A couple of years ago, metaverses were called the future of the internet and a new platform for business. Companies rushed to launch virtual spaces, and marketers rushed to come up with ways to attract customers there. But over time, the hype died down, and now it is not so obvious whether these projects bring in money or function as a beautiful but very expensive showcase.

What is a metaverse?

A metaverse is a digital space where people interact with each other and with virtual objects using their avatars. Unlike regular online games or social networks, metaverses create the effect of real presence — people don’t just look at the screen, they ‘live’ inside the virtual world.

Here’s how it works. You can enter the metaverse using a smartphone or computer with internet access. For a full immersion experience, VR or AR devices are used — they allow you to move around the virtual world and control objects in it using movements and gestures.

Inside these worlds, you can, for example, walk around different locations, meet other users, chat, attend concerts, construct buildings, and sell and purchase virtual goods or services.

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Here are some examples of popular metaverses:

• Roblox;
• Decentraland;
• Sandbox;
• Somnium Space;
• Voxels.

Some companies create their own spaces within metaverses — they use them to find an audience for their brand and form a community around it. We will discuss this in more detail in the following sections.

How metaverses are used in marketing

Here are some examples of how companies work with metaverses for promotion and sales:

Engage the audience. Brands create interactive spaces where the audience can, for example, learn about a product, participate in various events, and communicate with company representatives. This helps the brand convey its values and better understand the needs of its audience.

They hold events. For example, new product presentations, fashion shows, concerts, and sporting events are held in metaverses. The virtual format makes these events accessible to a global audience without the cost of working with offline locations.

They increase recognition. Participation in trending digital projects increases brand recognition, especially among young users.

They test ideas. The metaverse allows you to quickly check how the audience reacts to a company’s new product without the high costs of actual production.

They sell. Users can buy goods in the metaverse and receive them in the real world. For example, they can order clothes after trying them on an avatar.

Deeper audience analysis

Metaverses are becoming a separate channel for brand promotion and finding new audiences. It is much easier to invite people to events and keep them there, take a creative approach to product presentations, and let customers use the products.

But the most useful thing is that you can collect data and conduct marketing research here:

Launch CustDev and let the audience play with the product in the metaverse, then collect their impressions.

Study the tastes, values, and behaviour of the audience in a format that is convenient for them — while they are entertaining themselves in virtual reality.

Identify insights that cannot be obtained through traditional customer surveys or observation in a classic sales funnel.

Use the collected information in traditional digital marketing: advertising banners, mailings, chatbots, and so on.

Conclusion

The good news is that the main feature of metaverses can be applied in traditional marketing. This is gamification — creating an engaging customer journey and interesting activities to increase loyalty. This includes masks in stories, QR codes on product packaging that lead to a website with quizzes and prizes, and other similar mechanics.

The use of metaverses is still in its early stages, but it is a rapidly developing area. It is likely that the marketing potential of the metaverse will only grow. Therefore, now is the time to enter the metaverse and create history with your own hands.