands can create their own world dedicated to a product or service, where consumers can explore, interact, and make purchases through their avatars. 

Marketing in Metaverse

Here are some tips for marketers to consider while marketing in the metaverse:  

Engage with Existing Communities

Metaverse primarily focuses on marketing to Gen Z and millennials. While bringing digitally savvy new customers is essential for your business to expand, it is equally important to keep your existing customers interested in your brand. Engaging your existing communities will help launch new marketing campaigns and allow you to maintain brand trust and reputation.

An Immersive Experience is the Key

Metaverse is unlike any other marketing strategy. It allows you to create a world specifically for a product or service and take your customers through an immersive experience. However, it is also essential to note that immersive marketing campaigns require time, effort, and large capital. Thus, marketing in the metaverse should focus on creating an experience that is right for your brand and target segment. 

Make Collectibles Available

Digital collectibles use blockchain technology to create Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs). These digital collectibles are one-of-a-kind, limited digital commodities that allow the distribution and transfer of collectibles. You can offer branded collectibles such as video clips, digital art, digital trading cards, and other digital products that cannot be copied but transferred from one owner to another.   

Parallel Metaverse Marketing Within Real-Life Marketing

Marketing in metaverse is not a replacement but an addition to other marketing strategies. Creating metaverse marketing campaigns by incorporating real-life experiences or parallelling what your brand is already doing in the real world can result in huge marketing success. 

Continuous Experimentation

Since the metaverse is still in its infancy, there is a huge space for marketers to try different marketing strategies, learn from failure, and find success with marketing in metaverse. Define your metaverse marketing goals, identify the audience and platforms that best fit your brand, and be open to experiments and innovation. 

SEO and Metaverse

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) provides a way to establish your brand in the metaverse. Marketers should start thinking about search engine strategies to position their brands organically at the top of search results for those seeking a metaverse experience.  

AR Content Strategies, Local SEO, and More

Many big tech brands are looking for ways to take advantage of new metaverse opportunities such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and other devices. You can consider leveraging strategies around AR to get your brand at the top of the search results. For example, Google AR and VR can place 3D digital objects right in front of the audience.  

Visual Search Plays a Key Role

Scanning the environment and identifying content provides exceptional opportunities for brands to grow and advance. Companies like Google and Amazon allow consumers to buy products through their mobile cameras. Similarly, social networks such as Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram are also integrating AR and changing the way people engage online.     

Public Relations and the Metaverse Media

Metaverse provides immersive ways for people to communicate, providing new ways for Public Relations (PR) to stand out from the competition. Public relations firms can utilize the metaverse to create brand engagement in many creative ways—incorporating elements of metaverse for creating immersive experiences for brands and hosting VR events.  

Social Media and the Metaverse

Social networking is already becoming immersive with the incorporation of metaverse on social media. This integration offers new opportunities to earn money, grow the user base, collaborate, communicate via avatars, boost engagement, host events, and create virtual worlds. For example, Meta Horizon Worlds by Meta allows users to hang out with friends, play games, and attend events. 

Best Practices for Metaverse Marketing

Since the metaverse is largely conceptual, best marketing practices are still being established. However, while exploring marketing in metaverse, marketers should remember the following: 

• Establish brand goals and objectives for the metaverse 
• Determine the target audience for the metaverse
• Incorporate other marketing strategies along with metaverse marketing
• Make use of existing metaverse platforms
• Keep experimenting to find the right metaverse marketing for your brand

Metaverse Marketing Examples

Some examples of marketing in metaverse are: 

Shopify AR

Shopify added AR to create 3D models of the product that customers can view in 3D in the real world before making a purchase. 

Credit: Shopify AR 

NIKELAND 

Nikeland by Nike on Roblox is an immersive sports space where players can unlock new gear for their avatars.

Credit: NIKELAND on Roblox

Instagram Digital Collectables 

Instagram introduced digital collectibles for businesses as a way to merchandise NFT collections.

Credit: Instagram Digital Collectibles

ZED RUN

ZED RUN is a blockchain-based horse-racing game that allows players to race, buy, and breed virtual horses. 

Credit: Zed Run 

Balenciaga 

Balenciaga collaborated with Fortnite to launch NFT wearables that players can buy for their characters.

Credit: Fortnite with Balenciaga

Metaverse Marketing Jobs

Metaverse is not only opening doors to new opportunities to grow for businesses but is also creating new job opportunities in the field. Some marketing in metaverse career include: 

• Business strategists
• Community manager
• Ecosystem manager
• Storyteller

ALSO READ: Technology Trends to Watch Out for Metaverse & Its Applications 

Exploring the Metaverse with Emeritus

Metaverse marks the beginning of a new age of the Internet. Many companies—especially the big tech ones—have already begun looking for metaverse marketers to help them engage their customers. If you are starting your marketing career or looking to advance in the field, it would be remiss to not consider marketing in metaverse. Explore Emeritus’ marketing courses to be metaverse-ready! 

By Krati Joshi

Write to us at content@emeritus.org