Meta Summit 2022 Key Insights

July 04, 2022

Guillaume Aziere

5 Key Takeaways from the Meta Summit

It was with great excitement and expectations that I made my way to Toronto last week, on June 23rd 2022, for my first in-person work event since the start of the pandemic. It was a bit unusual and surprising to see so many marketers attend the Meta Summit keynotes, but in an ever-changing digital landscape, I can understand how everyone is eager to learn as much as they can. From this great learning experience, I would like to share with you my 5 key takeaways from the summit that you can go ahead and apply as soon as today!

Digital is a must no matter the industry

While the global pandemic forced every single business to rethink their digital presence, businesses have engaged with the digital transformation much faster than anticipated. On top of that, the digital marketing landscape has drastically changed since the launch of iOS 14.5 and will continue to do so in the next 12 months thanks to the ongoing cookie apocalypse.

The Metaverse, the next big thing

Meta discussed the Metaverse at the beginning of the conference to showcase it and explore its potential. The firm is claiming that the Metaverse will be the successor of the mobile in terms of technological disruptions and will be accessible with VR and also in 2D in order to allow different levels of immersion. For example, some capabilities could be:

Using Augmented Reality (AR) to enter the digital store of a brand where the users can browse and see the different products.
Wendyverse, where Wendy's digitizes a restaurant where members can gather.
Meeting your colleagues virtually while everyone is at home.
Breaking down the boundaries of education where students will not need to travel to other countries or provinces/states to get an education & could get access to it remotely.
Field trips for children, usually reserved for remote locations, could be done with VR and allow them to explore Egypt during the time of Pharaohs without leaving the classroom.
Experimenting surgery on a virtual patient to minimize risk and train future surgeons.
Digital content creators could play a major role in supplying content, just like creators and influencers are currently doing today on social media.

All of the examples above showcase that the possibilities are endless. Some brands are already brainstorming, sparking new ideas to connect with users whether in a passive or active manner.

The Metaverse: yes, but later!

While clearly, it is the next big thing, as expressed above, the Metaverse is still miles away from its final form and only at its very beginning. Meta does not want to position the Metaverse as a tool that will replace mobile devices or what we are doing today, instead, they are positioning it as a platform that will bring interconnectivity on the Internet. The management consulting firm, Gartner, elaborated in a report which claimed that by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the Metaverse for various reasons such as:

Work
Shopping
Education
Social purposes
Entertainment

In retrospect, the digital transformation of the past 15 years has most definitely paved the way for it, and there is a massive change in society and technology currently which leads Meta to believe that the Metaverse will be the next big change in our daily lives.

Building authentic connections

One of the main themes of the Summit was about creating authentic connections between brands, consumers, and creators. We are entering in the era of connected brands and therefore there are many ways for brands to connect with users on the consumer journey. However, the way they need to do it in order to be successful is by providing relevant, personalized content that helps the customer create meaningful connections to a brand.

One way to do this is through creators who can carry your product or service and talk about it themselves through their own channels to add amplification to your messages. Another way to do this is to engage users through organic channels such as surveys. Pomelo did a survey to let users vote on what 7 items would go on sale for their 7th anniversary, and the users who voted would then enjoy 77% off these products. An engaging and unique technique!

Embracing the discovery commerce approach

As mentioned earlier, the release of iOS 14.5 disrupted the way brands and agencies were investing their media budgets on social media. ROAS and CPAs have been on a steep increase ever since, and digital marketers cannot operate on these platforms the way they used to. Instead, Facebook and Instagram should be considered as discovery performance platforms.

If we look at today’s market, we can all notice that there are infinite choices and alternatives for products and services, but on the other hand consumers and users have a finite attention that is reducing year after year. Users have gone from only shopping during one time of the day to perpetually shopping, as it is integrated in their daily lives. How can brands act on all these variables? The first way is to always create content that is serendipitous to incite your audience to explore the extent of your offering.

The second option is to embrace discovery shopping. Discovery shopping is when products find people and not the other way around, in order to find demand or simply to find what consumers want before they actually want it. One example is to serve accessories ads to users who are heavily in the market to get a phone. A brand could therefore nurture customers with lead ads or video campaigns to slowly fill the funnel and stay top of mind when users will buy.

These were the main key takeaways of what is coming up with Meta in the future. At Webtmize, we strive to stay on top of every digital marketing initiative and always thrive to provide you with the latest industry insights. As we are slowly starting to get back to a normal life, I cannot wait to continue sharing my experience from other fascinating events in the future.