Metaverse: what impact on social media marketing?
At the end of 2021, the Facebook group (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp) rebranded itself as Metaverse, or Meta for short. With this new identity, Mark Zuckerberg aims to promote an immersive virtual world that revolutionizes social interactions, particularly through virtual and augmented reality. What positioning should brands and businesses adopt in the face of the Metaverse? What opportunities can be seized in this new space, and what pitfalls should be avoided? Finally, what impact will this have on their social media strategy and social media marketing in general? In this article, our social media agency attempts to explore some of these fascinating questions.
What is the metaverse?
A contraction of "meta" and "universe," the term "metaverse" refers to a fictional digital world. Today, it is used to describe a kind of Web 3.0 where virtual spaces are accessible via technologies such as virtual reality or augmented reality.
In principle, the metaverse combines the use of social mediagamesonline, immersive technologies (VR, AR), and cryptocurrency .Quite a program! In concrete terms, this new environment resembles a virtual world in which individuals haveavatars and can interact with each other and with digital objects.
Welcome to the metaverse!
For most brands, the arrival of the metaverse is still relatively uncharted territory, but there's no doubt that more and more will set out to conquer it in the coming months. In their marketing strategy, this means significant changes, particularly in their use of social media.
The explosion of live shopping in virtual stores already shows that users are ready to move around in increasingly immersive, fictional spaces to perform actions. In this sense, the metaverse is simply the evolution of social media. The growing use of gamification on social platforms also demonstrates that this revolution, heralded by Facebook, is already underway. The booming NFT market further testifies to this new trend where the virtual economy meets the real economy.
In fact, with the metaverse and thanks to virtual reality (VR), the key idea for brands is to leverage customer insights as a new marketing technique. In other words, it's about working even more closely with consumers to offer them products and services that are even more aligned with their current aspirations.
By leveraging augmented reality (AR), the metaverse also allows for theaddition of strategic elements to the consumer experience, such as data, animations, images, and audio. In short, all these technologies promise to elevate the customer experience to unprecedented levels on the web : even more realistic, even more immersive, and above all, even more addictive. Imagine, for example, brands inviting their community to a virtual space to present products live, with users then able to purchase them, just like in a real store, perhaps while enjoying a virtual coffee, chatting with a virtual salesperson, or trying on outfits.
A new way of doing social media marketing
As you've gathered, the metaverse holds numerous opportunities for brands to sell their products and services. But the metaverse's potential extends far beyond social selling. It also allows users to share unique experiences and interact in real time through creative scenarios. Much like in David Cronenberg's film eXistenZ, it will be possible to navigate parallel worlds via your avatar, using social mechanisms distinct from those of the real world.
For brands and social media agencies like So Bang that support them, this means an even wider range of possibilities in terms of content creation and storytelling. Thanks to the metaverse, boundaries are indeed pushed back since the nature of interactions is multiplied tenfold.
Thus, a brand wishing to reach a younger audience can do so by creating scenarios specifically designed for them. For their part, users may adopt behaviors different from those they exhibit in real life. In short, with the Metaverse, all social interactions need to be rethought. Brands will therefore have to adapt to these new social mechanisms by evolving their social management practices.
The advantages of the metaverse for brands
The metaverse offers numerous advantages for internet users as well as for brands. Here are the most essential ones.
The metaverse enriches customer experience and analysis
With the implementation of immersive tools like AR and VR, one can virtually try on a dress, a pair of sunglasses, and then, in the space of a few minutes, test the latest vehicle from a major car brand, straight from the factory… Brands from the fashion, luxury, automotive, banking and real estate sectors are thus beginning to look more and more seriously at the use of the metaverse to attract new audiences (young people in particular) as consumers but also as employees.
Thanks to the metaverse, the shopping experience is enriched and also allows for theanalysis of customer behavior. All the data collected in this virtual world then, in turn, enriches customer analysis. In short, a virtuous circle that allows marketing and sales teams to establish a solid, long-term business strategy.
The metaverse conveys the brand image
Within Meta's virtual world, virtual spaces such as storefronts, billboards, and more can be customized with a brand's visual identity. In short, the metaverse offers countless visibility opportunities for businesses.
The metaverse, a unique sharing space that breaks down the barriers of social media
Today, many brands have e-commerce websites with virtual showrooms. The Metaverse aims to take this concept even further, fostering interaction between brands and consumers. To achieve this, Meta has set itself a clear objective: to break down the silos between social networks by creating bridges from one platform to another.
Thus, thanks to the metaverse, you'll be able to buy clothes on a social network to dress your avatar and display it on other platforms. This purchase might then entitle you to a discount coupon allowing you to buy another item on a different network. In short, everything will be designed to allow users to interact, conduct transactions, and share interests with others by eliminating geographical barriers.
The metaverse, a source of business opportunities
The metaver concept also heralds the emergence of a new economy and, with it, new business and commercial opportunities for brands. It represents a new customer acquisition tool. Thanks to it, brands will be able to reach new target audiences , generating leads and thus reaching wider audiences.
The primary target audience for the metaverse is the younger generation, familiar with virtual worlds through online MMORPGs, where they have become accustomed to having fun and even buying items online. Linking shopping and entertainment is one of the central tenets of the metaverse philosophy.
Conclusion: the metaverse, a new world for brands to conquer
And that concludes our first foray into the metaverse! But given the marketing and financial stakes involved in this new social space, we'll be sure to discuss it further in a future post. This article has only provided a glimpse of the immense possibilities this new world offers brands.
Finally, for many, the big question today is: Will Meta replace social media? At So Bang, we see it more as an evolution, not the death of social networks as such. Because on closer inspection, these two environments are actually very complementary. Moreover, there will undoubtedly come a time when they will logically merge. A bit like how real life and virtual life are already partially merging today.
In short, brands would be wrong to ignore the metaverse; quite the opposite. Now more than ever, they need to start thinking about how to build bridges from their traditional social networks to these parallel worlds. In fact, some have already started buying virtual space. At So Bang, thanks to monitoring that allows us to detect trends, we closely follow all these developments that aim to propel social media marketing into a new era of digital interactions, ever more immersive and creative. So, if these new territories interest you for developing your brand's or company's social media strategy, contact us !