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The virtual world has gained popularity in recent years. Thanks to improved technology, Virtual Reality (VR) experiences are now within the budgets of large business enterprises, small business and entrepreneurial start-ups.
Marketing professionals agree that these technologies have the potential to revolutionize marketing as we know it.
Redefining the way people experience products is no simple feat, and the metaverse has the potential to do just that. By getting involved with VR now, you’ll be able to leverage the potential of VR marketing sooner rather than later, when there are more brand marketing experiences vying for attention.
If you’re interested in learning how the metaverse can transform your marketing strategy, read on to learn more about what this new digital space has to offer your brand.
The term "metaverse" was first coined by science fiction author Neal Stephenson in his novel "Snow Crash." The metaverse refers to an additional virtual reality overlay on top of the current world.
In Stephenson's novels, the metaverse took the form of a massive online space where people could meet and interact with each other regardless of their physical location. This description has changed over the years, but the idea behind the virtual world remains the same.
The VR metaverse today refers to three-dimensional virtual digital spaces and VR applications where people can interact with each other and explore virtual environments. For significantly less than the cost of your average laptop computer, you can experience the benefits of what the next generation of Internet/Web computing will bring to marketspaces.
In virtual reality marketing experiences, prospective and current customers actively engage with a product or service, experiencing the brand.
VR is a highly visual, immersive technology that can help to truly bring your marketing campaigns to life.
As the primary goal of a VR marketing campaign is to generate leads for a business, it's a good idea to engage the sales team, so a strategy can also be engaged to close the leads that are generated by the VR marketing campaign.
VR marketers can create compelling content that their audience will want to engage in and experience. Read on for two examples of hundreds that are emerging every day in the metaverse.
Engaging prospective customers in metaverse game playing and contests can be accomplished by brands who subscribe to metaverse platforms that provide turn-key worlds that support these activities.
Brands can also engage Metaverse world builders to create customized VR experiences, to the specifications provided by brand business development teams, comprised of marketing and sales professionals.
Car manufacturers can create a virtual showroom, where prospective buyers can view new car models and take them for a virtual test drive.
Much like the real world, prospective customers could virtually sit in the driver's seat and get a feel for the vehicle. They could interact with the vehicle's navigation system and experience the heads-upon-screen display of the vehicle's speed, current navigation route entered, etc.
Best of all, the vehicle could be taken for a test drive on a virtual city street that simulates real-world driving, with pedestrians, city streets and open highways.
In the market for a sports car? How would you like to experience driving your vehicle on the Autobahn, to get a feel for the vehicle's high-end performance?
For General Aviation (GA) aircraft manufacturers, brands could commission VR aircraft model developers to create new model aircraft for the Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS).
This activity contributes to brand marketing and helps to drive sales to aviation leasing companies, business enterprises and private pilots in the market for new aircraft.
Using Microsoft's Flight Simulator in VR mode, prospective buyers and customers can experience flying in a new aircraft of interest from the comfort of their own home or office, using a PCVR headset and a mid-range personal computer.
On the VR aircraft’s flight deck, controls are fully functional and flight scenery and animation is photo-realistic, down to the shimmering sun glistening off the wing of an in-flight aircraft.
Prospective customers receive an amazing flight and brand experience in a realistic simulation of a real-world flight experience. This sets the stage to drive and close sales leads, and even provide after-sale support services, like orientation and flight training.
Today, brands like Boeing, Airbus, Diamond Aircraft, Bell Helicopter, and many more are participating in VR marketing campaigns using modeled aircraft available in MSFS.
Commercial, GA customers and pilots can actively engage in realistic VR flight simulations of production and pre-production aircraft, in a photo-realistic VR application that is dedicated to closely simulating real-world flight and aviation.
Automotive and aviation are just two industry segment examples that represent industries that have successfully harnessed the power of virtual reality, to successfully market their brand, products, and services to a global audience.
Marketers are eager to host events for their customers, but physical location limitations sometimes make it difficult to do so. Thanks to VR, you can now host virtual events that are open to people from all over the world.
Taking advantage of creating VR marketing events, such as trade shows, product launches, etc., can help brands expand customer reach, boost engagement, and bring in more customers.
Brands can sponsor educational seminars, invite customers to participate in live training or host conferences where people can meet and collaborate.
One of the best things about virtual events is that you don't need to worry about logistical details like finding a venue, booking a room, and bringing everything together at the right time. It's much easier to host an event virtually since you don't have to worry about any physical constraints.
VR events provide an excellent vehicle to create interactive marketing campaigns that will generate leads for your business. Creating an experience that is engaging and memorable will help to ensure that your customers take action after experiencing your campaign.
You can use VR to build hype around a new product, generate leads and create a positive brand perspective.
The virtual world is a new frontier for brands and customers.
Virtual reality and the metaverse represents an opportunity to engage a new medium that has significant potential to increase sales by engaging a global audience while reducing the cost of marketing and sales.
By taking advantage of the emerging metaverse and VR application technologies, you can create more engaging content, reach new audiences, and revolutionize your marketing strategy.
The metaverse is in its infancy, but it's already clear that it has the potential to change the way we interact with brands in a positive way.
Rick Meekins, Hazel Haygood (Aepiphanni Business Consulting) and I recently discussed the potential of VR and the metaverse are evolving from early stages to reach to where this new medium can now be applied to business strategy and marketing.
Future updates to this blog post will provide more examples of how brands are successfully engaging VR and metaverse marketing strategies.
