Today, the Metaverse is similar to what the internet was in the 1970s; it has a lot of potential that has yet to come to fruition entirely. However, the future of the Metaverse and the possibilities it holds are much closer than you might think, and I think it could very quickly become an integral part of digital society.
The Metaverse for Small Businesses
While the Metaverse may seem as if it’s only meant for big business, it could also provide important tools and outreach ability for small businesses. The Metaverse can allow small businesses to interact with customers more personally than the internet and social media. Similar to how the internet was able to present mom-and-pop shops to a global audience, the Metaverse could do the same, but in a more life-like way.
Crossing Borders & Languages
One key area for business growth in the Metaverse would be it opening up your small business audience cross-culturally. The tools that will enable the metaverse are advanced enough to provide instant translations. This means that the shopping experience for someone that lives next to your store, could be identical to a shopper’s experience from another country that doesn’t even speak your language.
Marketing in the Metaverse
Metaverse marketing will be much different than today’s social media marketing. In the early days of the internet and social media, marketing focused on the company and its brand. Currently, most marketing on social media, especially on Tiktok and Instagram, is focused on the people. Brands have taken an approach to humanize their brand by designating a human or spokesperson to be the face of their marketing. However, with the Metaverse, there is a potential to dehumanize brands with corporate avatars or “fake people.” These avatars are life-like and can act like humans but are controlled by multiple people from a company. This can already be seen with “Deepfakes,” which are synthesized media that can put someone else’s face on top of another’s. These may make their way to Metaverse marketing very soon. However, the Metaverse is still very new, and it is expensive to produce 3D content, which could hinder its growth. Even things like cryptocurrency, which has seen incredible growth over the past few years, are still prohibitively expensive when considering gas fees and transferring your money into the “real” world.
Getting Ahead on Metaverse Marketing in 2022
The rush to establish your small business within the Metaverse can be compared to the domain gold rush of the 1990s, where companies were trying to buy one-word domain names before anyone else. If you want to be a leader in your industry, it can be valuable to familiarize yourself with the Metaverse and how you can integrate your company and marketing into it. Feeling intimidated by this new technology? It’s safe to wait and see how the Metaverse develops, but be sure to keep an eye on it and the buzz surrounding it. The Metaverse isn’t just a fad that will fizzle out but potentially an entirely new global revenue stream.
What steps is your small business taking to stay ahead of the upcoming Metaverse?
By Flynn Zaiger, CEO of Online Optimism, a Metaverse marketing agency serving clients based in the Metaverse, as well as Washington, DC, Atlanta, and New Orleans.
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