: Opinion: How marketing and brand advocacy will change in the metaverse #IndiaNEWS #Guest Post Ajit Narayan, CMO, Socxo shares his thoughts on how metaverse is still an unknown entity and marketers

Opinion: How marketing and brand advocacy will change in the metaverse #IndiaNEWS #Guest Post
Ajit Narayan, CMO, Socxo shares his thoughts on how metaverse is still an unknown entity and marketers need to prepare for it with facts, research, and data, and not FOMO.

Metaverse is cooking. But the recipe beyond the basics is still being discovered and it will be so till orders start coming. Let’s get this straight and I am calling it. The metaverse is still an unknown entity. While the buzz around it, and the brands, early adopters and geeks are jumping into it headlong, what will happen to it and will it be around is a question that we can’t answer right now?

And here are some stats as of January 2022 (Source: Statista)

31% of surveyed adults in the US had never heard of the metaverseAnother 31% had heard of it but weren’t familiar with it24% were only somewhat familiar

So, the unknown element is relatively high. And no one has been spotted going around wearing headsets yet. So, hold your horses. However, this is a signal of something big coming our way. It’s just that we don’t know whether it will be a hit or a miss.

There is the FOMO angle which is creating the buzz. And marketers are the first to experience it.

They don’t want to miss out on the big one by waiting outside.

The metaverse involves a whole lot of moving parts (AI, video, blockchain, etc. ) and humongous amounts of data that will be complex to interpret and use. The flip side of the data above is true as well. Estimated 50 million plus + VR users already. (Source Statista) So it is not something to be ignored.

Marketing could have an added dimension to it in the coming days. And that will include marketing in the metaverse.

This includes three fundamental shifts in thinking.

Metaverse is always on. Just because you logged out, does not mean it has closed. But then, the internet is on too you might say. There’s a big difference here. And that’s about people actually wanting to interact then and there with you as against, filling up a form or reply to a chatbot. They expect you to be there. Your audiences will be there alright. But you now have to deal with multiple personalities of the same persona. As if one persona was not enough. The same person could interact differently in the real world and complexly different in the metaverse. Making it challenging to identify audiences and deliver customer experiences. Interactions will traverse the physical and digital worlds. Including currencies.

Also Read: YouTube announces new ways for creators to make money, supporting the next wave of global creative entrepreneurs

That said how will it impact marketing?

Event Marketing will go to the next level.