The metaverse is a visual and futuristic virtual world that is attracting more and more attention. This new cyberspace is changing commerce, business, and services in many ways.
It’s time to hear from B2B experts about what it is, how it can help your business succeed, and whether you need to use it.
Eric Schulz, an American marketing professional, believes that the metaverse not only allows brands and retailers to sell digital versions of their products.
“It enables immersive experiences that enhance physical goods and promote interaction. Brands are exploring the possibilities of virtual reality for shopping,” he says.
Alex Gurkin, founder of Friday CRM, defines a feature of the digital metaverse as flexibility and instant collaboration.
Digital initiatives are changing every industry. The boundaries that used to separate the digital and physical worlds are changing. Employees are spending hours a day on Zoom and Skype, the result of an increasingly remote workforce. These virtual spaces have become a ‘work metaclass.’
“However, this transformation can also have a downside. Interacting with others has a direct impact on our emotional well-being, and virtual interaction can’t fulfill this need in its entirety,” Gurkin cautions.
Brandon Ramirez, co-founder and chief creative officer at Graph Protocol, sees the metaverse as a new way to create immersive experiences that encourage interaction and complement physical products. That’s why brands are exploring the possibilities of virtual reality for shopping.
A REPLICA OF THE REAL WORLD
Today, people interact with the metaverse digitally, accessing it from devices such as a phone, laptop, tablet, or headset.
The virtual world is a replica of the real world. It uses a mix of virtual and augmented reality technologies to allow people to interact and perform actions in a virtual environment that is very similar to the real world. By wearing an AR/VR headset, users can teleport their avatar to virtual events, festivals, hangouts or meetings without actually being there. Multiple virtual environments can be linked together through virtual/ augmented reality-enabled apps.
THE TERM METAVERSE
It was just three years after Tim Berners-Lee created the term we all know today, the “World Wide Web,” that the term “metaverse” would come into first use. In 1992, Neal Stevenson, a science fiction writer, coined the term “metaverse” to describe the three-dimensional space in which people could escape a totalitarian reality.
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As the metaverse grows and new technologies are integrated, teleconferencing applications such as Google Meet or Skype have great potential to become part of it.
Large technology companies such as Meta or Microsoft are competing for the metaverse, which shows the potential for the platform to be used by a wide range of companies. For these reasons, we can see rebrands and acquisitions of gaming companies by big-name corporations.
In addition, the latest version of the Internet, called Web 3.0, is likely to bring many technological advances into the future. It will strengthen the foundation of the metaverse and accommodate decentralized applications based on blockchain. This will provide many opportunities for companies that are interested in economic crypto-transformation.
Although the metaverse is still in its infancy, Bill Gates believes it will become popular within a decade. Others believe that the metaverse could become part of everyday life sooner than expected, as the foundations have already been laid.
THE METAVERSE FOR SERVICES
The metaverse offers companies the opportunity to offer customers a more engaging customer experience as well as a new environment in which they can promote and sell their products and/or services.
This will allow them to increase their advertising revenue. Brands can create storefronts or brand touchpoints so that customers can interact with them in different ways. This will allow brands to collect additional consumer data through digital avatars.
Gaming, entertainment, fashion, cryptocurrency, and gaming companies were among the first to explore the metaverse.
THE FIRST STEP TO EMBEDDING IT INTO BUSINESS PROCESSES
The easiest way to start thinking strategically in the metaverse is to think about your clients. Is your client active in the metaverse now, or will they be active in the future?
There are many opportunities in the metaverse that revolve around nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which can be a great opportunity for companies to create collectible products.
Obviously, it’s not just the big companies that may be looking to offer partial customer interaction in the metaverse.
“With the development of video conferencing among Friday CRM users, the demand for such integrations peaked, and businesses were eager to start communicating remotely as soon as possible. Now my project is seeing the beginning of a new interest among business users in the metaverse,” says Gurkin.
Companies can participate in the metaverse in a variety of ways, from creating social experiences in virtual worlds to launching a new universe based on NFTs.
Businesses that want to capitalize on the metaverse should prioritize creating value for others rather than viewing it as something to make a quick buck by trying to ride the coattails of a fad.
Schulz argues that it doesn’t take much effort for your advertising strategy to include the meta universe. He attributes this to the fact that many people are already using in-game advertising. Probably the best way to explore the metaverse is through social media platforms and games.
There are good prospects for companies moving from local to global markets. Organizations with a social media presence that can build their online identity are also a plus.
BEYOND BUSINESS
Nonprofit organizations can also use the metaverse to expand their connections with supporters and donors from near and far. The metaverse can also be used by religious or community groups to encourage participation in an area that may not have been worth their time or interest.
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Ramirez believes that, in the wake of the global pandemic, people are communicating more than ever online. They communicate through text messages, video calls, and virtual spaces. We have learned to connect in times of disruption and upheaval through these virtual spaces and digital networks. Both nonprofit sponsors and NPOs have everything they need: a cell phone and an Internet connection. The sponsors, through their choice of technology, will continue to evolve the metaverse, which will make the transition easier for them.
GROWTH SECTORS
Experts unanimously see short-term rapid growth of the metaverse through the gaming sector and social media, followed by long-term growth driven primarily by the advent of augmented and virtual reality headsets/devices, which will allow virtual assets to fit seamlessly into the fold, bringing the virtual universe to the masses.
Designers and retailers in virtually every industry, including fashion, jewelry, home goods, and outdoor advertising, can benefit from the metaverse.
Every major technology company is working on hardware for the metaverse. According to some industry insiders, almost every product that exists in the world today will be built for the metaverse and will eventually be available to small businesses.
MODELING WHAT’S AVAILABLE
Now is the time to make sure that your technical framework is ready and that your strategy can incorporate the metaverse without issue. This includes looking at both stand-alone and mixed customer paths that will incorporate the metaverse.
In order to put a product into meta consciousness, you need to have a multi-dimensional model of the product or environment to consider from every angle. These models need to be optimized.
Virtual worlds can contain thousands or hundreds of multidimensional models, which can quickly overwhelm any computer, mobile device, or headset. A 3D-compatible content management system will be needed to view and verify the multidimensional model.
UNITED VIEW
Experts unanimously agree that innovation and new ways to engage customers are key to a successful metaverse strategy. The metaverse will help brands win by putting customers first and building community. This will allow businesses to create deeper and stronger relationships with customers and offer added value.
