The metaverse is presently the focus of intense competition among IT businesses. However, aside from significant financial investment, it is still unclear exactly what it will take to win. Will it just replicate the existing digital environment, or will it be a new and improved version? Will our 2D displays, which are currently clogged with advertisements, transform into 3D virtual worlds owned by private companies? What’s the formula for businesses to monetize their products or brand in the metaverse?
It seems that we’re all hoping for something better, faster & less complicated. To win in this new digital world, companies must actively correct the mistakes of the social web and embrace its unique features – in short, businesses must be digitally mature to compete in the metaverse.
We already know that the metaverse is going to alter several aspects of our lives. It is envisaged that meetings will be redesigned as virtual reality becomes more common, with many systems allowing both VR and non-VR participants to attend the same call. Enabled by Facebook Messenger Early users of Horizon Workplace are already taking advantage of it, and Zoom has announced intentions to integrate with Horizon’s Workrooms in the first quarter of 2022. An increase in the use of digital clothes is expected to spur the development of more immersive fashion experiences in the virtual world. Using augmented reality, customers can now try on clothes and experiment with product placement in their own homes before they buy them.
The roadmap for success in the metaverse begins with providing meaning, creating rich and immersive experiences, and transforming the business paradigm to allow communities to partake in the economic rewards of the virtual environments they help construct.
Here are three ways in which your business can create a matchless differential in the metaverse world.
1. It’s All About Design For Diversity
As we’ve seen in the real world, building strong communities rely on people feeling like they belong, and this holds for our online personas as well. Early on, the metaverse appeared to be a race to obtain money or prestige via digital assets. Still, the actual victors will be those who design experiences that draw real communities and long-term participation.
In today’s world of social media, it’s difficult for businesses to reach a broad audience because of the profusion of user-generated content and the emphasis on broad appeal. As of now, 40% of a brand’s return on investment is achieved if the content resonates with the audience.
If a company wants to enter the metaverse without embracing diversity, its employees and consumers will have similar levels of disengagement. Enterprises need to comprehend and respect the cultural differences, subtlety, emotions, and tastes of the virtual world’s inhabitants to prosper.
A more fair strategy to present a company’s brand in underrepresented regions may help companies win big with varied audiences and position their campaigns. For example, just translating an ad (which may include a white family dressed in American-brand apparel and referencing American pop culture) isn’t enough for marketers.
As a result, corporations must instead spend on constructing personalized marketing campaigns. However, this isn’t limited to simply creating a new ad or piece of content. Researching which brands and artists would resonate with those consumers is also a good idea for companies to increase their level of engagement. Often, this may be accomplished by collaborating with creative consultants from underrepresented populations who can support your ideas.
Wishing for a representative group of people isn’t going to cut it. Designers and content developers will play a significant part in creating these new virtual worlds. Because of the lack of diversity in the AI area, prejudice is prevalent in today’s algorithms. We run the danger of making the same error while creating these new virtual worlds if we don’t aggressively seek to diversify talent.
Most of the early metaverse talent comes from the video game and digital development industries, where there are huge skills gaps that need to be filled. Black and Hispanic employees are severely underrepresented in the STEM field (including computer positions), while women make up just 25% of the workforce.
Recruiting and training diverse design teams will necessitate additional processes, but if we take lessons from the social web, investing the extra effort now will lead to more engagement, significant meaning, and accelerated ROI in the future.
Diversity in recruiting and training is a huge task, but one that is very required. When it comes to hiring diverse and underrepresented individuals, companies will need to look at their recruitment efforts. It is beneficial for firms who are confused about where they should begin to establish demographic objectives, perform audits of your company to discover gaps, and define goals that your organization can achieve.
2. Create an Immersive Experience
The social web and the advent of video on today’s online give some insight into what will be necessary to prevail in Web 3.0. As it stands, brands are already unable to stay the pace. To remain competitive, the average mid-sized corporation must produce over 500 films each year, while major publicly traded companies must produce thousands.
Businesses with a strong video strategy often increase revenues by 49% when compared to those without, and video outperforms video on social media significantly. Companies will have to produce 100 times more material than they do now to keep up with the needs of the metaverse, just as the web has demanded more content in the last decade.
In light of the nearly overnight boom in video creation, companies and bigger marketing teams are struggling to keep up with the rising demand for video, while independent filmmakers have an edge. Companies struggle to produce video content rapidly because of complicated workflows and content production hurdles.
As a result, firms must rethink their workflows and eliminate any needless stages that may be stifling their ability to produce high-quality content quickly. So much of the answer resides in thorough research, much like diversifying recruiting methods. Make sure you’re on top of things when it comes to ensuring that you’ve got fair and thorough sources for stock footage, as well as handling any potential licensing issues that may arise.
Brands must also be adaptable and fast to accept new instruments for creativity. A new generation of content and technologies to create high-quality content at scale is expected to emerge as the metaverse grows; therefore it’s critical that companies embrace these new platforms.
3. Encourage The Community to Partner With You
Metaverse will give a clear method for community builders and participants to partake in the economic upside, ensuring a fair playing field for companies and creators in the process.
Metaverse enterprises can better align incentives not just with employees but also consumers, to recruit top talent to build out rich and immersive experiences. The actual consumers of IT businesses have provided both the supply and demand for their ad-supported business models, notably granted equity to workers. New business models can emerge from the combination of digital property rights with token distribution, allowing metaverse enterprises to distribute ownership not just to their staff but also to community members.
Metaverse can assist minority artists to establish their voice, in addition to developing more symbiotic connections with clients. In today’s creative economy, women and people of color still face discrimination. They receive lower wages and have fewer career options than other workers.
White social media influencers are making 35% more money than black social media influencers, according to reports. After several underrepresented artists voiced their concerns, social media companies began to address platform discrimination.
Black-owned companies are now being highlighted by Instagram with the “Black-owned” badge, and TikTok has created a “Discover List” to showcase 50 notable, diverse creators and a Creator Diversity Collective to bring together creators to improve inclusivity on both platforms. They may be well-meaning, but they miss the real problem: today’s digital giants’ exploitative relationship with their users, their ad-supported business models, and the ad revenue they rely on.
Organizations and brands that take advantage of the chance to correct mistakes made during the emergence of the social web will be the true winners of the metaverse. Companies that prioritize diversity and representation in their communities will see increased customer engagement. Content development solutions that allow for immersive and rich experiences at scale will result in a greater return on investment (ROI).
People who participate in two-way connections with the communities in these virtual worlds will have a long and prosperous future. A new generation of market leaders will take over from corporations that assume they can just throw money at the metaverse and expect a fresh income stream for their current business strategies.
Recently, Cooperative Computing landed its first metaverse project. Get in touch with our experts if you need assistance with NFTs or have a project in mind.
