As an entrepreneur, I often think about how advancements in technology will influence ways companies operate and serve customers.
By now, almost every business founder is thinking about or discussing the metaverse. It's come up in conversation among colleagues, clients, friends, even at home. My focus has been on the impact the metaverse will have on the workplace, B2B marketing, and sales.
B2B marketers have proven to be slow in adopting technologies of the digital age, ultimately paying the price for their tardiness. Rather than repeating history, marketers and salespeople should start to familiarize and immerse themselves in the metaverse now.
What is the metaverse?
At Connect 2021 in October, Mark Zuckerberg introduced a rebranded Facebook as Meta, announcing the company's new mission to bring the metaverse to life.
"Video has become the main way that we experience content...but this isn't the end of the line. The next platform in media will be even more immersive. An embodied Internet where you're in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the metaverse," Zuckerberg said.
Marketers and salespeople should see the metaverse as a 3D place on the Internet that will completely change the way we consume content and interact with one another. It presents opportunities to reach new customers and audiences more easily while creating unique and personable virtual experiences.
Elements of the metaverse are already being implemented. For gamers who are fans of Roblox, Fortnite, and Second Life, the metaverse has been here for some time. Now, companies in other industries, such as fashion, luxury, and NFTs are investing heavily in the metaverse and other virtual realities to get closer to customers.
It's only a matter of time before workplaces begin participating in all the metaverse has to offer.
How will the metaverse change the way a B2B marketing team functions?
Many people starting out their careers in sales or a trade will say that they learned their skills on the job. For me, too, having that face-to-face, in-person training was crucial to how well I performed my duties and interacted with my teammates.
The pandemic has changed how we work, and although remote, hybrid, and flexible work schedules offer many advantages both to employers and to their staff, there are downsides. What happens when 20% of your workforce isn't geared for in-person work? There's going to be an efficiency challenge.
That's where the metaverse comes in. It can actually be a solution and proxy for working in the office that is more efficient than Zoom, phone, and video.
The metaverse will allow sales teams to provide their staff access to coworkers, calls, and meetings, no matter their location, adding a layer of transparency that is often lacking from the workplace. It will provide remote assistance to onboarding, training, collaboration, and improved diversity and inclusion, and it will keep employees who love working from home happy and engaged.
How will the metaverse change how B2B marketers reach new customers?
The metaverse is going to propel a new way of interacting among colleagues and enhance the capabilities of B2B marketing teams to better deliver immersive product experiences to potential customers. Marketers will be able to interact in real-time in a way that is more advanced and customizable than we've ever seen.
That will result in the metaverse helping marketing teams build more meaningful relationships with customers, as well as meet the customers where they choose to be. We'll see CX and marketing teams working closer together and their roles becoming more intertwined.
The metaverse can provide an enhanced layer of interactivity to...
1. Virtual conferences, demos, and tradeshows, beyond experiential and experimental fields
2. The way we interact with coworkers, allowing a virtual in-office experience
3. Business's ability to interact, market, and advertise in a more creative, strategic way so customers can connect more closely with the work environment (like going to an office in the past)
How can your sales and marketing team be metaverse-ready?
There is still so much unknown about to the metaverse, and it's difficult to imagine your coworkers seated in a virtual room all day bumping into avatars of other coworkers. But despite the skepticism, businesses should begin adapting to the future of work and how the metaverse will transform day-to-day "office" life.
For sales and marketing teams, the metaverse will be a place where you get your training, meet your colleagues, and get ahold of resources. Companies that see it as an opportunity to push the boundaries of operating will reap the benefits of building connection, community, and interaction amongst employees and customers like never before.
More Resources on the Metaverse and the Future of Marketing
What People Think of the Metaverse [Infographic]
How to Prepare for Marketing's Flexible Future: Automated Marketing Processes
