If the world we live in today was an evolution of a metaverse built thousands of years ago, would you know? Scientifically speaking, our brains don’t know what’s real and what’s not. That’s exactly why virtual reality (VR) has gotten to where it is today, because we simply can’t tell the difference.
The adoption of the metaverse is similar to the adoption of social media. How many people said they would never touch Facebook when it first launched? Now, almost everyone uses some form of social media for an average of 1,300 hours a year. Adapting to this next major shift is the same.
In the end, we’re all left with two options: ignore all of this virtual craziness and wait for mass adoption, or get ahead of the curve and implement it where it makes the most sense. If you said yes to the second option, then you might want to keep reading.
1. Establish a Virtual Territory
Virtual land sounds like a gimmick, doesn’t it? While it does to most, the evolution of our physical real estate industry is a key indicator of where exactly the virtual version could go.
Not all properties on 5th Ave in New York City or Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills were always priced in the millions. Although 50 years seems like a long time, these areas used to be priced around six figures. The same applies to virtual land in the future.
No matter how you wish to leverage the metaverse, you’ll need virtual space to offer digital experiences, goods, and services. So if you can’t afford that $5M property on the corner of 5th Ave, you can now buy it in the digital world, using platforms like Superworld, which sells the virtual version of the physical. Better yet, you don’t have to technically purchase any land on these open platforms at all.
Nike is a great example of a company that took an alternative route, partnering with Roblox to build their own virtual environment called NIKELAND. We’ve seen many other retailers like Nike join the movement, however, this investment isn’t just for companies with tangible merchandise. Accounting firm, Prager Metis International LLC, purchased a three-story space in Decentraland, proving that it really is inclusive.
2. Enhance Remote Collaboration
Ever since the global pandemic, remote work has ruled supreme across all industries. As much as workers have benefited from ditching their commutes, it’s not necessarily all positive when it comes to remote work operations. Team collaboration is one of the things that took a hit in this transition, limiting people to virtual communication channels.
This is where the metaverse is actually helpful. Remote teams can now simply put on their headsets and attend virtual meetings to better interact with their coworkers. And because your brain can’t technically tell what’s real and what’s fake–this is just about as real as virtual collaboration can get. With applications like Spatial, teams can immerse themselves in their workspace with the ability to integrate their favorite programs like Slack and Monday.
Microsoft Teams is a great example of a company already implementing hybrid virtual meeting components. This advanced method of communication isn’t just great for teams; it’s a great tool to connect with clients too. Whereas Zoom can only go so far, there are ample opportunities to take your team or clients through virtual experiences they’ll never forget.
3. Unlock More Prospects
Aside from the more obvious applications of VR, the metaverse is becoming a key player in the world of marketing too. Marketing applications apply to the metaverse in the same ways they apply to our “real” world. The only difference is that there has now become two economies to participate in.
Consumers in the virtual world participate in the same activities as we do now–from shopping to education, to leisure. As more and more brands enter the metaverse, it only makes sense to begin marketing their own goods and services to these participants.
If you think consumers spend a lot of money on goods now, wait until they splurge on virtual apparel for their avatars (they already are!) While we’re limited to social media ads and billboards in this reality, none of these limitations exist in the metaverse. These modern advertising strategies mix well into gameplay, where consumers can find ads in all the right places and at the right times.
This unique use case has been seen with Anzu, who employs ads for tracking real-time views in gaming. The best part is that while you can tell what posts are ads on Instagram, you can’t really tell in the virtual world. Whether that’s ethical or not, we’ll leave that up to you. Nonetheless, where there’s an opportunity to advertise, there’s a market, and vice-versa.
A virtual universe opening up right before our eyes–intimidating or opportune? Scary for some and exciting for others, the metaverse is something we all have to get used to sooner or later. How you apply it depends on your goals, but with so many options to explore, it’s hard to decide how far you should go. The easiest part about it all is that there’s only one way to start, and that’s now.
