What Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Must Know about Post-Covid and The Metaverse?
There are quite a number of people who already believe that the internet is already undergoing a paradigm shift. But this is not just about the internet. It is about our interactions online and consequently, how businesses can tap into the opportunities that exist within this meta moment.
What’s more interesting is that this paradigm shift is happening when the pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges globally. Thankfully many small businesses are already adapting to this newly formed digital landscape even amidst the pandemic. With the increasing trend toward remote work and online business, the pandemic has set the stage for metaverse operation.
What Is The Metaverse?
The metaverse has been around for a really long time, no doubt in the form of virtual reality. But it’s no longer just about the virtual world of augmented reality. The Metaverse is more about the immersive and interconnectedness between the physical and the digital. Well, thanks to augmented reality and virtual technology.
Instead of experiencing the virtual world through a digital screen, you can enjoy the experience right around you, interacting with it immersively in a way your senses are entirely involved. So, in the metaverse, you can attend events, work, and invest in real estate by selling or buying virtual lands.
What does this mean for businesses, and what opportunities await them post COVID?
Marketing In the Metaverse & Post-COVID [Opportunities]
The nature of work has never been the same since the beginning of the pandemic. Similarly, the way we interact online has shifted. This is well reflected in the skyrocketing nature of online purchases and many brands transitioning into remote working.
Likewise, the metaverse is introducing a new wave of opportunities for businesses to thrive.
Examples of Creative Marketing Opportunities for Businesses in the Metaverse
Virtual store experience
Let customers do virtual fitting and testing of products. Gucci is already doing this with their sneaker brand-Gucci virtual 25.
Digital collectibles
Utilize the rise of digital collectibles like NFTs. Companies like Gucci and Nike are creating collectible NFTs.
Virtual influencers
Take a page from big brands by creating a digital doppelganger of real life influencers or avatars for your brand.
Virtual challenges
Take the social media challenges a notch higher by shifting to more intimate digital campfires that enable virtual experiences such as Roblox and Discord.
With that said, check out a few things to consider to prepare your business for the meta transformation now and post COVID.
Stay Relevant Through Agility
Agility focuses on getting your business prepared to thrive under any circumstances. Let’s get this straight, we’ve been talking about digital transformation, flexibility, and agility for years. We all believe it’s been heading our way for so long.
The bottom line is, at this point, any business not already fully utilizing existing online marketing strategies has missed a vital digital transformation. And the next one is already here.
The fact is, another digital transformation is already here, and the metaverse has solidified its existence. The pandemic has adjusted the nature of work and how we interact with businesses into a new normal.
McKinsey & Company advised preparing your business for unforeseen disruption by building agile teams and processes. To build agility in the next normal of post-COVID-19 and the metaverse landscape, you must be ready to embrace digital transformation.
Additionally, you must prepare to establish structures that will allow for rapid decision-making and clear communication in the new era of doing business.Most companies with remote employees have integrated apps that help collaborate on projects online in their systems.
Silicon valley giants such as Google and Twitter are already trendsetting and Walmart has used virtual reality to test and train employees for tasks.
Empower Teams Using Technology
The pandemic set the pace for the trends that will define the nature of work in 2021 and beyond. Flexible organizations were able to quickly adapt to the changing business dynamics to embrace the ‘next normal’, stayed afloat through remote working, online ordering and scheduling, and smart workforce digitization in the midst of a rapidly evolving digital era.
Empowering teams to embrace technology begins with seamless and borderless communication and collaboration through remote working. This enables your team to engage in an agile way and deliver products and customer service with improved pace and quality.
Leverage A Culture of Social Relevance
It’s time to join the masses on the social relevance of diaspora though it sounds noisy. This is not just about social media marketing. This is about initiatives that improve the lives of people on the planet.
Socially responsible organizations are well-positioned for better brand recognition, reputation, and customer loyalty. Moreover, access to information on new business opportunities is an added advantage of organizations being socially responsible.
Put Customers First
To do this successfully, you need to reimagine customer experience within the concept of the metaverse. That is, think about the vast possibilities of how customers want to engage with your brand in the digital world.
It involves creatively delighting customers at the emotional level anytime they engage with your brand through technology. You can begin with simple online ordering and scheduling features to boost customer satisfaction.
Also, imagine customers shopping in the metaverse through augmented reality with layers of experience, outstanding mixed reality with enough information, choices, and expectations.
Gamify Your Brand
Customers want a little more fun, although they rarely talk about it. The concept of gamification is not new at all. You have seen it a couple of times in marketing campaigns. For instance, you’ve probably had to compete to win points for leaving comments on a blog post. Imagine scratch to win contests and more.
The essential goal of brand gamification is to boost customer loyalty and engagement through fantastic gaming tools. Loyalty programs, exciting contests, and highly immersive content are simple tools to gamify your brand.
The TakeAway
The metaverse is an entire digital universe that can be used for work and play in virtual worlds. The potential impacts on marketing strategies for businesses are endless, with business meetings and after-work activities such as going out for movies, spending time with friends, or virtual concerts possible within this new world framework.
Is your business prepared for the post-COVID era and the age of metaverse amidst the rumors and speculations? It’s time to get flexible and benefit from the rapidly evolving business landscape.
Learn more about utilizing your digital marketing strategies creatively in the current online landscape? Connect with our team at Lead Nicely, Inc.
