Virtual Worlds: What’s Working and What’s Not

Another good article in the WSJ on Tuesday 10/23 titled “Marketers Explore New Virtual Worlds” which details the frustration that some marketers are having in working with Second Life. The writer, Emily Steel does an excellent job of clearing the air about virtual worlds for marketing. Chief among the frustrations are the high costs and uncertain returns of virtual worlds like Second Life.

But digging deeper, it may just be that marketers jumped in without a plan for measuring their success and relied on traffic measures to justify their expense. That is always a recipe for disaster in marketing using interactive marketing sites like Second Life, Facebook, MySpace, and even LinkedIn. The idea that traffic will magically turn a poorly planned campaign into a success is a faulty one at best. And that’s where some marketers go wrong in looking to use virtual worlds…

It is never enough to set up a space in a virtual world (existing or creating your own) without specific calls to action that you can measure and bring back to a business objective. Just as we counsel our clients and prospects to develop success metrics prior to a launch, we would also tell anyone looking to use interactive technology to make sure they understand just what it is they want their members to do when they visit. So here is our quick list of what’s working and what is not in virtual worlds today:

What’s working:

1. Clickable offers for members visiting your area – Coupons, downloadable avatar accessories for basic information or taking a survey
2. Clever updates- Think virtual billboard tactics where your images and message change on a regular basis
3. Persona avatars to greet and discuss your product in the context of the site and member conversations (i.e. subtle references and recommendations, not hard sell)
4. One off events built up with lots of publicity – for an idea of what I mean, look only as far as CSI using Second Life in its television shows. While a coup for Second Life, the buzz for CSI was pretty good and I’m sure it drove in some additional younger viewers who didn’t previously watch.

What’s not working:

1. Build it and they will come thinking – Too many marketers fall into the Field of Dreams syndrome regarding using third party virtual worlds. Just as any interactive element used today, virtual worlds require staff or outsourced contractors to maintain the excitement, interact with users, and in general play greeter to visitors.
2. Poorly executed measurement – relying only on traffic metrics such as visits and views of your virtual property. You need to move towards ratios that measure activity of consequence for your brand and business.
3. The Jump Off the Bridge syndrome- Remember what your Dad used to say? “Just because all of your friends want to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, do you?” Too much herd mentality out there in interactive marketing. Be original with clear expectations and ideas, don’t just do a virtual land grab because your competition is already there. What if it’s a money loser for them? Do you really want to follow?

There’s a lot of good things happening in Virtual World thinking and practices. Children’s sites like ClubPenguin, Webkins, and others are booming as safe havens for kids online. (Our 3 boys are members of both and interact with their classmates and cousins in these worlds.)

While this same excitement hasn’t taken hold in the business community (except for the gaming world), if done right a well thought out presence in a virtual world can yield great business results.

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