At the recent Elevate Conference, I spoke on a panel discussing how businesses can use the Metaverse and Web3 to build community. As Tanooki’s co-founder, I get this question a lot, so I thought it would be worth sharing some of the points I made during the panel more broadly. 

While there’s a lot of buzz about NFTs and the Metaverse, the reality is that it doesn’t work for all businesses, and won’t likely for a while. This isn’t to say that I don’t believe that this technology is and will continue to be transformative; quite the opposite! We’re already seeing so many technological advancements due to the blockchain, and a high-fidelity digital layer on the world (i.e., the Metaverse) supports this. Though this is seen as the “shiny new tech” that people are scrambling to monetize, the reality is that setting up shop in the Metaverse probably isn’t the best idea, at least not for everyone. Here’s why.

Businesses commonly operate on a model where they deliver value to their customers for revenue and (hopefully) profit. So, before deciding to enter a new space like the Metaverse, I recommend first taking a step back and asking some fundamental questions:

• What are my business goals?
• Who are my customers today, and who would I like to become a customer in the future?
• What services do I offer today, and what are the opportunities to improve them?
• What other services do I want to offer?

Knowing that budgets are limited, looking at what strategies and channels can provide a positive ROI is a determining factor for how to allocate your budget. So, as it relates to moving into Web3, businesses should figure out how the properties of the Metaverse or blockchain will get them closer to their goals. 

If a business determines that building or operating in this space could improve marketing and/or incur a lower cost of customer acquisition (thus generating more revenue), here are a few tips on how to learn more about Web3: 

• Dedicate time to deeply understand these technologies and what they enable.
• Find communities similar to the ones you serve today in the metaverse, Reddit, or on Discord, and participate there 
• Follow smart people in the space like Kevin Rose and Gary Vaynerchuk
• Look for off-the-shelf ways to accomplish your goals, like Colony for DAOs or NFTify for NFT marketplaces
• Start small when you do decide you want to introduce a Metaverse angle to your business

If you decide that focusing on Web3 is a next step for your business, reach out. We’d love to help. 

Watch Dave’s full panel here!