Reasons Your Business Needs to Be Ready for the Rise of the Metaverse

The metaverse is coming at us at lightning speed. In the next few years, how consumers interact with organizations is going to completely change. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) experiences will transform the way consumers interact with brands, conduct work and even socialize with each other.

Already, companies are starting to augment their offerings for the metaverse. In fact, McKinsey predicts that the metaverse will generate up to $5 trillion in value by 2030. With so much money at stake, the metaverse undoubtedly has too much potential for organizations to ignore.

And yet, many businesses -especially smaller ones – aren’t even aware of the metaverse. They don’t know what it is, how it works and why they should care. That’s what this blog will help with. In a few minutes time, you’ll have a much better understanding of what the metaverse is and how your company can use it to supercharge business. 

Defining The Metaverse

The metaverse has its beginnings in the science function world. In a 1992 novel called Snow Crash, author Neal Stephenson referenced the metaverse; a virtual reality where people could engage and interact with each other through 3D avatars, enabling them to explore distant lands, play games and chase new experiences. 

With the rise of VR, AR and MR technology, the metaverse is no longer bound to the realm of sci-fi novels. It’s a real and tangible possibility – one that Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is working on as we speak. 

In the real-world metaverse, consumers and businesses will be able to deliver out of this world experiences. The platform has applications across industries, empowering organizations to revolutionize gaming, tourism, education, remote working, sports, social media, banking, retail and much much more.

In fact, we’d go so far as to say that, no matter what sector you operate in, the metaverse could benefit you. Agnostic practices like marketing, sales and customer services can all be augmented for the better by the metaverse. 

The Start Of The Journey 

Facebook has been working on the metaverse behind closed doors for a while. In the last few years, though, it’s started to release features to the public. Today, organizations can explore and make use of the metaverse, even though it is still relatively new. 

The quicker an organization can begin to use the metaverse, the better. Over the next ten years, this technology is going to be just as disruptive as the internet. You don’t want to get left behind or be a late adopter. 

So, how can you start to prepare for and embrace the metaverse? Here are our recommendations. 

• Embrace a growth mindset and start experimenting: The metaverse is waiting and ready for you to explore it. We recommend you start exploring it as soon as possible. While your first metaverse deployment might not be the right one, it’s vital to have a growth mindset. Learn as you go, stay open minded and pivot quickly.
• Be customer-centric: Innovation for innovation’s sake is a risky game. So, as you explore the metaverse, think about how you can use it to enhance the customer experience. After all, research from Gartner shows that 25% of people will spend at least an hour every day in the metaverse by 2026 – engaged in work, shopping, education, social activities, and entertainment.
• Put in place your plan: Once you’ve started to build an idea of how you can use the metaverse in your business, put in place a plan that strategizes how you will use the metaverse in the long-term. 
• Partner with a knowledgeable IT company: Great ideas are nothing without implementation. To make the most of the metaverse, you’ll need a knowledgeable IT provider to help you embrace the metaverse quickly and cost-effectively. 

Ultimately, as the metaverse expands and evolves, your company’s relationship with it will need to progress too. So, keep an open mind, be agile and stay innovative to be successful. 

What are you waiting for? 

The metaverse can either be viewed as a terrifying prospect or an exciting one. To make the most of this once-in-a-generation opportunity, we urge you to embrace the latter. Rather than burying your head in the sand about the metaverse, consider all the ways it can help your business to prosper and find new customers.

Rather than waiting to be disrupted by the metaverse, empower your business to be a disruptor, and start having an impact today. 

Prepare For the Metaverse With Our Support 

When you work with us, you get more than managed IT support. We manage your IT strategy and help plan for future needs like the metaverse. Contact us to find out we can help you today. We make it easy to work with us with no onboarding fees or lock-in contracts.