"Metaverse" isn’t just a buzzword. The linkage between the physical and online worlds means a lot for businesses and marketers. As a brand, you need to start thinking of how you'll do marketing in the metaverse and what it means for your brand.
Brands like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and several others are all set to deep dive into the metaverse and there is no reason why marketers and businesses should stay away. This paradigm shift will have implications for everyone and everything — including marketing and growth marketing.
How the metaverse will affect marketing and how you can best use it for growth are the key questions that brands should focus on. Let's go over these very things.
What Is the Metaverse?
The metaverse is a broad and complex term that describes a network of 3D virtual worlds powered by virtual reality and augmented reality that connects both online and physical worlds. This type of virtual world can’t be specifically accessed via virtual reality and augmented reality gears, but you can access it through your computer, laptop, or even smartphone.
Here is an example of a 3D events platform where you can participate in live events virtually:
Fortnite, for example, is already working towards developing a metaverse and the players can access its virtual world from gaming consoles and computers:
Users create digital avatars that allow them to live in the virtual world. People can interact, communicate, buy, trade, and do a lot of stuff in the metaverse. To give you a better idea, Fortnite created in-game concerts for its users. Here's a concert Ariana Grande put on:
And this is just the beginning.
The metaverse is a complex phenomenon and it’s evolving rapidly. A new world is in the making and this is an exciting opportunity for brands and marketers to dive in and start capitalizing on the metaverse for business growth. But before we answer how the metaverse will impact growth marketing, let's go back to the basics:
What Is Growth Marketing? (A Quick Recap)
Growth marketing is an approach to attracting, engaging, and retaining customers using customer data, experimentation, and cross-channel marketing to scale your business exponentially. It is a marketing technique that runs parallel with your traditional marketing.
Importantly, growth marketing focuses on all the funnel stages instead of merely generating leads and focusing on top of the funnel:
A growth marketing strategy has a few basic components that include:
- A data-driven approach to marketing and growth
- Continuous experimentation and testing
- Real-time analysis and optimization of marketing campaigns and strategy across all marketing channels
- Adaptability
How Will the Metaverse + Growth Marketing Live Together?
The metaverse is here and it is growing fast. And this makes it an ideal place for brands and marketers to connect with their audience. Just like social networking platforms are used globally by billions of people and social media marketing is now a must-have for brands of all sizes, 3D worlds will soon rule.
But how will the metaverse affect marketing and how can you use it (or is it even possible to use it) for growth marketing?
Here are the ways the metaverse is expected to impact growth marketing in the future:
1. The Metaverse Means More Data for Growth Marketing
The metaverse is a goldmine for growth marketers because it is purely data-driven. The virtual world is built around data, which makes a lot of room for growth marketing.
The gadgets used for interaction in the metaverse (e.g., VR glasses) generate heaps of data. The data from the metaverse can be used to promote your brand to your audience both on-metaverse and off-metaverse.
For example, if your buyer persona interacts with the metaverse, you can track behavior on there and use it to connect with the same persona on traditional marketing channels.
From this viewpoint, the metaverse will have a huge impact on growth marketing. Even if you don’t plan to use the metaverse as a marketing platform, you can still use data from the metaverse to fuel your growth marketing strategy.
2. The Metaverse Is Extremely Engaged
Engagement and retention are the two most crucial elements of growth marketing and they're found in the metaverse. The engagement rate for the metaverse is extremely high.
Research shows that 65 percent of Gen Z have spent money specifically on virtual gadgets that are used within a game only. This shows the level of engagement the metaverse has.
The metaverse can prove to be an ideal platform for growth marketing. If you want to engage and retain your ideal customers, consider creating a virtual world for them where they get hooked. This is one way how brands can leverage the metaverse to take engagement to a whole new level for any industry.
3. Cross-Channel Marketing Is Easier
Both the metaverse and growth marketing rely on cross-channel capabilities.
According to Mathew Ball, one of the key characteristics of the metaverse is that it consists of a mix of different platforms that include online and physical, private and public, and open and closed networks and platforms. The top metaverse platforms include Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Somnium Space.
So, you can market and reach your target audience across different platforms that may include a 3D platform and a VR platform. This makes the metaverse a game-changer as it will prove to be an additional channel that you can use to connect with your audience.
As a growth marketer, you'll need to make sure you offer the same experience in the virtual world to your audience that is consistent with your brand. This turns out to be challenging as well as interesting at the same time.
4. Room for Experimentation
The metaverse is new and evolving. The rules aren’t set yet and nobody knows how and where it will lead. This means virtual worlds are going through constant experimentation, which is a key characteristic of growth marketing.
Experimentation and testing help you improve and optimize marketing variables. The more testing you do, the better as you'll be in a better position to find what works and what doesn’t in the metaverse when it comes to marketing and growth.
Not to mention the early mover advantage. While other brands are still on the fence and haven’t jumped on the metaverse bandwagon, you'll be far ahead of your competitors if you start experimenting and optimizing your campaigns.
5. A New Content Type
Virtual and augmented realities are the new types of content that are in the making as we're moving towards the metaverse. According to Google: Augmented reality overlays digital content and information onto the physical world.
And Google creates 3D experiences from local listings and content that’s already out there, such as local listings and images. This new content has opened a whole new world of content marketing and inbound marketing. Think of visual search, image processing, and beyond.
The 3D content generated by the metaverse has opened a new growth marketing opportunity. This will have a huge impact on growth marketing and inbound marketing as they rely heavily on content and SEO.
You need to think of it as an opportunity to grow your business and capitalize on image SEO and 3D content.
Final Thoughts
Marketing in the metaverse will become the new normal. The metaverse will affect marketing and growth marketing irrespective of industry and business size. It is a whole new world connecting physical and online worlds creating tons of data, content, interactions, and more. People are already moving to these 3D worlds and brands will soon have to move to the metaverse to connect with the ideal customers.
And the rules of growth marketing in the metaverse might be different. What’s the best growth marketing strategy for the metaverse? Nobody knows yet. The only way to find out is by testing and experimentation.
Make the move before it gets too late.
Not sure how to capitalize on the metaverse? Get in touch with us today to discuss growth marketing and the metaverse for your brand.
