Some days ago Goal (Facebook) held an event to talk about Horizon world, the metaverse that the company is preparing to launch officially around the world throughout 2022. At this event, some of the Meta workers took the opportunity to share the trends that they believe we will see throughout the next year ; mainly focused on three main themes: creators, commerce, and the metaverse.
Are the foundations of a new technological era being laid?
The first person to speak at the event was the Vice President of Meta, Nicola Mendelsohn who alluded to that change that is taking place: “Every 10 to 15 years, there is a major technological change. The last one was the smartphone revolution. Now it will be the metaverse“. And it is that in a few weeks, specifically since Facebook changed its name, the metaverse is in all conversations. The most surprising thing is that it seems that all companies have been developing projects in the metaverse for a long time, this week we have seen news from Zara or Nike. “What would you do if all the existing physical limitations in the world were removed? Think about that question and you will be thinking about the potential of the metaverse.This was the question that Nicola asked the audience.
What will be the trends that we will see in the three main groups: creators, commerce and metaverse?
E-commerce
To talk about trends in the e-commerce sector, Carrie Timms the Global Business Marketing Director of Meta I explain the importance that personalization is acquiring. Something that has already been reflected in the study of IAB Europe, where it was confirmed that 75% of people take advantage of relevant and targeted advertising.
A trend that arises in the midst of a great controversy due to the amount of information that companies have about users and the lack of knowledge that consumers have about this. Concern about this situation on the part of legislators and consumers is causing a change in the advertising ecosystem, since it is allowing consumers to have greater control over their data and at the same time, brands are looking for new strategies to offer maximum personalization possible with minimal data.
In the last year Facebook has had several problems with its algorithm, since on several occasions the advertising of some brands appeared in inappropriate places. Because, Carrie wanted to clarify that this will stop happening: “In addition to earning the trust of our users, we also want to earn the trust of the companies that advertise on our platforms. That means ensuring that their ads only appear alongside the type of content they are comfortable with.. To do this, we are testing controls that allow advertisers to choose whether their ads appear alongside political news and posts, posts about tragedies and conflict, and social issues under discussion. And we will open those controls to third party verification, to make sure they work well.“.
The discovery trade was also discussed, because people buy to entertain and buy through entertainment. A large percentage of the population purchases products after visiting a social network. Meta is one of the main companies that is focused on developing this aspect, both on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. All of this is closely related to personalized advertising.
Metaverse
A virtual world without borders, that is what Meta promises with Horizon World. Although, they will not be the only ones because as we said Nike already have their own metaverse through Roblox.
During the event, Beth Horn, Director and Head of Industry, Retail and E-commerce at Meta He explained that right now the company is striving to develop 3 areas: continue to be the best place to advertise, facilitate sales on the platform and improve the customer experience. Some of these aspects could be greatly enhanced thanks to the development of the metaverse that, together with Augmented Reality technology, will bring consumers a new way of shopping.
For example, MADE.com is already using augmented reality so that people can view items before purchasing.
Creators
Finally we have the content creators, who according to Caroline Drucker, Director of Instagram Media Partnerships EMEA He affirmed during the event how important it is for brands to have content creators, because they help drive their results. “Our goal is to be the best place for creators to grow and earn a living“He also pointed out Caroline.
Meta will begin to raise part of the money that the influencers generated through their platforms from 2023, for now they will continue to allow them to work with brands for free.
Content creators have also started using augmented reality to attract more people to their communities. The tool Spark AR Studio that makes Meta available to creators, helps build, test, and post AR experiences on Facebook and Instagram. There are creators who can develop effects based on the needs of a brand, be it a category, a language, technical requirements, etc. More than 700 million people use AR effects in Meta apps and services every month.
“Creators know their craft, they trust them. Also, choose creators who are already using your products. If that’s not the case, give them plenty of time to really get to know the brand.“, advise Drucker: “A creator is not just a sign.“
According to Meta, these are the trends that we can see in 2022 and where they will participate to help them grow and develop.
