The Metaverse is a term for the concepts of various virtual experiences which are being added to digital marketing.
Whether you’re a fan of 3D gaming platforms, enjoy VR world exploration, or have witnessed what AR can do, you’ve touched just the beginning of this new type of universe. We don’t yet know how far we can go in the augmented digital world, but it’s a safe bet that test drives for vehicles could be part of the experiences offered going forward.
Virtual Test Drives are Already Happening
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world, many industries faltered, and businesses had to shut down with no hopes to reopen. Automakers and their dealer networks had to find a way to serve customers in a no-contact world, which meant moving away from traditional car sales tactics. One of the ways dealerships accomplished their goals was to offer virtual test drives to shoppers.
During a virtual test drive, the car salesperson would take the vehicle out for a drive while cameras were rolling. This gave customers an opportunity to imagine they were driving the car themselves. As we move into the virtual reality world, a customer could select the vehicle desired and enjoy a virtual test drive where they are in the driver’s seat.
Major Companies are Jumping into the Initiative
Don’t expect the Metaverse to go away and be a fad. No matter which part of this new world a company will focus on, there are many major companies investing in research and development. Names you know like Nike, Gucci, Disney, and the company formerly known as Facebook, which is now Meta, have all jumped into the deep end. Jobs in this field have spiked at an extraordinary rate, making it easy to see the increased growth of the digital world.
The Digital Virtual World is the Future; Here’s Why
Complete Customer Journey can Take Place
With the use of virtual reality technology, customers can put themselves into the action and see how products work before they ever make the purchase decision. This technology can grow to allow shoppers to experience the use of items they want to purchase long before they ever make the commitment to the item. Could this be how we see test drives in the future? That would certainly keep more vehicles at the dealership, with fewer physical test drives being required.
In addition to product experiences, shoppers can enjoy a holistic journey through various experiences before they decide what they want to enjoy. Imagine going on a virtual vacation before you even book the trip. That could help you understand what you’re going to find when you get to your destination.
Advertising Can be Individualized
If we’ve learned anything from the social landscape of the past couple of years, we know that people now expect more inclusivity and diversity in every area of the world. Television advertising is limited to the actors being used; online advertising can have the same challenges. With the use of augmented reality programming, advertising can more closely match the profile of the customer using the equipment. This could bring individualized advertising to the masses to allow them to feel more represented in the world.
The use of the metaverse means creating your own experiences rather than relying on the experience of others or what they are putting right in front of you. It’s likely that advertising you see in the future could scan you and put your right into the action to see what clothes look best on you, which car you want to drive, or how you fit in your home.
The Metaverse Feeds Our Cravings
People crave experiences and don’t want to see static displays or video ads. They want to be put into the action, they want to learn and understand what makes one item better than another, and they want to have more information to make purchase decisions. This new virtual universe will replace the 2D world and give us the experiences we want in a 3D or possibly 4Darena.
As fast as technology is developing, it won’t be long before we have a full range of VR and AR experiences that are brought right to our homes to give us the immersive technology that we’re looking for. It’s easy to see how a virtual test drive of a vehicle where you feel like you’re in the driver’s seat will be preferred to the virtual drive that was offered during the pandemic.
User-Generated Content Will Go to the Next Level
Word of mouth advertising has moved from the world of talking to your neighbors to user-generated content that gives a company the stamp of approval from an actual customer. This is the best form of advertising for any company, but marketers have had a hard time figuring out how to co-create this content that can be shared across platforms.
The hope is that when the metaverse is more widely visited and used, co-creating will be simple and collaborative, making it easy for companies to use the voice of their customers in the advertising. You might try on a new sweater in this virtual world and hear the voice of a few customers that have enjoyed buying the same sweater before you. We don’t yet know how this will be used, but it certainly can be the future.
The Possibilities are Endless
At this point in the development of the Metaverse, we are only speculating and scratching the surface of what’s possible. Will we see a world where everything around us is digitized? Are we heading toward a place with virtual realities happening every day? Could we put ourselves in our favorite shows or movies to become part of the action? Any question you could come up with might eventually become part of this new virtual world. We don’t yet know what hasn’t been discovered and we don’t know how far technology will go to give us the experiences that we crave from a virtual universe.
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