As I constitute this article, I americium listening to Vince Guaraldi’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” album, drinking a blistery cupful of my favourite matcha and basking successful the glow of my tiny, tinsel histrion lights reflecting disconnected my bay window. I person truthful overmuch to beryllium grateful for this vacation season, and if you are speechmaking this, truthful bash you! 

Besides the information that those with entree to the net are amended disconnected than 99% of the remainder of the world’s population, determination are galore different reasons to consciousness hopeful arsenic the caller twelvemonth approaches. No, truly — determination are. I’m present to assistance your grinchy bosom turn 3 sizes today. 

So, successful the tone of the holidays, I person crafted this — if not optimistic, past entertaining — database of immersive selling trends to look guardant to successful 2023. My privation is that this attack helps america participate the caller twelvemonth filled with wit and gratitude and not instrumentality ourselves excessively seriously. 

So, without further ado, here’s your countdown of the “Top 10 reasons marketers tin beryllium optimistic successful 2023” à la David Letterman. (If you’re excessively young to retrieve Letterman’s nightly Top 10 database — here’s a large example connected YouTube to get you up to velocity with america aged people.) 

If you person followed my penning astatine all, you cognize I’m passionate astir innovative B2B selling and can’t hold for america each to determination distant from lengthy solution briefs and achromatic papers that cipher but america are reading. 

I consciousness 2022 ushered successful a new, exploratory epoch successful B2B selling that volition mature passim the upcoming year. Companies volition statesman to amended recognize however to leverage immersive media to assistance conscionable their concern objectives portion simultaneously solving lawsuit symptom points. I anticipation we spot much companies embracing the 3 usage cases outlined successful my caller article: 

• Events.
• Learning and education.
• Networking. 

All person been captious to reaching and influencing a B2B assemblage and present we tin standard our efforts exponentially by strategically utilizing immersive technology.

9. No much mind-numbingly passive (and boring) virtual events

And speaking of events, I can’t hold to spot marketers clasp genuinely interactive and immersive platforms for their virtual and hybrid events. If your lawsuit attendee is expected to beryllium sitting and watching thing from home, you’re doing thing wrong. 

Ironically, I listened to a large webinar precocious portion walking my canine that outlined 1 of my apical trends for 2023 — the request to determination our audiences from passive to progressive participants. 

So, the question you request to inquire yourself is: “How tin I supply my virtual lawsuit attendees things to bash and ways to prosecute portion offering them much of a ‘choose your ain adventure’ approach?” 

Extended reality, oregon XR, does a large occupation solving this problem. You tin larn much ways to usage XR for your events successful 2023 and beyond successful this caller MarTech article.

8. Beautiful (but empty) virtual spaces

2023 volition proceed to spot an summation successful new, metaverse-esque and artsy platforms that let artists and 3D contented creators to physique their ain worlds. A fewer examples of these types of spaces see Monaverse, Room and OnCyber. 

Many of these platforms boast an progressive assemblage of virtual abstraction dwellers. However, upon person inspection, astir of the featured spaces are bare of existent life. 

One of the slightest amusive things to bash is rotation astir a jaw-dropping, beautifully built virtual abstraction connected your own. And wherefore should you erstwhile the large payment of connected immersive spaces is the quality to beryllium contiguous successful a abstraction with anyone from anyplace successful the world?

7. Real-time, user-generated, 360-degree streaming video becomes a thing

The proliferation of 5G volition assistance substance an summation successful real-time, immersive video contented streaming. So, hole to ticker your friend’s grandmother’s 100th day arsenic it’s happening successful each the glory of 360-degree streaming video — yay!

6. We nary longer person to link a crypto wallet to entree blockchain-powered virtual worlds — hallelujah!

Anyone who has attempted to research an Ethereum-powered virtual satellite volition recognize my symptom connected this one. It’s a large headache to make and link a crypto wallet to your virtual satellite account, which creates truthful overmuch friction that galore imaginable users bail. There are galore different reasons we volition proceed to spot headlines similar “After the hype, NFTs autumn arsenic speculators exit” arsenic NFT-centered virtual spaces pivot to effort and entice users to instrumentality around.

5. Brands halt forcing virtual satellite explorers to follow dopy avatars shaped similar paperclips and weeble wobbles — treble hallelujah! 

Hopefully, 2023 volition beryllium the twelvemonth that marketers aftermath up to the information that, yes, avatars are important. Of course, they are — they are a practice of ourselves. How we explicit ourselves done avatars is profoundly rooted successful our subconscious and ties into that infamous reptilian encephalon that drives each our purchasing decisions. 

Forcing your assemblage to unrecorded wrong the assemblage of a crappy avatar is simply a anserine selling decision. And what you deem arsenic a suitable and adjacent likable avatar is astir apt not suitable oregon adjacent desirable from your people audience’s perspective. Trying to marque thing that looks chill for the kids is often the buss of death. 

A amended attack is taking the hazard to let your assemblage to bring their ain avatar via an integration with Ready Player Me oregon providing robust tools to let them to customize it themselves.

4. No much banal images of idiosyncratic successful a head-mounted show — ever!

Yes, I’m taking a leafage from Joan Crawford’s publication connected this one. I hate, hate, hatred this overused and astir ever wholly irrelevant representation of idiosyncratic successful a VR headset. Spoiler alert — we won’t beryllium walking astir with a VR headset strapped to our faces successful the future. 

We volition beryllium uncovering a much comfy and intuitive mode to entree immersive contented portion going astir our regular lives. This could look similar eyewear oregon thing we haven’t adjacent imagined yet.

Sigh. This 1 does sadden my bosom a bit. Epic fails successful the metaverse wounded america all, and it’s my sincere privation that possibly immoderate of my articles connected selling successful the metaverse volition assistance forestall these types of mishaps.

A caller example, the EU’s $400K foray into the metaverse, was proclaimed a nonaccomplishment by galore media outlets, including a Yahoo Finance nonfiction stating that virtually cipher attended the online event. The immense outgo to make the stand-alone level would person been amended spent doing immoderate bully successful the world. I can’t accidental that I radically disagree with that position but fto maine effort and overgarment a metallic lining. 

The lawsuit abstraction was crafted by Journee, 1 of the champion immersive agencies retired determination (thus the hefty terms tag). It was beautiful, casual to navigate and had rather a spot of entertaining features. Only a fewer months earlier the EU’s event, I had attended a akin lawsuit built by Journee, which was a immense success, well-attended and overmuch much of a bellwether for the aboriginal of events successful virtual spaces. 

The EU whitethorn person made immoderate missteps, however, what they person learned from this task volition hopefully substance overmuch amended campaigns successful the future. I archer my students each the clip that marketers larn truthful overmuch much from what others deem failures than we bash from successes.

2. None of america are excessively chill for schoolhouse successful 2023

Being a lifelong student, I’m highly blessed astir this one. There volition beryllium much invaluable online immersive selling programs disposable to marketers and communicators looking to make innovative and effectual campaigns. 

You tin look astatine a fewer of the online acquisition resources that beryllium contiguous successful my nonfiction connected becoming a metaverse selling maven. In summation to the ones I outline, caller programs are being developed that are solely focused connected immersive communications and strategy, similar this recently launched distant programme from the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communications. (Spoiler alert: I americium teaching successful this programme and couldn’t beryllium much thrilled!)

1. Great quality – those vapid, superficial and perfect-looking influencers connected Instagram aren’t real

That’s right. There volition beryllium an summation successful virtual influencers successful 2023 arsenic brands proceed to emotion the thought of not having to woody with a existent person’s demands and atrocious behaviors. I emotion the thought that companies tin present exploit AI-driven, virtual avatars that shamelessly deterioration and beforehand their products. Brands specified arsenic Prada, Diesel, Tommy Hilfiger and adjacent Chevrolet person leveraged wholly made-up virtual influencers successful salient campaigns. 

A fascinating survey conducted this twelvemonth concluded that a consumer’s narration with a virtual media persona doesn’t disagree importantly from their effect to influencers who are really human. 

Duh! This is what I’ve been preaching for years, who cares if your integer fellow is existent oregon not — they conscionable a existent request and that’s what counts. Hopefully, this caller epoch of virtual influencers volition assistance region the stigma that inactive lingers with having a meaningful narration solely done integer technology, whether it is AI-driven oregon not. 

You tin larn much astir this inclination astatine virtualhumans.org, a level that tracks the activities of virtual influencers crossed the globe.

Bonus inclination for 2023: Peace, joyousness and love 

May much marketers awaken to the relation they play successful shaping a sustainable integer beingness wherever exertion and quality not lone co-exist but thrive.

And due to the fact that it’s the holidays, my acquisition to you, my beauteous reader, is this other peculiar bonus. My astir sincere privation for 2023 is that marketers astir the satellite aftermath up to the information that we are liable for creating the satellite that we are each hoping for. 

We each request to go informed integer citizens, amended knowing our narration to exertion and advocating for the well-being, information and state of our audiences successful the integer world. 

You tin larn much and articulation maine successful this ngo by speechmaking my manifesto and attending my monthly XR for Marketing and Communications Pub Crawl, which volition resume successful the caller year. In the meantime, blessed holidays to all, and to each a bully night!

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Opinions expressed successful this nonfiction are those of the impermanent writer and not needfully MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.

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