How Will Advertising in the Metaverse Work?
The Metaverse is one of the latest, biggest, and most revolutionary marketing platforms that has been getting a lot of buzzes lately. As the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated and new measures were put in place to combat the spread, people switched to working, learning, and socializing online. The potential and opportunities of the Metaverse have never been more apparent.
However, the Metaverse is still a relatively new technology, and most people are still not familiar with its workings. One frequently asked question is whether Metaverse should be considered in an omnichannel marketing plan.
The Metaverse will offer “out of home” / “out of world” with the same always‐on, un-skippable, and non‐intrusive ads — a piece that is currently missing from digital ads today. Because of the immersive and engaging nature of the Metaverse, brands will be able to reach customers more effectively than before.
It is also worth noting that, in the Metaverse, customers are less likely to feel bombarded with ads and are more likely to be receptive to marketing messages. To better understand this revolutionary platform, let’s look at what the Metaverse is, how it will impact advertising, and how Out of Home (OOH) media plans will still be relevant.
What is the Metaverse?
In the advertising world, the Metaverse is a 3D, immersive environment with several shared spaces and assets that can be used for various activities, including business and social networking.
The technologies that make up the Metaverse include virtual reality, which are persistent virtual worlds that continue to exist even when you’re not playing. While augmented reality combines digital and physical worlds, Metaverse doesn’t require access via VR or AR headsets.
A virtual world, like Fortnite or Roblox, can be accessed through PCs, game consoles, and even phones, the Metaverse also entails a digital economy, where users can create, buy, and sell goods using NFTs.
To put it into perspective, you can buy a shirt from the mall in the real world and then wear it to a movie theater. However, if you buy a virtual shirt in Metaverse A, NFTs can create a permanent receipt and let you redeem the same shirt in Metaverse Platforms B to Z.
Reaching Your Audience
One huge problem most marketers face is building a relationship with the new generation of consumers. Digital alone is no longer sufficient — with ad blocking and shorter attention spans, ads must be engaging, meaningful, and immersive to be effective.
The Metaverse offers a more personal and interactive experience to help brands reach their target audience. This is how the phrase “advertising in real life” will take on a new significance, and this is precisely what the Metaverse will accomplish for brands in the future.
With 3D technology, companies are transforming their brands into games for consumers to interact, buy, and share the products. Nike, for example, created Reactland to promote the React Flyknit running shoe.
They launched an interactive video game where shoppers create avatars of themselves and then navigate through the game’s forests and rooftops while jogging (in real life) on a treadmill for three minutes.
Programmatic Buying in the Metaverse
Just as in the digital world, programmatic buying will also play a big role in advertising in the Metaverse. The same programmatic buying tools and techniques brands use today will work in the Metaverse, but with a few added benefits.
Virtual real estate can be treated as digital ad spots, and consumer data‐based targeting can be used to place ads in specific locations in the Metaverse. Because of this immersive and personal nature of the Metaverse, brands will be able to target customers more effectively with relevant messages and ads.
The Metaverse will enable the same real‐world ads to be seen in the exact location in the virtual world, which will boost recall. Just imagine you are walking along a road or in a shopping center, and you see billboards advertising Coca‐Cola, then when you are gaming, your avatar is walking down a virtual road, and it would show the same copy of the Coca‐Cola billboard.
This would create a more unified and seamless experience for the customer, which the Metaverse strives for. As such, programmatic advertising has the opportunity to become the predominant method of transacting with new targeting capabilities based on Metaverse experiences and the expanded data signals the Metaverse platforms will provide.
With such a large and diverse pool of digital content, reaching customers with more relevant and timely messages will be a key advantage for brands in the Metaverse. Marketers should attack the Metaverse with the same enthusiasm as they would any other digital property.
Wrap Up
Although Metaverse is still a relatively new concept and is still in its early developmental stages, it is clear that it holds a lot of potential for the future of advertising. The Metaverse offers brands a unique and powerful way to reach their target audience with its immersive and interactive nature.
Metaverse is projected to grow almost 44% within the next seven years, meaning in the next ten years, the Metaverse market will reach a staggering $814.2 billion by 2028. Marketers who start early and capitalize on the unique opportunities the Metaverse provides will be well-positioned to reap the benefits in the future.
Marketers are already starting to target generation Z as they know the younger generation is more familiar with the Metaverse, which will become a part of omnichannel marketing plans. The always-on and non‐intrusive ad format that OOH currently offers will be found and expected in the Metaverse.
Gamers, social meetings, and workers do not want immersion‐breaking ads to distract them from their current game, tasks, or work. So, immersive ads need to be placed contextually and with relevancy to the user. The contextual placement of an ad will increase brand recall and leave a positive lasting impression on the user.
With OOH and advertising in real life moving into the Metaverse — what are your plans to prepare for the new digital era?