Key Takeaways
- The metaverse presents an opportunity for Brand Strategists and Digital Marketing Managers to create immersive experiences that engage customers in innovative ways.
- Marketers can prepare for these challenges by learning more about Web3 technologies and capabilities, such as NFTs and blockchain technology.
- User and customer experience research will be critical to a company's success in the metaverse. Researchers can apply many of the principles of game user research to the metaverse.
- Project Managers are essential to delivering successful metaverse experiences and can prepare and upskill by understanding Web3 concepts and issues around privacy, data security, and compliance.
If you are a Designer, you're hopefully excited about jobs in the metaverse. You already design digital assets, build experiences, and develop solutions to problems through empathy and emotion. Web3 and the metaverse are new frontiers to apply design and systems thinking to create human-centered immersive experiences for everyone. But even if you're not a Designer, you should be excited too!
As a Recruiting Leader, many people ask me if a career developing and shaping the metaverse is relevant for those not in design and engineering. And my answer is YES! Many other jobs will be critical to building immersive experiences and helping businesses drive value from their investments. Here are just a few opportunities for those who want to explore the metaverse but are not Designers or Artists.
The metaverse is an opportunity to reach customers through an entirely new medium, engaging customers while exploring ways to be innovative.
Explore the possibilities as a Brand Strategist or Digital Marketing Manager
The metaverse is an opportunity to reach customers through an entirely new medium, engaging customers while exploring ways to be innovative. Brand Strategists will play a crucial role as companies figure out how the metaverse can bring value to their brand. They'll define the best approaches to engage with customers, from guiding market research to defining how their company's voice and tone translates in this new dimension to creating immersive experiences that align with campaign initiatives. (Hear how Nike, Adidas, and Prada are taking this to the next level in our recent Digitalks webinar.)
Digital Marketing Managers are also needed to conceptualize, produce, and carry out interactive campaigns that are so immersive they begin to blur the borders between the physical and digital worlds into a brand new phygital world. Through these experiences, companies will be able to tell stories, let customers engage with their products, and ultimately drive purchases—all without ever leaving the metaverse.
Marketers can prepare for these challenges by learning more about Web3 technologies and capabilities.
One way marketers can prepare for these challenges is to learn more about Web3 technologies and capabilities. Understanding NFTs and the various ways of leveraging the technology to further customer engagement will create loyalty and interaction on a whole new level. Check out how Starbucks is using NFTs to expand its rewards program. And since privacy and data protection will be critical in the metaverse, strategists can also upskill by understanding blockchain technology, its applications, and its implications for marketing and digital commerce.
Understand the customer as a User Experience Researcher
The metaverse is all about digital customer experience, and it's the most complex experience ever imagined. New hardware, applications, interactions, mental models, and best practices—they all require listening to, watching, and understanding users, finding out whether your company is helping solve problems, and uncovering whether you're creating friction or providing a smooth, seamless experience.
This means that user and customer experience research should be at the heart of the metaverse. From innovation research at the earliest stages of experimentation to structured user testing of established products, services, and experiences, Researchers will be critical to a company's success in the metaverse.
One way to prepare your career is to learn from games user research and the principles of what makes gameplay experiences engaging
Early metaverse experiences and ideas are being inspired by the video game industry, so one way to prepare your career is to learn from games user research and the principles of what makes gameplay experiences engaging. As with any UX Researcher, a cross-functional approach that involves designers, developers, business strategists, other stakeholders in the research process, and socializes insights across the business will drive greater impact. Researchers can upskill their knowledge in the space by joining the discussion on platforms like Discord. Check out the Design Squad: UX Community.
Deliver digital experiences as a Digital Project Manager or Producer
Since companies are still figuring out what the metaverse means to their business and how to drive value and ROI, Project Managers (PMs) are essential to deliver successful metaverse experiences.
For example, some companies are jumping in quickly to create a first-mover advantage in the metaverse, and that means time is of the essence. PMs can help align resources, remove roadblocks, and manage timelines for these businesses to help them get to market before the competition does. For other companies, getting into the metaverse is more about experimentation—testing, learning, and adapting their approach over time. PMs following agile methodologies will be able to support short, iterative sprints that help their team hone in on the strategies and tactics that work without investing too much time or resource in things that don't work.
PMs can help align resources, remove roadblocks, and manage timelines for these businesses to help them get to market before the competition does.
Regardless of a company's metaverse strategy, PMs will be fostering collaboration and communication across cross-functional teams—from technology and product to design and marketing to legal and finance. In addition, experience orchestrating complex digital projects is vital, particularly projects related to innovation, new technologies, or the “fuzzy front end” of projects. PMs can prepare and upskill by leaning into the technical details of Web3 concepts and understanding the nuanced issues around privacy, data security, and compliance.
Jobs in the metaverse: Coming together to create
I believe there's a place for us all to create and explore the metaverse. And we need to ensure there is diversity and representation in the people building the metaverse so that it becomes a place that is welcoming and inclusive. We have an opportunity to create a place where we can all come together, be ourselves, however we see ourselves, and have shared experiences. We can be entertained. We can learn. We can collaborate. Yes, early adopters, Gen Z, are on the front lines of exploring this new frontier, but there's a place for all of us.
Early adopters, Gen Z, are on the front lines of exploring this new frontier, but there's a place for all of us.
Even if you aren't a Designer or Engineer, you can be at the forefront. So I encourage you to take the leap, start your learning journey, and prepare your career for an exciting future shaping the metaverse.
Want more about the metaverse? Watch our recent LinkedIn Live to hear our team share inside tips about what's happening in the metaverse. And check out our latest metaverse-related jobs at clients across a range of industries.
