Marketing of today will no longer be valid in the metaverse. If you have a business, you might realize that the consumer of today is smart and to win them over you need to iterate your marketing and branding strategies with the latest trends. Over the past few years, a lot has changed which makes it challenging to predict the future if you’re not paying attention to the present trends.
Conventional marketing doesn’t apply to the rapidly shifting customer expectations. Marketers face a new set of challenges in this new era. They must not only be unique in their messaging, but they must also get it to the right customer at the right time via the right channel. This necessitates that marketers have the necessary tools and stay on top of the latest trends.
There’s a big difference between where marketing is now and where it’s likely to be in the future. The future marketing will be shaped by several significant developments.
Marketing in Metaverse
It’s important to connect your brand’s marketing efforts to real-world events and activities. For example, Stella Artois, a drink from AB InBev, collaborated with Zed Run in June to create a Tamagotchi-meets-Kentucky Derby experience. To promote Stella Artois, AB InBev’s Stella Artois is a prominent sponsor of sporting events and horse racing. A platform where NFT horses may be sold, raced, and produced is a natural entry point for them to get started.
In the metaverse, you have the option of providing virtual advertisements. As an illustration, the advertising technology firm Bidstack made the switch from outdoor real-world billboard advertising to virtual billboard advertising.
Virtual billboards aren’t the only way to advertise online. It’s ideal to take advantage of the immersive nature of metaverses by giving similar experiences in your advertising and marketing campaigns. Branded installations and events, rather than plain adverts, should be offered.
For example, Roblox’s Lil Nas X performance was an immersive experience, as were the Gucci Garden visits and Warner Bros.’ virtual recreation of the Washington Heights area for the promotion of In the Heights. Brands have recently discovered new revenue sources thanks to the rapid growth of the Roblox metaverse and other metaverses.
Some more examples include:
- Dimension Studio made $6.5 million as a result of their experiment with metaverses for the fashion industry. When a person steps onto a platform with 106 cameras on it, they’re scanned and thrown into virtual worlds where they can test out clothing and other products. Balenciaga’s Afterworld game for the next fall/winter of 2021 is maybe their most well-known accomplishment.
- Open-world sandbox game Grand Theft Auto V featured outfit options that resembled those worn by Hong Kong demonstrators. Protesters in Hong Kong were able to join a growing number of artists who have used virtual worlds to express their political views.
- Consumers can make digital photo albums of their furniture and other household objects through the home décor firm Houzz. Every time a customer uses Houzz to make a purchase, the company makes money. As of 2017, they’ve included a 3D viewer that allows users to see objects in 3D directly through a camera and visually integrates them into the user’s actual area.
The AI-First way
AI and machine learning are at the front of every marketing trend list for some time now, and with good reason. Marketers are reaping huge benefits from the use of AI and machine learning to improve customer experience and support, optimize product line pricing strategy and reduce customers’ churn. In 2018, 75% of companies used AI and machine learning to improve customer happiness by 10%, according to Forbes.
AI-Powered Chatbots
When it comes to the future of customer service, chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are being hailed as the next big thing. Research and Markets predicts that by 2024, the global AI-enabled industry will be worth $2.2bn, with more than half of consumer questions being handled by AI-based chatbots now. ‘AI first’ strategy is expected to become the norm in marketing by 2025 as technology keeps on developing and intriguing application cases emerge.
Voice marketing gained serious traction
Marketers have a new avenue to explore thanks to the rise of voice-activated devices like Siri and Google Now. A new degree of personalization may be possible with voice-enabled technology because it allows for context-sensitive interactions with customers. As of 2017, Juniper Research predicted that voice ad expenditure would reach $19 billion by 2022.
Even though voice is still in its infancy, marketers can’t ignore the engagement, target audience reach, and interactive potential of speech marketing because of its business value proposition.
Virtual reality
Virtual reality has emerged as a clear winner in the ongoing search for marketing solutions that deliver more engaging, dynamic, and intimate experiences. Virtual reality allows users to connect emotionally with a brand in a way that is impossible with traditional media. As a result, customers are more likely to remain loyal to the brand.
Carmakers and smartphone makers are already at the forefront of exploiting virtual reality to create immersive 360-degree experiences. It is expected that VR will become an integral aspect of marketing efforts by 2025 as the market grows from $7.9 billion in 2018 to $53.6 billion in 2025, according to MarketsandMarkets research.
Big Data will drive major decisions
Data-driven marketing will replace mass, untargeted broadcasting as the primary method of promoting a product or service. Customer expectations and purchasing habits can be gleaned from the mountains of data that surround us at all times. More and more devices—from vehicles to appliances—are being connected and this will allow marketers to generate more personalized and customer-centric communication.
Data slicing and dicing will be a common practice for marketers by the year 2025. Customers will be targeted with the correct message, at the right time, on the right device thanks to a sophisticated combination of personal data, location data, and environmental data.
Exploring the full potential of Blockchain
The latest buzzword is “blockchain,” which is being hailed as a technology that has the potential to alter numerous sectors. Marketing is no exception. As a result of blockchain, marketing can handle some of its most pressing issues and challenges.
Blockchain’s potential is being explored in a number of crucial areas, including addressing privacy concerns, enhancing transparency in the identification of bots, and strengthening customer trust. Adoption of a new technology often comes with its share of growing pains, hiccups, and lessons learned. However, by the year 2025, we may expect to see a variety of new blockchain applications.
‘Everything for everyone, tailored,’ is the phrase that will guide the development of future marketing practices. Marketing’s core fabric will be technology, which will listen to and comprehend client requests and expectations and meet them.
A term you’ll be seeing commonly in future is: MarTech – connection between marketing and technology. That’s the future of marketing which you must prepare for and our marketing expert at Cooperative Computing can assist you in surviving the future of brand & marketing.
