How can Enterprises Advertise in the Metaverse?

Muhammad Naeem

Blogger

As we enter into the new era of technological advancement, brands and enterprises are looking for innovative ways to interact with their consumers globally. With consumers spending more time in digital spaces than ever, it is difficult for brands to capture the attention of customers with traditional advertising methods such as newspaper or tv ads. Blockchain technology has provided brands the opportunity to reach these tech-savvy customers through Metaverse technology, offering a new frontier for digital advertising and engaging with users in immersive digital environments.

What is Metaverse?

The Metaverse marks the beginning of a new transformation in how users interact with and perceive digital products and services. It is a highly immersive digital world that incorporates virtual and augmented reality technologies where users can interact with each other through their avatars in real time.

Backed by tech giants like Facebook and Microsoft, Metaverse is the next big thing on the internet. Metaverse provides a computer-generated environment where individuals can access the virtual world as digital personas with the ability to navigate seamlessly between virtual environments and enjoy a fully immersive experience of virtual worlds. The Metaverse market is growing at an exceptional rate. According to Bloomberg Analytics, it will be worth around $800 by 2024. Established brands like Coca Cola, Samsung, Balenciaga and Adidas have already made their presence felt in the Metaverse with heavy investments. For example, on Roblox, a metaverse gaming platform, players socialize and interact with other users through their digital avatars, attend virtual events, build their own spaces and even spend virtual currency to acquire digital items.

Key Metaverse Terms Marketers Should Know

Before we further dive into the vast realm of the metaverse, let's discuss some key terms every marketer should know.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality is a computer-generated digital environment that replicates real-life experiences. It makes users feel physically present in the virtual world, even though they are interacting with it through VR headsets.

Augmented reality

Augmented reality is an interactive experience that enhances real world environments with computer generated content. Unlike virtual reality, which is a completely virtual environment, AR enhances the real world by adding virtual elements to it.

Mixed Reality (Virtual and Augmented Reality)

Mixed reality (MR) is a hybrid technology that combines elements of both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to create new immersive experiences.

Avatars

Avatars are digital representations or virtual personas that users create to represent themselves within the virtual worlds.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a digital public ledger that consists of interconnected computers or nodes that store and transfer data in a decentralized, distributed, and secured way. Instead of a single central authority managing or controlling the data, blockchain distributes the data over a network of computers called nodes.

Non-Fungible tokens

An NFT is a unique cryptographic token that is non-fungible, meaning that it is a one-of-a-kind token that cannot be exchanged like any other cryptographic asset.

Importance of Metaverse Advertising

Although Metaverse technology is in its early phases, many businesses and brands are already realizing its potential and investing heavily in this latest technology. Advertising in the metaverse makes brands stand out in such as highly competitive and crowded market by providing an immersive customer experience. Brands can also open their virtual stores in the metaverse where users can try on and wear their favorite digital products through their avatars to enjoy a real-life-like experience. By leveraging metaverse technology, brands can reach global customers without any physical boundaries.

Leading metaverse platforms

Metaverse is not just a single realm. It is a series of interconnected virtual worlds and digital spaces spread across multiple platforms and technologies. Here are some of the leading metaverse platforms.

Sandbox

The Sandbox is an Ethereum blockchain-based decentralized gaming platform that enables its users to create, sell and monetize their digital assets including non-fungible tokens. The Sandbox was originally created to disrupt the traditional gaming industry, where users have limited rights and all the assets in the game belong to developers under copyright laws. In the Sandbox gaming ecosystem, players have complete ownership of their assets, and they can even sell them off to generate real-world money. Sandbox has its own NFT marketplace where users can buy, sell and trade their non-fungible tokens.

The Sandbox Metaverse empowers users to be the creators as well as the owners of their digital assets.

Decentraland

Decentraland is the first 3D virtual reality-based metaverse platform where users can own virtual real estate, earn money, enjoy different virtual experiences, and socialize and interact with others within a decentralized ecosystem.

Users can also rent out their virtual lands in exchange for MANA, the native token of the Decentraland ecosystem. Samsung has already bought virtual land to open its virtual store.

Axie Infinity

Launched in 2018, Axie Infinity is an Ethereum-based metaverse game. It was developed and published by the Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis and quickly became popular across the world, especially in Southeast Asia.

Players have to raise a pet called Axie, an Ethereum-based NFT, that they can use to fight against other users. Upon winning, they are rewarded with Smooth Love Potion (SLP).

How to advertise your brand in Metaverse

So how can you advertise your brand in the metaverse to get advantage of metaverse technology? Here are some useful tips to help you effectively advertise your brand in the metaverse.

Ad Placements

Billboard advertising strategy is not limited to the real world. Billboards are also an effective advertising tool in the metaverse to promote your brands. A marketing team can place virtual billboards in a crowded place where they get maximum visibility, just as they use traditional marketing billboards.

Product placements

In addition to billboard placements, product placement can offer a unique and immersive way to showcase your brand. For example, you can collaborate with an established metaverse brand like Roblox to advertise your digital goods to whole new audiences to expand your reach and engagement.

Metaverse events

Metaverse events present an excellent virtual space to advertise your brand, especially when targeting a large audience. For example, Travis Scott metaverse events broke all participation records. Epic Games revealed that more than 12 million users participated in this event and it was a perfect opportunity for brands to advertise their products and capture the attention of a massive audience.

Create your own Metaverse platform

Instead of collaborating with third parties, try to create your own metaverse platform. It will allow you to create a metaverse ecosystem that perfectly reveals your brand values and objectives.

Challenges of Metaverse advertising

Advertising in the metaverse has its own challenges. Advertising in this digital world is not as simple as in the real world especially when targeting Gen Z audiences. Here are some of the challenges facing marketers in the metaverse.

Data privacy concerns

As Metaverse technology is still in the early stages, there is always a risk of bugs, hacks, and exploitations that can compromise data security.

Regulations

Excessive regulations imposed by authorities could pose a threat to the future of the metaverse, primarily due to its decentralized and global nature.

Mainstream adoption

As the metaverse is still in its infancy, many enterprises and brands may be reluctant to embrace and invest in metaverse advertising fully.

Maintaining brand safety

With user-generated content playing a significant role in the metaverse, ensuring brand safety becomes a challenge. Advertisers need to protect their brands from appearing alongside inappropriate or offensive content.

Conclusion

Along with the challenges, Metaverse presents numerous opportunities for brands and marketers to use innovative and creative marketing techniques to reach their target audiences. As the Metaverse evolves, it will become crucial for brands and marketers to stay savvy enough about this transformative technology to maintain competitiveness in the rapidly changing digital landscape.