The metaverse is being talked about everywhere you look lately, and yet many consumers aren’t quite sure what it is. The truth is, not even its creators know what it will become eventually—many moving parts are constantly evolving, which opens up some exciting opportunities for agencies seeking new avenues to reach target audiences.

When an agency is among the first to embrace a new technology or platform, it can learn a lot about how to best leverage that innovation to meet its clients’ goals; however, compared to its late-adopter competitors, it also has a shorter on-ramp before audiences see what their efforts have produced. Here, 16 members of Forbes Agency Council offer exciting and creative ideas an agency can use to ensure any brand activation crafted expressly for the metaverse provides a memorable customer touch point

1. Build Creative That Is Personalized

Based on user profiles, agencies can target individuals with unique content. For example, an agency can retarget a client that has purchased a product already with a custom coupon code that is unique to them for future purchases. Using interactive ad units in the metaverse, the agency can design a personalized ad for this purchaser. – Geoff Crain, Kingstar Media

2. Bridge Digital And Physical Worlds

For me, it would need to be an activation that bridges digital and physical, as the jury is still out on the metaverse and its potential. Given the sectors in which we work, a music event would work. For example, take a well-known festival to the metaverse and then create a pop-up at that same real-life festival where people can enter the metaverse while at the actual event. – Jules Herd, Five in a Boat

3. Create Immersive VR Experiences

To move beyond other early adopters, agencies should find ways to surprise and delight where the real world and metaverse meet, such as a virtual reality test drive at a car dealership that immerses the client in an exciting driving experience. Or, imagine a family vehicle where kids get their own VR headsets and can choose different soundtracks and scenery for virtual rides while their parents listen to the sales pitch. – John Dutton, Camden Advertising

4. Craft Digital Apparel For Avatars

Digital clothing and footwear for metaverse avatars is an area that fashion brands can run campaigns around. This could be a new skin in Fortnite or custom accessories that can be purchased in Roblox. – James Ross, Hype Partners

5. Elevate A Core Aspect Of The Brand Experience

The most effective brands are focusing on a core aspect of their brand experience and then extending it in ways that elevate it—whether that’s hosting a virtual sports event, creating an immersive storytelling and virtual showroom or setting up shop in already-established virtual worlds. All of the best metaverse examples have two common threads: confidence in the experience and meaning in the value exchange. – Bryan Specht, Salient Global

6. Do Brand Education And Build Consumer Loyalty

There’s an enormous opportunity to do brand education and build consumer loyalty in the metaverse. For example, spirits brands can take consumers on a tour of their distilleries, offer cocktail-mixing classes and provide access to invite-only panel discussions with the brand’s founders for superfans or non-fungible token owners. The metaverse is in its infancy, and we’re just beginning to uncover its possibilities. – Kim Lawton, Enthuse Marketing

7. Consider Adopting Extended Reality Experiences

Before overhauling your digital strategy, start with a building block toward the metaverse: Consider adopting extended reality (XR) experiences, such as virtual makeup try-on tools or floor model shopping. Combining the virtual with something more tangible will provide a memorable experience for your customers and add an engaging aspect to your retail and e-commerce space. – Lars Lehne, Incubeta

8. Showcase Talent In Gated Brand Zones

Create a branded experience in the metaverse with talent, such as a musical artist performing live on a given date, thus generating user engagement. Another way is to create gated brand zones with exclusive content, drops and more, which can only be accessed with specific NFTs that act as entry passes for customers. This requires the brand to have an NFT collection, however. – William Soulier, Talent Village

9. Build Community And Activate Connections

Brands should look at the metaverse as an extension of their community-building efforts (events, groups, chats and so on) to foster connections between consumers and their brand mission. Activations could include concerts, speaker series and NFTs that link real-world products with metaverse skins (clothing, cars, products, etc.) as a way for people to represent who they are in the metaverse. – JP Johl, AdTribute

10. Offer ‘Digital Twins, But Better’

If you offer a product in real life, offer a special code for a digital version—but break limitations with the metaverse version. If you encounter a consumer through the digital version, offer a code for real-life engagement, such as an in-store experience or product purchase. – Hamutal Schieber, Schieber Research

11. Foster Unique Interactions That Bring Consumers Together

Instead of looking at the metaverse as a digital extension of experiential marketing, brands should be thinking of it as an extension of apps such as Discord or Reddit: a place to foster unique interactions that bring their consumers together. For example, imagine a phone brand connecting strangers and asking them to overcome challenges together in a virtual reality using everything but their voices. – Mike Popowski, Dagger

12. Provide Unique Value Aligned With Core Brand Values

Brands should worry less about what is “exciting” and more about what is relevant and authentic. In the short term, brands may generate attention from the still-nascent metaverse by just being there. But ultimately, if the experience doesn’t align with core brand values, consumers will see through it. Instead, imagine how your brand can provide unique value in this new environment. – Matt Miller, X-FCTR

13. Build Trending Elements Into Your Brand Experience

Before entering the metaverse, it is key for advertisers to know their audience and create experiences relevant to that audience. Then, consider what other types of games or experiences your audience is engaging with now. For example, socializing or playing with other gamers live is a popular experience. Building these elements into your branded experience could lead to success. – Donna Robinson, Collective Measures

14. Exchange Actions For Tangible Products Or Services

The metaverse has vast potential for brand and consumer interaction. However, especially in these early stages, companies must ensure that human connections can be made within the metaverse. There must at least be some action taken within the metaverse that results in a tangible product or service being delivered to the consumer afterward so that a memorable link is made. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne LLC

15. Create An ‘Up Close And Personal’ Consumer Experience

We work in agriculture, and consumers are increasingly interested in where their food comes from. The metaverse is a great place to create an “on-farm” experience. Consumers can get “up close and personal” by using a robotic milking machine, harvesting apples or growing their own corn. Brands can then put those NFT apples, milk and corn flakes up for sale. – Sara Steever, Paulsen

16. Design ‘Liminal Spaces’ To Turn Processes Into Journeys

Design “liminal spaces” that convert average processes into exciting journeys by focusing on the job customers are trying to achieve. By creating these thresholds, you can make people feel as if they are on the precipice of their physical location while facing a virtual extension of the world. Liminal spaces can deliver physical, emotional or metaphorical experiences that help consumers connect with the brand. – Rodolfo Salazar, iDigital Studios