Big brands like Prada, Nike, and Ford continue to invest heavily in the metaverse, while companies like Apple, Meta, and Microsoft wage wars over the blockchain and VR hardware and platforms.
Let’s be clear, VR and the metaverse are here to stay. If you are an innovative but small to medium-sized business, testing the metaverse waters with some low-risk tactics is a wise plan. But what if you don’t have millions of dollars to gamble like these mega-players?
[Insert Logo Screen] Welcome, Sliicers. In this video, we show you how to build a presence in the metaverse fast without taking big risks. [Insert tagline here]
1. Virtual Networking
Taking advantage of the social nature of VR is the very best way to get your feet wet in the metaverse. Meeting clients or prospects, conducting formal or casual surveys, or attending virtual networking events costs you nothing more than time. Making the social rounds on platforms like Horizon Worlds is the best way to see firsthand if your audience is active in VR.
2. Metaverse Events
Host a more formal event regularly, monthly, for example, to get your customers and prospects used to meeting in the metaverse. There are a few ways to meet up with people in the metaverse—Horizon Workrooms, your personal space or a rented or borrowed world in Horizon Worlds, AltSpace VR, or VR Chat. Your choice depends on your target market, budget, and objectives. “Ask Me Anything” gatherings are one of the easiest types of events to organize and don’t require scripts, pitches, scheduled speakers, or entertainment.
When hosting a virtual event, make sure you know the capacity of the world you are using. For example, seven is the maximum number of guests in your Horizons personal space, and up to sixteen are allowed in Workrooms. A rolling guest list or allowing guests to come and go freely is another option for these events. Renting a virtual space is best for large groups, conferences, or trade shows.
3. Giveaways and Prizes
Everyone wants to win a VR headset, even if they already have one! If you sell high-value items or services, set up a sales meeting in VR and send your guest a headset with the invitation so they can meet you there. The gift will wow your prospects.
VR headsets can also be given as a prize for product launches or for any other higher-budget VR event. If your budget is more significant, buying wholesale lowers the cost of a device like an Oculus to around $150 per unit.
On-brand prizes also include non-fungible tokens or NFTs. This is a high-tech way to promote products or drum up excitement. Check the description below for a link to our step-by-step video tutorial on how to create, upload, and drop NFTs.
4. Targeted Advertisements
Facebook ads, Google ads, and many other digital ads can be targeted to the owners of VR devices or software, including headsets and other gear. Furthermore, custom audiences can be designed around XR interests, like VR games and apps.
Keep in mind when doing your ad creative that specific colors are associated with the metaverse—black, blue, purple, hot pink, and fully saturated colors. Sales copy and fonts should be active and strong. Associated images include VR headsets, augmented reality displays, city skylines, vertical lines, cubes, and grids. The masses already understand these coded visuals and linguistics. See for yourself; run a Google image search on the word metaverse.
5. Get Noticed in the Press
Tell the world you are developing a metaverse presence! Identify five to ten publications that target your VR audience. Go to Twitter and LinkedIn and follow these publications, and comment or engage with posts from these sources. Once you are familiar with the editorial style and the key players, write a press release pitching a story about your company’s unique metaverse offerings. Make sure your idea is high-concept and focused. Once you find the right contact to send your pitch to them, wait a week, and follow up if you don’t hear back. If you don’t get accepted by the first group of publications, refine your pitch, and broaden your net.
6. Join a VR Creators Group
If you are looking for VR creators or are one, you should have an active presence in VR content creator groups. For Horizon Worlds, of course, the Horizon Worlds Creator group on Facebook is your priority. However, if, for example, Decentraland or Roblox are the platforms you are targeting, search Discord to find hundreds of other VR creator groups. Many of these groups are geared toward casual VR enthusiasts. Comment or introduce thought-provoking topics. Do not, under any circumstances, spam or promo your company—that’s what paid ads are for.
7. Enter a Creators Jam
Contests are a great way to earn credibility, meet others active in the metaverse, and earn awards that can be featured in promotional messaging. Don’t worry if you’re not strong in the coding department. Whether you create yourself or work with a developer, Meta Horizon Worlds has all the training and resources you need to make a splash.
8. Start a Podcast
Audio and video are great ways to earn deep engagement from your audience over time. Be warned, this is a slow growth tactic. Both video and audio content takes time to grow a following. Between these two formats, podcasts are far easier to produce. A low-cost mic or the microphone built into your computer will suffice to start. Select topics related to the metaverse or XR, write scripts, and simply read them into a file. Audacity and Quicktime are free editing tools. It’s that easy.
9. Start a YouTube Channel
With a little more effort, you will reap even greater rewards with a YouTube channel like this one. If we ignore Cat Tries the Metaverse at 65 million views, which earned a viral status for obviously dubious reasons, the top 10 metaverse videos on YouTube range from 15 million to 30 million views. That is a potentially massive reach for your metaverse ventures. Doing YouTube correctly takes a lot of knowledge and some special equipment; however, if you have successfully validated your metaverse offer, YouTube is an excellent choice for outreach. Furthermore, running ads on channels targeting these viewers is another relatively low-cost way to leverage the metaverse.
10. Run a Focus Group
Speaking of validation, testing your idea before going full speed ahead is always wise. A focus group is one of the smartest ways to test the waters before investing heavily. By talking to a cross-section of your target audience, you can get insight into whether the market wants what you’re thinking of creating. You’ll also learn how your potential customers feel about their current VR experiences. This information will help you decide whether or not you should pursue a metaverse presence for your brand.
Q. Sliicer Question of the Week
What metaverse marketing tactic have you tried so far? Did you get traction?
If you like knowing what’s going on in the metaverse, hit that like and subscribe button, and never miss an upload. Thanks again, Sliicers, for watching. We’ll see you next time.