How to measure customer experience in the metaverse
We thought that measuring customer experience in the real world and on the web was enough. But that was before the metaverse, an amalgamation of the physical world, the augmented, and the virtual. We discussed in our Social Media Trends 2022 Report how metaverse, an unknown word a few years ago, is now on the roadmap of all marketers. As brands consider how to enter the metaverse, a connected question arises: how can they measure engagement and customer experience in this brand new world?
Discover metaverse and other top trends for 2022!
What is the metaverse?
A lot has been said recently about the metaverse - but what is it really? The metaverse is a growing playground in which communities, ideas, and even brands, can flourish together.
With Talkwalker's Quick Search, we can see that the daily volume of conversations around metaverse broke out in Q3 2021, at the same time Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook to Meta.
The metaverse is a digital space that is always-on and immersive - one puts on a headset and sees, and can operate within, a digital world. It can be a digital portal, or powered by algorithms or blockchains.
What are the main metaverse platforms?
Some platforms or games that can be affiliated to the metaverse galaxy have existed for a long time. Second Life and Minecraft are probably the most famous of them. But in 2017, Fortnite launched and immediately shook up the industry. Without realizing it or being able to put a name on the phenomenon, the metaverse was brought into millions of homes and a new generation of users embraced a new way of playing, learning, and socializing.
When I watched the Meta Introduction Keynote and Mark Zuckerberg flying into this new world, it reminded me of Roblox. At the intersection of gaming, social experience, and virtual reality, Roblox was also a pioneer.
The time has come for the #metaverse to come together in celebration of a more positive future. Experience the culture, the music, and the world of @InTheHeights!
— Roblox (@Roblox) June 4, 2021
Bring your best selves to the block party of the year: https://t.co/a3aWeyERtM #InTheHeightsMovie pic.twitter.com/FYq9Psj0Ks
Roblox's vision for the metaverse is to “create a platform for immersive co-experiences, where people can come together within millions of 3D experiences to learn, work, play, create, and socialize.” In April 2020, Roblox Corporation told Bloomberg that “two-thirds of all U.S. kids between 9 and 12 years old use Roblox, and it’s played by a third of all Americans under the age of 16.” Needless to say, Roblox completely took over the market.
Roblox is not the only metaverse platform that has grown considerably over the past year. Decentraland and Sandbox, both decentralized, community-driven ecosystems where creators can share and monetize assets and gaming experiences on the Ethereum blockchain, have both seen interest in their platforms skyrocket this year.
PHOTO COMP! Check out @GolfcraftGame (47,-45), the latest #P2E game in the #metaverse. Take a pic of yourself and tweet it with @Decentraland, @GolfcraftGame & include your wallet address.
— Decentraland (@decentraland) November 2, 2021
The top 3 pics will win wearables.
(More info in thread) pic.twitter.com/HyuyStUa64
A tweet from Decentraland, a decentralized 3D virtual reality platform that consists of 90,601 parcels of land.
Both of these platforms are blockchain-based or NFT-based metaverse. A bit of a mouthful, but it is in fact pretty easy to understand. In these virtual worlds, the land, buildings, avatars, and even names can be bought and sold, often using cryptocurrency
Now, let’s compare the volume of conversation about these metaverse platforms with Talkwalker’s Quick Search. Roblox share of voice is getting more traction against Fortnite over the last 6 months while Sandbox seems to be the leader of the NFT-based metaverses.
This chart was generated with Talkwalker’s Quick Search, designed to show the top trending topics for any given category, country or language, right as they happen.
What customer experience do brands have to offer in the metaverse?
What’s becoming clear is that the metaverse is a great place to spend free time, and naturally, marketers will want their brand to have a presence in these spaces.
Let’s explore different campaigns and compare tactics used by Chipotle, Hyundai, and Atari to build a new customer experience in the metaverse.
Connect metaverse customers with real-world points of sale
For Halloween, Chipotle opened a virtual restaurant and promised to offer $1 million in free burritos, access to new virtual Halloween costumes, and exclusive Roblox items.
There’s something for everyone this Halloween on Roblox! Celebrate with frightful experiences, dress up in your favorite costume from the Avatar Shop, and prepare for the @ChipotleTweets Boorito Maze opening on Oct 28. pic.twitter.com/XZ3rbe28k6
— Roblox (@Roblox) October 26, 2021
Unfortunately, Roblox experienced service disruptions over the Halloween weekend that affected many players, as well as the Chipotle campaign. If there is a lesson to be learned from this event, it is that the metaverse is not immune to technical issues, and I hope people involved jumped on our crisis communication plan during this terrible weekend. Always be prepared!
Miss u roblox https://t.co/v9rAwNkosf
— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) October 29, 2021
Despite the blackout, the campaign finally resumed and the coupons were virtually handed out within hours.
Thanks for my free Chipotle, @Roblox! pic.twitter.com/6Nb6OUfw0g
— Juno (@Junozy_) November 10, 2021
Roblox and Chipotle won the Halloween weekend, and Chipotle was the most discussed brand during this weekend within the Roblox community.
The Talkwalker Analytics’s theme cloud generated for the campaign shows the most discussed themes.
Engage customers with metaverse influencers
In October, Hyundai launched a metaverse space called ‘Hyundai Mobility Adventure’, a collectively shared virtual dealership in which various users can experience Hyundai Motor’s mobility offerings. To accelerate the campaign, Hyundai partnered with the ultra-famous South Korean boy band BTS (52.2m followers on Instagram) to promote the new virtual space.
Ready to Jump into the Epic Journey?
— Hyundai Worldwide (@Hyundai_Global) October 27, 2021
Check out the new Hyundai X BTS film and take part in our special social event!
Instagram Event Link : https://t.co/NXQ12shIsW#Hyundai #BTS #HyundaixBTS #Metaverse pic.twitter.com/b5QKCbrhNy
The brand objective of this campaign to engage and connect Gen Z was achieved. The influencer marketing efforts with BTS helped massively engage the core target audience and reached 571K engagements - 74% directly linked to the partnership with the South Korean boy band - in addition to 63K mentions worldwide.
Measuring engagement of online communities is easy with Talkwalker Analytics.
Educate and onboard your customers in the metaverse
But these initiatives are not limited to Roblox. Atari (yes, that Atari) is venturing into meta-real estate. “In this way, Atari sees the metaverse as a means of enabling people to own their IP and views their early entrance into the metaverse as a functionally important builder of this new gaming ecosystem.”
🌌Excited to see the community establishing a @RevomonVR plot in @TheSandboxGame 👾
— Revomon (@RevomonVR) October 31, 2021
A 12x12 parcel size and close to several others owned by @atari
The $REVO #metaverse continues to expand and joining #Thesandbox,one of the leader in this field, makes definitely sense🔥 pic.twitter.com/og1BR9SQ6q
Atari's new strategic direction has received positive feedback from loyal Atari fans, but also crypto and NFT-enthusiasts who realize that this initiative is bringing value to the ecosystem as well as their own digital assets.
With Talkwalker’s Sentiment Analysis, we measure the overall sentiment of Atari’s strategic decision to develop their presence in the metaverse.
Engaging with Gen Z is essential for brands. Leveraging the most successful platforms to connect with younger generations is key in this process. But it often requires a marketing strategy shift and the exploration of new marketing tactics.
Download the report: How to reach Gen Z, and why it matters
Takeaway
Facebook's rebranding is the pivotal point in the evolution of the metaverse and Web 3.0. The new direction taken by Facebook already triggered a massive wave of interest and is increasingly onboarding brands that are getting ready to use the Meta medium to reach their consumers on this new interface.
In the same way that Meta built out and created the social media ads business, they hope to do the same for the next iteration of the internet. This will give brands an easy portal into the metaverse if they can pay for display on billboards directly from Ad Manager.
The opportunity arises for brands that want to do more than simply display themselves in this new digital realm. Brands can now build spaces, activities, or games within games that will attract the next wave of digitally native consumers to their brands. They should get started now. First mover advantage will be incredibly powerful in the metaverse.
While full-scale immersive digital worlds, like one might expect from video games, aren’t common yet, these digital sandboxes, the metaverse, will become more and more important this decade. The coming XR (Extended Reality, via AR or VR) tidal wave will have a profound impact on the future of work and play.
Metaverse Keywords
Web 3.0
There is no official definition of what Web 3.0 is but the general consensus indicates that the new evolution of the web is based on decentralized blockchain protocols which provide a way for individuals to use the internet without giving up their privacy and valuable data.
Virtual reality (VR)
Virtual reality is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Virtual reality’s most immediately-recognizable component is the head-mounted display or headset device.
Augmented reality (AR)
Augmented reality is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information.
Virtual commerce (V-commerce)
Virtual commerce is an e-commerce term that refers to the buying and selling of goods and services with the help of virtual and augmented reality technology.
Virtual retail (V-retail)
Virtual retail (or VR Distribution) is a retail service model that provides brands and retailers with a channel through which they may sell their products in a virtual or hybrid way as a mix of physical, e-commerce & virtual sales.
