Integrating Metaverse into B2B Marketing

Metaverse, or virtual shared space, has been the focal point in the tech space for several years. The advancement in technology has induced the advent of virtual reality and augmented reality which is increasing the accessibility of users to fully immersive and interactive virtual worlds. Gradually, there has been a surge in the demand for such experiences which increases the user engagement with a touch of novelty, where metaverse is taking the frontiers of marketing.

With reference to the adaptability factor, while the B2C brands have easily adopted the metaverse, the B2B organizations have a sluggish approach to its utility for business aspects. Some of the core pillars of B2B marketing are online advertisements, client presentations and meetings, exhibition of products, trade shows, and special events. And all of them can have a complete transformation by leveraging the continual potential of the metaverse. 

What is a metaverse?

Metaverse, in its fundamental essence, is the ‘internet in 3D’ and in the dimensions of Virtual Reality (VR), it is an immersive platform presenting the scope of interaction among the users and also representation by personalized avatars. This builds a world where the users can be a part of events and socialize, bid on real estate in the virtual space, and also have a unique shopping experience.

What can you do with a metaverse and why?

Though B2B organizations have shown a lot of hesitation in incorporating metaverse in their marketing strategies, it is crucial to assess how can it be a value-add when working on revamping the strategies. Here are some reasons why metaverse have become so relevant for B2B marketing and the strategies the marketers can adopt with the application of metaverse.

Revolution in the buying experiences

The B2B buying process is a long and exhausting one which involves multiple stakeholders and decision-makers and has a higher inclination to get more value, thereby requiring extensive research to make the buying decision of whether to invest in the particular solution or not. Metaverse brings the opportunity to create more immersive experiences to garner the attention of the buyers, accelerating the time frame for B2B marketers. There are higher prospects to interact with the product and observe its utility with virtual events or conferences and trade shows.

For example: Instead of using a customer helpline number, the metaverse can create a platform having a help desk and different rooms as different departments to solve the issues encountered by the customers.

Novel Approach to Customer Research

The location-based limitation for qualitative market research has been resolved with the utility of video conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Some of the conventional tools used earlier were focus groups and interviews. The metaverse has unleashed several ways for marketers to acquire user data, which is essential when companies incline toward presenting personalized experiences. This signifies that engagement with customers is simplified and also the access to record the body language and gestures. The metaverse can also influence quantitative research with virtual reality equipment and AI predictive modeling techniques which facilitates the collection of bio-metrically inferred data (BID) which utilizes biometric data to construe the behavioral pattern and characteristics of an individual. This encourages marketers to project hyper-personalized ads in the metaverse which is a constructive step but with the prevalence of data privacy issues. 

Increased Aspects for Creative Promotion

The metaverse introduces new challenges for marketers as the expectations for the customers about advertising and marketing would appear to be different. This has induced an opportunity to project the creativity of marketers. For example, sponsorship for virtual events or advertisements are positioned on virtual billboards at points when the masses are spending more time. One of the advantages that come with metaverse is the dearth of any type of physical constraint. Absolut, the renowned vodka company simulated an ‘anti-gravity dancefloor space’ in Decentraland. This led to more than 90,000 visits and established the image of Absolut as a festival-friendly brand. The same can be replicated with B2B brands for the promotion of their products or services. Because metaverse does not have any limitation for the number of people, and there’s a wider reach for the prospective buyers as compared to other strategies. 

Content with better interaction and engagement  

B2B marketers have been working on collating the content with images, animation, or videos to improve the efficacy of the messages. For the metaverse, the medium would be shaped as the message and the awareness of this may facilitate the marketers to adopt AI-assisted tools to present the content more engagingly and interactively. An example would be developing a virtual 3-D library comprising blogs and e-guides and representing it as it appears in the physical format. 

Campaign Gamification

Several B2B companies are attempting to present gamification of campaigns to their partners and representatives. The metaverse can elevate these prospects and have attractive benefits which could rope in NFTs (non-fungible tokens). So, businesses can initiate engaging campaigns revolving around NFTs which could potentially allow access to special events and have discount offers, vouchers, or premium customer service.  Metaverse has several platforms and before engaging with the same, it is imperative to have clarity on the subject. Also, as metaverse is still in the establishing phases, B2B companies can have the advantage to be the ‘early adopters’ and start gearing up for the same. 

Learn more : How to build Engagement with Campaign Gamification?: Integrating Metaverse into B2B Marketing

Evaluate the value that metaverse will add:

The first step would be to get a preliminary understanding of the target audience and whether they would be interested to involve with the metaverse. So, comprehending the ease of access to technology and the transit to adopt technology and getting an understanding of the competitors are some of the fundamental guidelines. An analysis is required on how the partners or customer base can get the best virtual experience and whether it is required or what would be the potential risks associated when metaverse is not used. 

Constantly upgrading the ‘tech’ knowledge

The metaverse as a platform is still in the stages of development and will be constantly updated. So, it is important to maintain awareness regarding the latest technological developments and how they can be integrated into B2B marketing strategies.

Determine suitable metaverse platforms: 

Every platform of metaverse is likely to be different from each other and not all of them will be aligned with the B2B marketing strategies for a specific company. Some of the popularly used metaverse platforms are Decentraland, Sandbox, Meta’s Horizon Worlds, Roblox. etc. Although, certain platforms are curated to focus on specific segments according to demographics like Roblox targets Gen Z, and likewise, there can be platforms that can easily align with the requirements of the B2B companies. For example, Meta launched a virtual reality-based meeting world, Horizon Workrooms which lets the teams collaborate and get a ‘real’ bonding experience. 

Awareness of adapting the brand

A clear analysis of the brand’s engagement in the digital space will give clarity on the content presented and how it can be tweaked along the lines of the metaverse. The key is to assess the experience of the people with the brand. The public would not enter the metaverse to get access to some bland information but would desire a multi-sensory experience as a user. So, the B2B brand has to present a unique experience for the users which goes beyond the normal physical aesthetics. 

Analysing the performance metrics

There needs to be a balance between the marketing budget and the Return on Investment (ROI). So, there should be performance metrics for the content on metaverse platforms. There ought to be differences in the metrics to track the engagement on metrics which can be determined by the behavioural patterns of the users.