Irem B.
For promoting and selling products and services, companies should focus on effective marketing strategies. With the help of marketing, people can reach their possible customers and present the properties of their products and services. Because of the situation, marketing is a very important department in different companies.
With the development of Metaverse, marketing research and advertising started to change and improve. In other words, the virtual world affected and continues to affect the marketing of products and services. Due to the current circumstance, producers and other staff in companies should become acquainted with Metaverse marketing. Let’s learn the details of Metaverse marketing together!
As you know, Metaverse is a virtual world, so it has an active side. In other words, virtuality provides Metaverse with the chance of being always active. Because of the feature, marketing can be always conducted in Metaverse, and the locations of the companies or marketers are not important for marketing in Metaverse. Hence, we can say that Metaverse can develop marketing in a simple and good way.
Generally, we encounter user-friendly content and activities in Metaverse. Also, we can create our virtual identities and show them with our avatars in the virtual world. Furthermore, we can earn rewards and money with the help of the integration of cryptocurrencies and NFT-based projects to Metaverse. Therefore, the virtual world supports our lifestyles in terms of different fields, and also marketing is supported by Metaverse, but how?
There are four Ps for marketing: price, production, promotion, and place. For the price of marketing, companies and marketers can consider cryptocurrencies in Metaverse. For the production of marketing, people can create their virtual items and show or sell them via Metaverse. For the promotion of marketing, companies can organize interesting virtual activities, such as presentations or games, in Metaverse. Lastly, for the place of marketing, people can get help from the virtual world without focusing on their real locations!
With Web 1.0, companies focused on the creation of a website involving contact information. Then, Web 2.0 appeared, and companies started to think about how can they make users’ experiences personalized. After Web 2.0, we encountered Web 3.0, and now companies are trying to offer more immersive experiences to their customers.
The importance of Metaverse for marketing
Metaverse marketing notion is born because the virtual world can affect marketing strategies, marketing research, and advertising positively.
Firstly, companies can reach their customers and potential customers in different ways via Metaverse. Especially, they do not have to create ‘real’ strategies. In other words, they can get their customers virtually. Also, gen Z and millennials love technology, and they deal with Metaverse. Due to the use of gen Z and millennials, companies try to utilize Metaverse for their marketing. With Metaverse marketing, companies, producers, and marketers can increase the number of customers and present their products or services effectively and virtually. In addition to these, there is decentralization that is adopted by Metaverse, and the circumstance provides companies with the chance of creating their own world for marketing.
At that point, we want to mention an example of Metaverse marketing. Gucci is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house, and it has a lot of customers, but the company wants to reach other people. For that reason, the company focused on Metaverse marketing, and Gucci became an important brand in the virtual world, like in the real world. Gucci released an exclusive pair of digital sneakers called Gucci Virtual 25 in March 2021, and we can realize the production point of marketing in Metaverse with the help of the Gucci example. In addition to the example, we can mention Mesh for Microsoft Teams; it is a new meeting platform offering presence and shared experiences from anywhere on any device through mixed reality applications. Employees can communicate and work together via Mesh for Microsoft Teams. As you know, Microsoft Teams is a significant software in business life, and a different version of the software is available now in Metaverse. For businesses, new technologies matter, and Mesh for Microsoft Teams appeared with an amazing Metaverse marketing, so a lot of businesses utilize the application.
Key points for Metaverse marketers
Before using Metaverse marketing, people should decide their aims for their companies. For example, the main aim can be increasing sales or reaching young customers. For the different aims, different Metaverse marketing points should be considered. For instance, companies can produce virtual items and try to sell them in Metaverse for increasing sales. On the other hand, they can research and utilize great Metaverse platforms, like Roblox and The Sandbox, for reaching young customers and gathering them together. Now, we would like to mention the key points for individuals in Metaverse marketing.
Getting to know existing communities
As we mentioned above, companies use various marketing strategies to reach their potential and new customers. In Metaverse, there are a lot of users, and these users are potential customers for companies. Due to the circumstance, companies should try to know existing communities in Metaverse. Instead of embarking on specific customer types, companies should try to identify the users of Metaverse. If companies get to know existing communities in the virtual world, they can improve their marketing and increase their sales. Also, with this way, they can reach young customers and increase the number of their buyers.
Giving the chance of trying products/services
There is an application called IKEA Place that allows people to try IKEA furniture. In other words, people can see the appearance of objects from IKEA on their houses or offices via the application. With the help of the app, people do not have to go to IKEA, they only download the app and present their places on the app. Then, they can decide whether an IKEA object should be bought virtually. Like IKEA Place, companies should provide their customers and other Metaverse users with the chance of trying their products and services. The action can be created in Metaverse easily, quickly, and in a good way. Offering real items virtually in Metaverse is a great marketing strategy for reaching new customers.
Utilizing native advertising
A lot of companies use billboards and product placement for promoting and selling their products and services. Like in the real world, the strategy can work in Metaverse. Companies can create their virtual billboards in Metaverse for reaching lots of customers. Also, they can consider sponsorship opportunities in Metaverse to promote their products and services. For instance, we can see the virtual billboards of Samsung and Coca-Cola in various video games. The example can be mentioned as a sponsorship between popular brands and video games. As in the example, companies can interact with the producers of Metaverse platforms to create their own billboards on the platforms for marketing.
Generating particular Metaverse activities
In addition to sponsorship opportunities and virtual product placement, companies can create their own Metaverse platform and activities. For example, a fashion brand can organize a virtual fashion week in Metaverse, and the example can be a good marketing strategy. As you know, people love dealing with the activities in Metaverse, like virtual concerts and games. Due to the situation, companies can consider the creation of a game or a specific activity about their brands for Metaverse marketing.
Conclusion
Metaverse marketing can be difficult for various companies because the technology is new, and people should know the details of Metaverse in a good way for utilizing it in marketing. Also, the access situation of potential customers to Metaverse should be considered before starting Metaverse marketing. Moreover, companies can use wrong marketing strategies in Metaverse because there are some differences between virtual and real-life marketing. Although there are some challenges of Metaverse marketing, it is very necessary to grow and improve companies because almost everybody tries to learn Metaverse.
