Create a Metaverse Marketing Strategy in 5 Easy Steps

Getting a foothold in the metaverse opens up a world of possibilities for businesses. These metaverse marketing strategies with examples can help you gain some insights into the field.

What Makes a Metaverse A Metaverse?

“Metaverse” is a term that was first used by sci-fi writer Neal Stephenson in order to describe a 3D, virtual reality that people could inhabit. In terms of practicality, it was more theoretical. This study by Influencer Marketing Hub outlines the following components: Metaverses are always active, exist in real time, players have individual agency, and they’re fully self-contained and functioning universes.

However, in 2023, it will begin to take shape.

Despite its infancy, the metaverse is set to influence business and marketing in the future. In what way should you move forward? Here we have compiled the best metaverse marketing strategies you can use, along with examples that you can emulate.

5 Steps in Determining a Metaverse Marketing Strategy

1. Brands need to have a clear purpose: what do they want to get from the Meta Marketing metaverse initiative?

First, you need to understand the basic method of meta-universe marketing and the problems that can be solved, then determine whether meta-universe marketing can help the needs of the current development of enterprises, especially the specific needs of marketing, including incremental, effective, cost, precision and other specific problems and goals, and finally to choose the appropriate time point and method.

If yes. Do you want to connect with Gen Z (the generation most actively engaged in the metaverse)? To get the cognitive refreshment and emotional resonance of the brand that is always on top of the trend and leading with innovation? Create new business models (e.g., virtual merchandising)? Allow marketing teams to learn skills and gain experience in metaverse practices?

2. The launch should be tailored to meet the three dimensions of “purpose, users, and resources”, not less complicated methods.

Would it be better to use the relatively more convenient NFT or the more complex virtual space?
Would it be better for the brand to integrate certain popular games or to find a virtual digital person to endorse and collaborate with?

Build a social virtual space
Social virtual spaces are equivalent to real-life event venues. In social virtual spaces (platforms), we can not only let our customers know our brand quickly, but also interact with them through the platform, and also do various activities on the platform.

Publishing Digital Collections (NFT)
Digital collections (NFT) are a staple marketing tactic for many brands since it drives brand awareness. Generally, the release is held as a public sale, and the rules of activities can be set up later so that customers can participate in blind boxes and win rewards.

Cooperation with digital avatars
Metaverse marketing revolves around digital virtual persons. Besides serving as a brand spokesperson for metaverse marketing, the virtual person can also be operated as independent IPs.

3. Design the experience and value for the user based on the chosen entry format.

In Meta Marketing, releasing an NFT or simply exposing a brand in a virtual space is not sufficient. The question we need to ask is: what value does the NFT provide for the user? Is it social currency, exclusive privileges, cultural identity or scarcity and high revenue? Does it have the potential to get users excited, discussing, and obsessing over it? It is possible that all efforts may be in vain without the strong support of value and experience.

A shift from a “brand-led” perspective of activity planning to a “customer demand-led” perspective should gradually occur with the younger generation becoming the driving force behind social activities. In the era of digital natives, young people are more accepting of “decentralization.” The single concept of instillation in previous activities is no longer able to capture their identities.

This does not mean that the brand must give up its personality for the sake of the customer, but rather consider the features of the brand in the planning of various activities to capture the psychology of recognition for the brand. Based on this, we can consider finding “spiritual identity” in the selection of the theme of activities and integrating “unique personality sharing” in the realization method, to achieve customer psychological level satisfaction and show the distinctive label.

For metaverse activations to work, companies also need to strike the right balance between native advertising, immersive experiences (such as games, virtual stores, events, and sponsorships), and real-world activations.

4. Selecting an appropriate platform

Decentraland
Decentraland (abroad) is the world’s largest decentralized metaverse platform that allows users to create, experience, and even earn revenue off developing platform content and program experiences.

In March, Decentraland held a first Metaverse fashion week. This was essentially a virtual fashion week where Decentraland users could experience a fully immersive environment. Forever 21, Paco Rabanne, Tommy Hilfiger, and Dolce & Gabbana walked the runway.

The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a blockchain-based meta-universe game, which is characterized by the freedom of players to explore and create in the game, using the props provided in the game to build their own things, and ultimately to experience the fun of the game by achieving certain achievements. In the world of The Sandbox, the game’s characters, props and equipment can become NFT through blockchain technology, everything created by the player will become its personal “digital assets”.

Roblox
Roblox is one of the world’s largest interactive communities and massively multiplayer game creation platforms: connecting the world through games, allowing anyone to explore the tens of millions of immersive 3D games built by a global community of developers, providing a space to imaginXe, create and have fun with friends.

Gucci has held its own exhibition in the virtual world Roblox, where players can visit Gucci’s products, try them on, check prices and buy them as if they were entering an offline experience, a very attractive shopping experience and a new source of traffic for the brand.

Nike co-create the virtual world Nikeland with Roblox. In this virtual world of Nikeland, fans could create avatars and play games to earn rewards. Nike acquired RTFKT Studios, a company that produces digital collectibles, in order to consolidate its position in the metaverse market. Nike was able to sell virtual sneakers digitally to its users as avatar accessories by owning RTFKT. In the digital world, these sneakers exist only as NFTs. Its profits, however, increased by $12.2 billion.

5. Develop a complete operation and communication plan.

For example, in order to promote a virtual digital idol as an endorsement, we cannot just use official announcements and posters, but we need to also plan to use the digital idol in various scenarios, such as virtual events, social media, offline channels, private communities, and so on. This way, it will really connect, resonate, infect, and entertain the brand vividly.
In this era of advocating that everything can be NFT, meta-universe marketing is not the piling up of NFT daily throwing type materials, but really start to seriously operate the community of NFT, continuously superimpose influence and increase its social currency attributes, to realize the breakthrough innovation of Meta Marketing.

In the future, the metaverse is likely to develop from games as an alternative to the Internet, deeply integrating digital entertainment, social networks, and even socio-economic and commercial activities.