New Research Finds Marketers Are Bullish on the Metaverse as Nearly All Plan to Invest in Preparation for the Next Evolution of Social

The past few years have proven that the only constant is change, and this is increasingly true for social media as new trends, platforms, algorithms and use cases emerge. Research from the 2022 Sprout Social Index, Edition XVIII: US Forecast, released today, indicates that marketers are not only open to change, but are embracing it as 67% plan to invest at least a quarter of their budget into metaverse tactics over the next 12 months. The survey findings underscore the significant role the metaverse and AR/VR technologies will play in social media’s future, along with brands’ confidence in using them—33% of marketers believe their brands are ahead of the curve for implementing AR/VR into their social strategy and 28% for integrating metaverse efforts.

Sprout Social, an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software, surveyed 500 U.S. marketers about their biggest social media questions, challenges and priorities, and cross-referenced their responses with more than 1,000 U.S. consumers to understand shifts in consumer expectations and the bets marketers must take now to align with what consumers want in the future.

Also Read: Pipedream Closes $20 Million Series A Funding Round Led by True Ventures

Despite marketer confidence in emerging technologies, interest among consumers is still in the beginning stages with just 24% predicting they will use the metaverse in the year ahead—17% for NFTs and 39% for AR/VR. However, consumers are increasingly showing interest in short-form video and the platforms that support it. Thirty-eight percent of consumers plan on using TikTok, up from 17% in 2020, and two-thirds of consumers prefer short-form content, up from 50% in 2020. Unexpectedly for marketers, consumers continue to invest their time in YouTube with more than half (51%) expecting to spend more time on the platform in the next 12 months. However, only 35% of marketers plan on using it in their strategies, down from 52% in 2020, suggesting that brands should look for more opportunities to not only meet consumers where they are, but with the content and formats they prefer to engage with, as they plan for the future.

“While our latest data shows the majority of consumers don’t expect the metaverse to play a significant role in the way they interact with brands just yet, marketers are preparing their teams and strategies to accommodate for the surge in interest we expect to see in the years ahead,” said Jamie Gilpin, CMO at Sprout Social. “Similar to the adoption of social media in the early 2000s, brands need to plan and prepare regardless of consumers’ readiness now, or they’ll miss out on future opportunities. As brands identify more ways for social to inform entire business functions, those who use this time to test and learn will ultimately gain a competitive advantage in this next evolution of social.”