Metaverse Shaping The Future Of Influencer Marketing

The metaverse presents fresh, untapped opportunities that are slowly being discovered in the form of Virtual Influencers and CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) avatars controlled by real influencers

The Metaverse is an embodied internet in which people not only sift through content but quite literally live amongst it. It essentially offers people the opportunity to transport to a distinct reality and interact with their digital avatars. The novelty of this virtual world is a massive opportunity for businesses to capitalise on. Many companies belonging to varying industries are trying to smartly use the plethora of gaps in the metaverse to gain the first-mover advantage. Influencer Marketing is one of the industries that can significantly benefit from the large influx of people in this new world.

Metaverse presents untapped opportunities for Influencers

Throughout the evolution of marketing from traditional to digital, individuals have always been most successful at instilling a sense of trust regarding a product or service. A similar word of mouth manifests in the digital world through influencers, A.K.A Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). The metaverse presents fresh, untapped opportunities that are slowly being discovered in the form of Virtual Influencers and CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) avatars controlled by real influencers.

The liberty of self-expression that metaverse provides to people is unmatched. It gives deep insights into how people personalise their appearance, personality, and preferences on this digital platform. The extensive data incursion provides avenues for businesses to market their products to a specific target audience.

The limit of physicality does not exist in this world. One can buy an outfit for their avatar through digital stores, invest in cultural collectables to adorn their digital selves through Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and even buy virtual land.

Digital Twin – The New Avatars of Influencers

The metaverse allows people to exist as customised avatars, i.e., “Digital Twin” of themselves.

The influencers’ content stays relevant in people’s minds by being updated with recent trends and maintaining some form of communication online. The metaverse provides an entirely new dimension, leading to a new source of content for influencers. Existing influencers can create their digital twin online and expand their reach. In contrast, new influencers can gain an entirely new following by displaying their vocations through this unique world's latest and unexplored avenues.

Miquela Sousa, or Lil Miquela, is an American virtual influencer who took the internet by storm by her novelty on the internet and being the first few digital models to work with brands like Calvin Klein and Prada. This is just one instance of gaining an audience as a first-mover in the realm; influencer marketing has plentiful creative opportunities to create immersive content and

engagement. As more influencers enter their digital twin avatars, metaverse will create a new competitive marketplace for bespoke content.

Interaction and Engagement will get more Profound, Valuable, and to the Point

The presence of influencers helps in directing people towards different platforms or “verses” designed for their likes, forming niche communities. Digital spaces help efficiently deliver relevant information to customer segments considered appropriate for the product/service to be marketed. Further, such targeted dissemination of information prevents the inclination of people to ignore advertisements as a whole due to the sheer overload of content. Instead, the communication gets profound, valuable, and to the point.

Conclusion

The gradual virtualisation of the human experience, be it in commerce or culture, is an inevitable reality in the coming future. Influencer marketing increases inseparability from a business’s primary marketing strategies, with an ever-growing ROI (Return on Investment) of 600%. Tightly bound communities with trusted influencers are an existing social media concept that will successfully penetrate and dominate the marketing sphere in the metaverse due to its promise of immersive interaction and co-existence of people online, without the physical world’s limits.


*The author is Shuchi Sethi, India Lead, AnyTag

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