The Metaverse has been on everyone’s lips at least since Facebook’s rebranding as Meta. Both established companies and start-ups are currently working intensively on ways to become part of the virtual world. The Metaverse will be dominated by the content creators (aka influencers) and brands who create a virtual world full of immersive atmosphere.
The creator economy is expected to mature into a 600-billion-dollar business by 2025 and the Metaverse will make a significant contribution to this. The content creators who prove to become successful in the Metaverse will grasp the emerging trends that are Metaverse specific and unrelated to what is happening on Youtube, Instagram or TikTok.
How content creators and audiences will migrate to the Metaverse
Content creators command huge interest, zeitgeist and influence over audience behaviour and virtual location – so it is highly likely that when creators begin to migrate to Metaverse platforms, their audiences will follow. Audiences will also grow fatigued and look to the likes of virtual spaces as a new way to interact and discover.
One of the most powerful bridges into the metaverse will be via content creators who will be able to easily design their own virtual ‘spaces’ where their communities can hang out, connect and access the creator directly.
How the Metaverse experience will be created
In the Metaverse, content creators will be able to curate an experience for their followers, which means creators will either become good at designing or hire good designers to make their spaces highly captivating.
This will allow creators to sell and trade commercial goods, fashion items and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), NFTs and IRL goods. The experience will be created using content like soundtrack music played in a content creator’s space in the Metaverse, where they can use content creator avatars which will ‘wear’ virtual fashion NFTs like sneakers or clothing.
The ways businesses will benefit from working with creators within the Metaverse
The real winners in the Metaverse will be the influencers and brands who craft a virtual world that isn’t just a ‘flat’ surface, offering rich layers of experience through avatars, visuals and music. Creating a world that people will want to come to will only be possible through crafting an atmosphere like the ones we experience in real life. This is where sounds and music play a huge part as they can create a mood, tone or theme and bring so much to an immersive experience.
A YouGov survey commissioned by Loudly, where I am Co-Founder and CEO, found over 1.3 million (18%) 18–26-year-olds in the UK are making, or aspiring to make their main income from creating content for social media platforms. This new class of digitally native entrepreneurs can reach millions of people through social media and help businesses to reach audiences in the Metaverse. This will be done in ways such as brands collaborating with content creators with ‘takeovers’/advertising, along with creators hosting other popular creators as a collaboration to maximise audience reach and influence for a brand.
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The Metaverse will force creators and companies to rethink social media strategy
The transition from today’s social media to the Metaverse will prove challenging for many creators and brands, which will need to reconsider social media strategy as the next iteration of the digital age becomes more immersive. The creators who prove to become successful in the Metaverse will likely grasp the emerging trends that are Metaverse specific and unrelated to what is happening on Youtube or Instagram and TikTok.
For instance, social media platforms will allow creators to link directly to their metaverse identities, and new tools like this will be utilised by the creators and brands who do the best job at adapting to the Metaverse. It’s literally a whole new frontier and a new category of creator will emerge, competing directly with the creators hoping to hop over from today’s social media platforms. So, is it time to ask how your business will work with content creators to make the most of the marketing opportunities presented by the Metaverse?
By Rory Kenny, Co-Founder and CEO of Loudly
Rory Kenny is the Co-Founder and CEO of Loudly, an AI music tech company based in Berlin with a mission to fully democratize music creation for the next billion people.
