Virtual Reality: Wave of the Future

Created by Kyle Gabler, Ellen Juhlin, Bill Schott, Brad Stokan, Salim Zayat in the Fall of 2003 for the Building Virtual Worlds class in Carnegie Mellon University.

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How to Leverage Virtual Reality Worlds – Online Marketing Expert

Virtual Reality worlds are gaining popularity, and will continue to do so. They can easily be applied to business activities, and can save your company tons of money! Lets look at the advantages and disadvantages of jumping on the virtual train.

Advantages:

•             No location barriers

•             Demonstrate products in real time

•             Awesome user experiences with massive interaction

•             The ability to get in touch with peoples’ emotions

•             Ability to capture market share before everyone else does

•             Another sales channel

Disadvantages:

•             Not every company will benefit from marketing its products and services in these virtual worlds.  If you’re a very small company and you intend on staying small, this is not a great space to play in.  If you’re very locally targeted in your marketing, this will also pose to be a challenge. Don’t expect millions of people to be on these spaces within 20 minutes of your house or office. (But it doesn’t hurt to test it out first though, right?  This is cutting-edge technology, and you won’t know if it doesn’t work until you try!)

•             It is expensive to build advanced platforms. (So start with the easier-to-use sites that require little to no cash outlay for startup. )

•             Expect longer lead times. (1-4 months)When executed correctly, you should be able to cut down your lead times.)

There are so many different ways to leverage virtual-reality worlds. Check these out:

•             Hosting meetings/events: Large virtual gatherings are the fastest growing trend in the 3-D space.  Why is there even a need to fly anywhere anymore?

•             Sales calls with prospects: Why not have your prospect visit your virtual space and chat in a much more informal, yet interactive setting?  The content sticks much more than traditional call, and seems much more like an actual meeting, rather than a phone meeting.

•             Branding: People are flying around these portals, so why not have a virtual storefront to brand your products and services?

•             Product launches: Many people and businesses have announced product launches over TV, radio and even with a press release. Announce a product release in your virtual world to the masses!

•             Demonstrations of your product or service: Videos are a great way to show a product demonstration, but a live virtual demo is much more powerful (and two-way). Think about how many Snuggies or Sham Wows you could sell in a virtual space!

•             Digital product sales: E-Commerce is a huge part of the virtual worlds across the Net. Many of the visitors are prospects browsing for products and services. You might as well have something ready to sell them!

•             Education/Seminars: Teleseminars and webinars are big business. Let’s take these events to a whole different level!

•             Training employees/contractors: Instead of flying people in from around the world, host employee training in your secure virtual space.

•             Live entertainment: Bands, artists, musicians; think of the potential!

•             Charity auctions: Events go over well in the various virtual communities. Try an auction raising money for your favorite charity.

•             Company communication: Instead of only using  just plain chat, spice it up with one of the 3-D chats

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Online Marketing Expert, Michael Tasner is an in-demand, dynamic keynote speaker on internet marketing, social media marketing expert and business Strategy.Now is the time to hire internet marketing guru Michael to speak at your next conference.