Metaverse And Why Is It Important For Business?

The Internet has already made our lives easier in a way that we never imagined. A decade back, it was unimaginable to see one’s avatar inside a screen, and attending a meeting? Today, it’s no hidden fact that this is possible and has become easier with Metaverse.

Metaverse, also referred to as the Spatial Internet, Live Maps, or the Magicverse, today, is becoming jargon for the internet-freaks and businesses all around the world. The term is very familiar in Silicon Valley. This is the next stage in the internet’s evolution.

Metaverse is a remarkably comprehensive concept. It is “a persistent, shared 3D virtual space linked into a perceived virtual business.” It is an all-encompassing virtual world where people live and play using avatars and virtual goods. For general understanding, Metaverse is an online space that allows people to interact in a more riveting way than a conventional website. It is more like merging digital and physical worlds. 

Companies have already made plans to expand their businesses with the advancement of the internet. For example, Meta’s CEO has previously announced to make the company a metaverse company from a social media company, in the next 5 years. Microsoft CEO also has plans to develop an ‘enterprise metaverse’.

How Will Metaverse Help Business?

Over the past decade, it was highly improbable to think of companies with social media presence that could be fundamental for their business to enhance. But today, the brand we wish to purchase our sweatshirt from, we go through their Instagram account first to know if the brand has the product that we desire in the first place? It makes the shopping spree much easier. 

The Covid-19 pandemic forced us to remain locked inside our houses with ‘Work From Home’ as the only choice for approximately 24 months for businesses to keep going. But, it was not a very compelling option to communicate with colleagues and, frequently felt lethargic. 

Similarly, Metaverse is likely to play a prominent role in the business world as social media has today.

Let’s find out why Metaverse is crucial for your business:

The Pandemic Effect

For example, Neutstreet, for human interactions to be more multi-dimensional or lifelike, looked beyond the physical world and have shifted to virtual meeting spaces based on metaverse platforms such as Decentraland and Cryptovoxels. 

Hence, metaverse can prove to be a constructive and timesaving alternative to physical meetings. A digital twin of yours, attending the meeting for you while you sit at home experiencing it. Sounds fascinating!

Profits Through Sponsorship

Recently, events that were sponsored by metaverse made the news. One such event was Travis Scott’s concert, hosted by Fortnite in 2020. Over 12.3 million concurrent players attended his astronomical event. The artist earned millions of dollars through the event. He gained money from the sale of virtual goods such as special Travis Scott gaming skins. In another such affair, Minecraft hosted a musical event for Massive Attack, an English electronic band. 

This way, metaverse can open an endless number of opportunities for companies to earn money through sponsorship of various sorts of events in the coming future. 

Product Placement And Advertising

As metaverse is capturing attention all over the world, the companies will want to place their ads where people are keener to explore certain products of their interest. One such method of advertising and product placement is to sponsor in-game items.

Metaverse is a great advertising opportunity, putting billboards and advertising to amplify your brand’s impact as people are most likely to spend relatively more time in the metaverse. Also, it is less disruptive to market your brand in Metaverse.

Remote Working

Metaverse can help people to cut down on the time and cost of commuting as the interactions will have digital alternatives that are no less effective than physical interaction.

In August 2021, Facebook announced Horizon Workrooms, a virtual meeting space where coworkers can join a meeting in virtual reality (VR) as an avatar or dial into the virtual room from a computer by video call. Here, workers can collaborate on whiteboards, stream on laptops and interact with co-workers, all while sitting in a room alone.

This is all the work we do in a tangible office. This may also open more doors for freelancers in all areas. A person sitting in India can sit beside and interact with a colleague from Bangladesh, in a meeting of a company based in London!

Time-Saving

As mentioned earlier, metaverse can give consumers a chance to sit at home and attend office meetings and training sessions. Digital twin technology is exponentially increasing across several industries. It enables speedy and sophisticated decision-making. 

Engineers could visit the construction site remotely and decide on the plan of action before starting the construction work, making it convenient to identify the features of the building closely. Architects can visit a home to get an idea of the space and location and select the materials accordingly. Similarly, it would be easy for a person wishing to buy a property to get a virtual view and decide if it best suits them. 

This can help in building more streamlined project management and reliable outcomes without even having to step outside. 

Creation Of A New Income Source For An Already Existing Business

Metaverse offers a plethora of opportunities for Enterprise Businesses. Well-known and giant brands such as Nike are planning to build a new virtual world called Nikeland on the metaverse platform Roblox. It will comprise stadiums, fields, and arenas, in which people will compete in virtual games such as dodgeball. Players will dress their avatars in Nike apparel by purchasing them from the virtual platform. Nike, an already established company, is working on an additional income source through metaverse in gaming. 

In 2021, Gucci and gaming platform Roblox created a virtual Gucci Garden. There, Gucci sold virtual goods via Roblox currency (Robux). Similarly, Coke, Wendy’s, Sotheby’s are rushing to create a metaverse shortly. 

Gaming being the backbone of metaverse from the start, your company can also look for inspiration to expand and income generation from an entirely fresh stream of business. To profit from it, companies need to see virtual worlds as rich places to experiment, collaborate, and develop leadership and management skills.

Metaverse in the next few years will become a surviving factor for companies, except that a business could not survive in the fast-paced world full of competition.