Micro-dosing on the Metaverse Part 1: Why B2B should care about the Metaverse

05.11.22

By Michelle Posey, Digital Strategist

Micro-dosing on the Metaverse

Part 1: Why B2B should care about the Metaverse

The one thing we know for sure about the metaverse is that its possibilities are evolving exponentially by the minute. Over the next few months, we will be sharing thoughts on the elements that are making up that evolving definition, why they matter to the B2B sector, and how they may come to life through the lens of overall brand marketing efforts.  

We all know that 2020 was the year of survival, and 2021 was defined largely by forced innovation. 2022 has the opportunity to focus on community, and how the innovations of recent past will help mold the way brands interact with their customers and audiences in the future. Experiential marketing will become even more enmeshed with brand marketing, as the collaboration will be key to determining how brands come to life in the metaverse.  

No doubt the pandemic helped to advance digital innovation. Razer CEO Kiran Dommeti, in a recent article on CNBC, highlighted the correlation between the pandemic and the accelerated adoption of the Metaverse. He says, “Adoption of the metaverse was inevitable, but the pandemic sped the timeline up by years. Social, educational, and economic opportunities are abundant. It just so happens that we have that power, of a sort, and our need to escape a pandemic-burdened world is propelling us forward into a disease-free alternative reality.”

We know it’s coming full force, but much like when Web 1.0 was in its infancy, people lack a framework by which to understand HOW this technology will change their daily life — not to mention their business and professional life. Much like today’s smartphone, which 30 years ago was seemingly an impossible concept, the metaverse is a container within which content will be hosted. A conduit, just like your phone, that will be populated with “apps” and other experiential content. Additionally, it will become the new socially acceptable meeting place for people to experience brand value propositions and interact with their respective communities. 

Let’s talk about how we see some major themes that are influencing experience design and brand positioning as we move closer to balancing the scales between our in-person and meta identities. In part 1 of our series, we explore the evolution of communities with the advent of the metaverse.  

The Evolution of Community

Current Communities & Untapped Micro-Markets 

You know your current brand audiences, but are you thinking ahead over the next 10 years to inevitably include the next generation of audiences — Gen Z? According to Quynh Mai, Founder and CEO of Moving Image & Content, Gen Zs consider their digital lives as important as their physical ones, where the metaverse is not “another life” but an extension of the current one. And since Gen Z is already participating in virtual worlds, they will adopt the metaverse quickly and expect that brands they follow have an established metaverse presence. Our understanding of audience personas will be evolving almost as quickly as the metaverse, so the opportunity to include new and evolved segments into your brand’s portfolio is abundant.

Evolution of Influence on Community

Anything created in the metaverse will have the ability to exist in a persistent environment, providing an immersive, singular brand experience. This means those events and content will constantly evolve as communities interact with, define the value of, and collectively experience them. These virtual communities open up unique, more consistent channels of communication and connection while minimizing expenses like travel, allowing marketers to be more opportunistic when it comes to campaign planning. Also consider that influencers and content creators will be at the forefront of defining brand experiences in these environments. 70% of influencers said that they expect the metaverse to completely replace social media. Leveraging their ability to take the pulse of the community will be essential to outputting relevant content and keeping the experiences fresh over time.

The metaverse is the future of digital communities and is considered to be the next evolution of the internet. Communities brands have already built must also evolve to preserve and engage deeper connections and meaningful interactions with new and existing audiences. Check back soon as we explore additional topics touching the metaverse for B2B marketing such as content, networking, learning and training, and more.

For help getting started on the metaverse for your brand, reach out to your InVision account director or info@iv.com today.