There’s Nowhere to Hide: Three Ways in Which the Metaverse Will Change Marketing Forever
With the Metaverse fast approaching, we need to prepare for every industry to change in some way or another. With the marketing beast being ever-evolving, here’s three ways in which it’ll adapt to its new virtual reality:
1. Audiences Won't View, They'll Experience
By creating an augmented reality for users to step into, the Metaverse has upped marketing from a thing audiences see to a concept that they’ll experience. This means that the very core of digital marketing will change:
What now takes the form of flat images, videos and documents will soon evolve into immersive experiences thanks to the Metaverse. This will mean that
marketing will change at its core to become much more personal, interactive and natural for users to experience. Whether they find themselves in a virtual or augmented world, users will definitely experience a big shift in the ways in which they engage with marketing.
2. Virtual Spokespeople (VSPs)
These may have seemed completely out of reach just a few years ago, but
promotional content is due to evolve into AI-driven avatars that will engage users in promotional conversations. Acting on behalf of paying sponsors, VSPs will operate in two very powerful ways:
- By passive observation: this might consist of users passing VSPs engaging in conversation about a certain product or service. An example of this could be two simulated best friends being placed near a targeted consumer in a virtual or augmented shop. The consumer may assume that these are fellow users such as themselves and not realise that they were injected into the environment as a form of advertising.
- By direct engagement: this is self-explanatory, as it will likely consist of users being directly approached by VSPs who will engage them in conversation regarding a specific product or service. It’ll be the direct marketing of the metaverse.
No matter how these VSPs are placed, it’s important to consider how these will impact the ways in which users will interact within the Metaverse, as it may lead to certain levels of mistrust or misunderstanding. This brings us to our final way in which the Metaverse will change the marketing industry:
3. Predatory & Unsafe Practices will Evolve
If you consider the ways in which a lot of dangerous communities operate online, it’s worth preparing for the ways in which they may seek to target individuals when the Metaverse emerges.
A rather extreme example of this could be by creating streets full of posters containing political propaganda or extremist messaging for one user to walk down, whilst others on that same augmented street are seeing posters promoting alternative parties or ideas. This amplifies the dangers of altered experiences for the sake of promotions, as in this case, it could drive people from their current thoughts and ideas to create social divides.
For this reason, it’s important that regulations are put in place in order to protect consumers in the metaverse from predatory uses of product placement. A simple but effective measure to put in place could be to make sure that all VPPs (Virtual Product Placements) are easy to visually differentiate from the physical products we find in the real world.
Measures such as this would not only protect consumers from being misled by promotionally altered experiences, but they’d also benefit the
marketing industry as a whole. Without regulations such as these in place, the trust that individuals place in marketing could completely disintegrate as they question whether anything they encounter in the Metaverse is authentic.
These are just three of the many ways in which the marketing industry will be altered with the emergence of the Metaverse, as it’s sure to have a knock-on effect in lots of other ways. After all, it’ll be the biggest shift since the emergence of the internet; leading every industry to adapt in some way or another. But that doesn’t have to be a scary thought, provided that user safety is at the forefront.
When it comes to digital marketing, this is just one of the key insights that Digity hold as a reputable and experienced agency. To find out how we can help you with your digital marketing needs, get in touch now.
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