Retail in the Metaverse

Metaverse graphic

September 27, 2022

Retail in the Metaverse

The world has entered the next frontier of a commerce technological revolution. Move over real life; the metaverse is here.

Brands are beginning to utilize the metaverse by creating hubs where customers can interact and share experiences, learn about products and services and shop for digital and real-life goods. Savvy retailers will profit by linking brand pages from their metaverse location to existing websites. But before you buy real estate in the metaverse, here is what you need to know.

Do Your Research

Just like any marketing decision, you should understand what you are doing before you take a leap. Use Google Trends to identify which metaverses are acquiring the highest volume of traffic and identify its most popular regions. After you know what Metaverses are receiving the most traffic, identify the competitors that have created integrations and marketing activations.

Do a Twitter deep dive. If you discovered, for example, that Dolce & Gabbana is participating in the Decentraland Metaverse Fashion Week, search relevant hashtags to gain feedback on the success of the activation. Identify influencers you can use for future metaverse campaigns and begin to design assets for your own brand.

Experience the Metaverse

The best way to learn a new metaverse is by being present in the user experience. Don’t start spending your marketing budget until you’ve had a chance to look around.

Create a profile and explore the new world. Walk as far as you can, until you hit the edge of the map and become familiar with distinct landmarks. As you explore, note where you see other guests congregate and look around for marketing opportunities like vacant virtual billboards. This experience will give you insight into graphic quality, lag time for processing, engagement interface and a perspective on the future adaptation of new users to this world.

Make friends with other metaverse users. These interactions will give you insight into what they are most excited about, where the location hotspots are, and thoughts about challenges and potential opportunities for brands.
Now that you know where to go, check and see if it would be a valuable location to purchase metaverse land. Most metaverses have unique districts built for niche audiences, divided into areas based on geolocation, like country of origin, or by passion or interest (food, fashion, sports, etc.).

Advertise in Metaverse

Next, you’ll need a solid strategy to create brand awareness, nurture relationships and harness its power to influence consumer behaviors and purchasing decisions. Know why you are advertising in the metaverse and who you expect to reach with your activation. Take that information to see if it matches your existing customer base. Utilize a designer or your creative team to prepare a virtual walkthrough. Prepare assets to display for your guests, like welcome videos and sales banners. Create a proper flow that leads guests to a portal to link back to your site.

Based on who is in the metaverse, conceptualize engagements like livestreams, exclusive giveaways and limited-time sales. Offer redemption codes to track conversions and create unique tracking links to monitor campaign performance.

Bring strategic partnerships into the metaverse. Consider bridging rooms with existing client case study rooms to funnel traffic from one location to another.

Launch your campaign with influencers from inside the metaverse. The perfect capstone to announcing your brand is active on a new platform is to bring an audience with you. First, have an influencer post on traditional social channels, then give instructions on how fans can engage in a meet-and-greet, receive exclusive offers and create experiences (like live shows) your community won’t soon forget.

Future Not Fad

Some people dismiss the metaverse as a fad, but they are wrong. Meta (formerly Facebook) now requires all employee meetings in its metaverse conference rooms. Brands will use it for digital consultations, and companies can use it to develop corporate culture. While it may take some time for mass adoption, the metaverse (despite those who wish otherwise) is here to stay.

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