Although the metaverse has been in development for a while, it gained significant attention when Facebook changed its name to Meta in a bid to associate itself with the future of the internet. This rebranding enabled the social media giant to navigate attention away from all the bad press around data harvesting, privacy violations, and election misinformation associated with the former name.
Facebook revealed that the company would actively hire 10,000 workers to formulate a virtual environment. This metaverse would be a space that allows individuals to communicate and interact in a digital universe. The CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently described it as the next generation of the internet, “You’re basically going to be able to do everything that you can on the internet today as well as some things that don’t make sense on the internet today, like dancing.”
But what does it mean for your law firm?
Let’s dive in and see what the metaverse is and how it can revolutionize law firm marketing as we know it.
What Is the Metaverse?
Think of metaverse as a cyberspace that allows for a complete overlap of our physical and digital worlds, becoming a point of convergence for entertainment, shopping, socialization, and more. It also facilitates communication using virtual reality and augmented reality technology.
Virtual reality refers to a simulated environment that exists virtually, even without human interaction. In comparison, augmented reality is an environment that brings together different elements from the digital and physical worlds for a truly unique experience.
As technology progresses, it has become possible for everyone to access the metaverse. The good news is that marketers and individuals do not need to invest in cost-heavy AR and VR equipment. Instead, these worlds are easily accessible through PC, game consoles, and even smartphones. This means your law firm can leverage some of the metaverse components to improve your marketing strategies and provide your clients with an optimal experience.
The metaverse also impacts the digital economy as it lets people purchase and sell products or services on its interoperable platform. For instance, if you host a meeting in a metaverse office, you can buy formal clothing for your avatar and wear it when the meeting is in session. As of now, inventories are mutually exclusive to one platform, but in the metaverse, your persona can reap cross-platform benefits.
How Metaverse Helps With Law Firm Marketing
In its true essence, the metaverse combines virtual reality, augmented reality, and the internet. It is a shared space that merges a virtually improved physical reality and continually existing virtual space.
The platform equips individuals and businesses to create their identities by crafting an avatar. With this avatar, you can enjoy a virtual experience in 3D while creating and exploring the environment.
However, law firms can benefit significantly from the metaverse simply because the VR and AR environments can assist the firms in connecting with probable clients. The metaverse can also urge the law firms to explore, discover, meet, collaborate, and socialize with individuals who can market their law firm and its services.
Additionally, the metaverse can also compel law firm marketers to move past the pandemic restrictions and continue to carry out their operations without any hindrances. For instance, you can meet with clients in realistic settings, carry out case proceedings, interact with your teams, and host mock interrogation sessions to prepare clients for real-life proceedings in the metaverse.
By carrying out law firm digital marketing in the metaverse, you can execute all of your real-life tasks in a real and virtual world environment. Real-life operations will continue in the metaverse with a digital economy, environment, currency, and behavior.
How Law Firms Can Prepare Themselves For Digital Marketing In The Metaverse
To create compelling digital marketing campaigns, law firms need to implement new technologies, especially VR, AR, and AI. To do this, firms must redefine their narratives to fit the 3D virtual environments and use the latest technology as quickly as possible.
It is also critical for law firms to redefine the audience they are targeting to. For example, the metaverse gives firms the opportunities to market their services to a relatively younger generation, including millennials and Gen Z.
Essentially, millennials are the most critical age group that law firms need to be targeting with their digital marketing campaigns. However, as this generation integrated and adapted to technology at a rapid pace, they expect the business they collaborate with to do the same. As a result, this age group’s preferences, behaviors, and expectations compel law firms to improve communication and interaction with clients.
Research shows that 1 in 3 millennials work with law firms that facilitate texting with lawyers and attorneys, whereas 1 in 4 millennials require law firms to have secure and easily-accessible messaging portals online. The same research also revealed that 1 in 5 millennials expect to communicate with their attorneys using an online video chatting portal.
Additionally, the age group is also the most likely to require legal service for a felony charge, divorce, child support or custody cases, juvenile cases, will disputes, the creation of prenuptial agreements, problems with immigration, execution of an estate, criminal misdemeanor cases, and for setting up a power of attorney.
That said, since the age group has lived in a time where technology was not as readily available, they are more likely to prefer legal services that offer the best of both worlds. Additionally, millennials wish to meet with attorneys in a face-to-face environment that allows them to comprehensively research the services before picking the right one for their needs.
The advent of metaverse will increase the expectations for this age group and the generation to come to find convenience in accessing legal services. With the metaverse, attorneys and clients can schedule meetings in a virtual space without taking time out of their busy schedules. The metaverse also creates an environment that allows millennials to avail legal services without missing out on the physical comfort of interacting with the attorneys.
Improving SEO for the Metaverse
Interestingly, metaverse’s search engine optimization also requires you to create a uniform SEO strategy. It should announce your services to the target community, platform, or any audience that you wish to reach out to.
Search engine optimization can play a significant role in helping your audience find your firm easily. For instance, just using the term ‘metaverse’ with your firm’s name, news, or blog titles can help you increase your visibility in related searches, especially in front of those seeking such services.
Implementing AR/VR technologies
As stated earlier, the metaverse promises to bring together AR, VR technologies, and the internet. Now is a great time for your law firm to integrate these technologies into your customer service and marketing approaches and make the most of the opportunities they offer.
For instance, you can use Google’s AR/VR tools to formulate 3D experiences that can be accessed from your direct local listings.
This is because augmented reality bridges the gaps between digital content and information and the physical world. This creates a feeling of actually being present in that location. For instance, you can use AR to train a client during a mock court case or create a simulated AR environment to boost client and team engagement and communication.
Moreover, you can also deploy Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to help your team grow and refine their skills. These tools can help you create virtual courtrooms to train and prepare the recruits to participate in complex cases. This can help you stay more equipped to provide better service to your clients.
The most significant advantage of the metaverse is that it provides a space to process and execute productions, which are all facilitated by AR and VR tools. That said, these components of the metaverse are still under development.
Optimized Content Strategy for the Metaverse
Content marketing is a cardinal component of a digital marketing strategy. This will remain the same in the metaverse as well. However, there is a greater emphasis on visuals, but your content must satisfy the users’ intent and needs. As a result, this initiative can help you rank better in the search results and increase your organic search traffic.
All in all now is a great time to examine your existing content strategy and implement AR, VR, and 3D elements to optimize the marketing plans to suit the metaverse.
The Bottom Line
The metaverse is all set to become the central hub for business communication, interaction, and growth. Law firms that harness the tools and opportunities presented by this digital atmosphere will benefit from increased conversion and will be able to provide better client experiences.
If you’re looking for experts who can help you create strong attorneys digital marketing strategies optimized for the metaverse, reach out to us today. Our experts are here to make sure your law firm leverages the latest technological advances to stay on top.
