We are on the threshold of a promising new era of Internet development, which will greatly expand the boundaries of human interaction with the online space. Meta universes have gained widespread popularity, so tremendous interest in them attracts investment and stimulates their development. Experienced marketers are ready to adapt to new opportunities, and global brands already direct their budgets to the virtual worlds.
What is a meta-universe?
The meta universe is a digital space that creates a simulation of reality and combines existing services, content, brand products in a single environment. The world of the metauniverse exists together with the real world, intersects with it, or complements it.
Users will not need monitors: all communication will take place in virtual reality helmets, where people will be together in the same location, and AR glasses will imitate live eye contact and facial expressions.
On the Internet, the user consumes content, while in the digital universe, he is inside the content. Each meta world is a virtual space in which time is continuous, just like in normal life. There can be roads, cars, houses, shopping malls, or fantasy worlds. People choose digital avatars and can communicate with each other, rest together, walk, shop and work.
Today, these technologies are actively used in computer games, industrial training, vehicles, construction, education, the armed forces, and medicine. The largest corporations implement XR solutions to optimize various business processes, and ordinary users are immersed at home with VR gadgets in three-dimensional spaces for entertainment and educational purposes.
Why is meta universe the future of digital business?
The advent of social networks has become an extension of our reality, and the recent years of pandemics have only accelerated this process. So, for many entrepreneurs, it has become more profitable to buy Instagram followers and build social capital in social networks than to open offline offices. Virtual reality is the next technological revolution that will take customer communication, advertising, and sales to the next level.
First, meta universes can provide a remote workspace. Many companies have promptly moved to online conferencing platforms and virtual meetings. Meta universe offers even more significant opportunities. Employees and participants can wear virtual reality glasses, which makes it seem as if they are in a digital office. These days, virtual spaces have already been created for employees of companies where they can meet remotely, communicate, work on projects, run errands, solve various business and production issues, conceptually changing the business environment, and erasing the boundaries between face-to-face and virtual involvement in processes.
Secondly, the meta-universe is a new space for working with customers that will replace social media. Social networks are now recognized as a driver of sales growth. For years, they provided business accounts with high reach and stable traffic. When businesses invest in targeted advertising on Twitter (News – Alert), buy real Instagram followers, and collaborate with bloggers on YouTube (News – Alert), they get predictable financial returns. In the case of the meta universe, by creating games, apps, or other content in the 3D world, companies will be better able to engage and enthuse customers about their brand. Entering a meta-universe, brands can show locations that are as similar to the real world as possible to create an effect of presence, and products are accompanied by massive informational support. The user in a virtual store has a great opportunity to test the product, to make sure of the usefulness and benefits of its purchase.
The meta-universe is a big advertising platform where the main goal is to attract Generation X, who are the first to adopt new technologies. With the advent of meta universes, manufacturers will have more ways to target audiences and deliver information about products and services in a targeted way. The first advertisers in the meta-universes will get special attention from a young, solvent audience tired of the information noise in both the physical channels and the Internet.
To sum up, the meta universe is people, therefore the synergy of the virtual and physical worlds should first be balanced, cover needs, improve life, and make it more comfortable. Whoever is the first to perceive the trend as a guide to action will get ahead of others and feel all the benefits associated with it.
Milana Bolgur: Author of articles on SMM, digital technologies, online sales.