Metaverse marketing strategies: Unlocking the potential

The metaverse is growing global interest, and widescale adoption could happen sooner than expected. As the immersive virtual world evolves, it is creating new use cases for brands in marketing, some of whom are already rewriting the traditional rules with new marketing strategies. Brands are building immersive experiences, virtual customizations, and partnerships with creators to drive success in the metaverse. Moreover, brands must evaluate how the marketing mix - product, price, place, and promotion, must be fine-tuned to create new strategies to engage with audiences in the metaverse. In addition, some brands are already leading this space by creating NFT collaborations, virtual pop-up shops, and virtual influencer partnerships, among other initiatives. In this blog post, we'll explore some winning strategies for marketing in the metaverse.

How brands can strategize for the metaverse

• Immersive experiences: The metaverse is characterized by its ability to provide innovative and immersive experiences for its users using virtual or augmented reality technologies. Brands can capitalize on this by creating games, building virtual stores, and hosting events. Vans, the skateboarding apparel and shoe manufacturer, created an interactive skatepark with games and customizations on Roblox to build brand awareness and engagement. This activation has garnered 48 million visitors to date.

  
  

• Customization: Users in the metaverse have digital identities and use their avatars, assets, or products owned to express their individuality. Users, therefore, expect to be able to customize their avatars, spaces, and experiences, and brands that recognize this will be far more successful in the metaverse. Forever 21, the global retailer, created an experienced focused on customization by offering users in the metaverse a personalized avatar that they were free to modify while also being invited to customize their virtual stores.

  
  

• Social media integration: The metaverse is inherently social, meaning that brands must integrate social media into their metaverse marketing strategies. Marketing campaigns encouraging users to share videos or static content from the metaverse can generate curiosity and interest in branded experiences. While the metaverse provides an experience of extended reality and immersion, social media helps connect these experiences to the real world, where people can share them.

  
  

• Partnerships: Amplifying reach and engagement in the metaverse can be achieved by nurturing strategic partnerships with brands or creators. For instance, partnering with community members and popular content creators in the Roblox metaverse to build digital products and experiences has been seen to drive more traction. The O2 in London also followed a similar strategy when they hosted a concert in the metaverse by partnering with creators on the Fortnite platform.

  
  

• Niche targeting: The metaverse is home to various communities and subcultures. Brands that can successfully identify the audiences they wish to reach and target them on the right platform with the right experience can broaden their brand communities. For instance, two-thirds of Roblox’s community members are under 16. Niche targeting can be a great way to build relationships with new user cohorts or change brand perceptions.

What are the 4 Ps of marketing and the metaverse?

• Product: In the metaverse, ‘products’ of the traditional marketing mix are completely redefined, encompassing a virtual space, an avatar, a non-fungible token (NFT) or a branded experience. Marketers must understand how to leverage these technologies to represent their brand in the virtual world. Brands can also use these technologies to drive phygital marketing - combining physical and digital marketing tactics to curate a metaverse experience. Frito Lays designed their FIFA World Cup campaign, ‘Pass the Ball Challenge’, integrating a metaverse and real-world experience by encouraging users to scan a QR code to take a selfie to generate a digital soccer ball with their photographs.

  
  

• Price: Traditional pricing models may not apply in the metaverse, and marketers, creators, and developers will be forced to explore new revenue streams. A few monetization models in the metaverse include - direct-to-avatar sales of digital collectibles (like art, wearables, and tickets to events), NFT minting, and commissions from NFT sales. The Italian fashion brand Gucci even managed to sell a digital replica of its Dionysus bag in the metaverse at $4,115, a price much higher than the physical product.

  
  

• Place: A key consideration for brands while entering the metaverse is choosing the ideal ‘place’ where users can easily access their product or experience. Brands must evaluate which metaverse platform they want to engage with in terms of if they offer the facilities or services needed for the brand to create specific content for their particular type of product. Understanding the user demographics and popularity of metaverse platforms is also essential to choose the best-suited ‘place’ to launch a virtual activation.

  
  

• Promotion: In the metaverse, promotion can take many forms, including virtual events, influencer marketing, paid promotions or social media campaigns. Brands must strategize to create a promotion plan to help them achieve goals, from brand awareness to user engagement. Some additional strategies include sponsoring events to reach a wider audience or partnering with AI influencers to create hype around digital activations.

Great metaverse marketing strategies: examples

• NFT collaborations: Joining forces with digital creators and artists in the metaverse is a great way to create NFTs representing brands or products. It helps create a buzz and excitement around the brand and allows them to engage with new customers. LandVault supported Mastercard to create an experience in the metaverse as a part of their ‘Your True Self is Priceless’ project. During this digital activation, LandVault collaborated with influential creators such as Shanée Benjamin, Rahemur Rahman and Laurel Charleston to fabricate wearables in the form of NFT collectibles, which led to 1000 users redeeming the digital items.

  
  

• Virtual pop-up shops: Brands can create virtual pop-up shops in the metaverse for users to engage with the brand and purchase products. These stores allow users to browse products, interact with them, try them on digitally, and even make purchases - creating a whole new customer shopping experience. An example of leveraging virtual stores in the metaverse is when LandVault collaborated to bring Decentraland Metaverse Fashion Week 2022 to life, bringing together over 60 brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce and Gabbana, Estée Lauder. LandVault and other collaborators customized 20 shops with their logos and brand colors to mimic real stores. The strategy succeeded, with a 70% conversion rate on digital products.

  
  

• Branded quests and games: Brands can engage with users and increase brand awareness by creating or sponsoring games in the metaverse - one of the most popular forms of content in the digital space. Brands can develop quests, games, and other interactive experiences aligning with their products and services and promote them in an exciting format. LandVault was tasked to create a similar metaverse experience for Hershey India and the Philippines to engage with audiences during the holiday season. As a part of the digital immersion, LandVault created a completely gamified experience packed with quests, secret perks and rewards in the metaverse.

  
  

• Virtual influencer partnerships: Influencer marketing in the metaverse extends beyond the traditional concept giving rise to virtual influencers that are computer-generated avatars. Brands can partner with virtual influencers in the metaverse to broaden their reach and engage with new communities to promote their products or services. Identifying influencers most relevant to one’s brand and the audiences they aim to reach is essential to create a strong strategy. For example, the Fashion brand Prada has already forayed into this space and created their own virtual influencer, Candy, for the land of their Spring/Summer 2021 collection.

  
  

• Virtual event sponsorships: Brands can amplify visibility among target audiences by sponsoring virtual events in the metaverse, such as concerts or conferences. Sponsorships are an excellent way for brands to provide experiences that align with their target audience’s interests and values. Stella Artois has been leading on this front with its decision to sponsor Zed Run. The Zed Run platform, a virtual horse-racing experience based on blockchain technology, lets individuals buy and sell digital race horses in the form of NFTs and watch virtual racing events.

Conclusion

As the metaverse increases in popularity, digital marketing will drastically shift from passive content like static Web2 content to more immersive, engaging alternatives in the Web3 space. To fully embrace this change, brands must understand how to create marketing activations in the metaverse through virtual experiences, customization, social media integration, partnerships, and niche targeting. In addition, brands that can recognize how the 4 Ps of marketing are evolving in the metaverse will be the ones that can truly encapsulate the opportunities these new platforms present.

Are you looking to market your brand in the metaverse? We’ll help you achieve your marketing goals, from brand awareness to product conversions, by building your idea and scaling it in the metaverse. Get in touch with us!