This 360° Virtual Tour is fully interactive. Take over with your mouse, or choose from the dropdown menus to control the tour.
360° Virtual Tours - What are they? How do they work? And why are they such a powerful marketing tool for your business?
First things first - what exactly is a 360° virtual tour?
A 360 virtual tour is an interactive, online media format that allows users to explore a location or space in a fully immersive way. It is typically created by stitching together a series of high-resolution images, or video footage, which can be navigated by the user to immerse themselves in the experience. The various navigation methods create an engaging sense of participation for the visitor and a powerful means of customer engagement for the business providing the tour to their audience.
How does a 360° virtual tour work? Here’s how to navigate one:
Although you can sit back and let the 360° tour take you on a guided trip through the panoramas, you can also take control of it yourself, for a really interactive experience. A Upix Photography 360° virtual tour offers several control options and it all depends on the client’s preferences as to how they’re displayed online. Here are some of them:
Click or drag your mouse around to explore the 360° environment.
Choose your chosen location from a descriptive dropdown menu.
Navigate via interactive maps or floorplans.
Click on clearly marked “Hotspots” to teleport to the next location.
Embedded additional information, explainer videos & close-up images.
Links to external websites, or target landing pages.
Use a VR headset if the format allows.
Aerial 360° panoramas can be included - we have drone pilots too!
View in fullscreen
Pause, resume, repeat as you need.
Try it yourself now on the virtual tour above (sometimes VT for short).
It’s a detailed look at a private school, known for its exceptional pastoral care, and its educational excellence. Mayville High School commissioned Upix to create this virtual tour so parents and potential students could explore its facilities and learning spaces during the pandemic lockdown - a marketing godsend for the school - and yes, all social distancing measures were observed during the project!
Why do 360° virtual tours make such a powerful marketing tool?
Essentially, having a 360 tour on your website is a win-win. Both the user and the owner gain hugely from its presence. Here’s why:
For the visitor / user of the 360° tour:
- Interactive experience: unlike static images or “click-to-play” videos, 360° virtual tours allow visitors to look around and interact with their surroundings in a more natural and intuitive way. This helps them feel like they’re truly experiencing the location or space, rather than just viewing it from a distance. Additional media embedded into the tour, such as explainer videos and close-up images, also increases user interactivity exponentially and helps create an all-round (pardon the pun!) immersive experience
- Convenient & cost-effective: 360 tours provide a convenient and cost-effective addition to in-person visits. Traveling to a specific location can be expensive, or logistically challenging, and 360° virtual tours provide an easy and cheaper way for users to explore and learn about a place, before they physically go there. That’s NOT to say they won’t visit at all, just that the tour provides them with information and confidence when they do. Here are a couple of prime examples:
- The real estate industry - estate agents have been using remote virtual property viewings for some time and, for the buyer, a virtual tour has become an expected feature of their property-buying journey. Virtual tours of properties for sale or rent have proven to increase the sale opportunity by exposing the property to a wider audience. They also boost the perceived value of the property and, ultimately, speed up the sale process by increasing customer confidence.
- Hospitality industries - hotels have found that using virtual tours to show potential guests their facilities and room options is an invaluable tool and a great way to stand out from the competition. The knowledge the visitor gains from being able to inspect the hotel and what it has to offer, helps them make an informed and confident choice. Interestingly, the virtual tour visitor is more likely to upgrade their room choice on viewing, which is a win-win for both the tourist and the hotel!
- Of course, there are a myriad of other uses for a 360 virtual tour, and we’ll touch on a few more later, but let’s focus on some more benefits for the visitor…
- Online accessibility: 360° virtual tours can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, including smartphones, tablets, and computers. This makes them a flexible and convenient option for those who want to explore a location or environment from the comfort of their own home, office, or on the move.
- Physical accessibility information: virtual tours are extremely useful for users who have accessibility issues, due to disability or injury, and need to know if their destination is suitable for them. By visiting virtually first, disabled travellers have reported that they feel more confident and less anxious about going to the destination. They already have a clear sense of the layout and facilities and can travel there safe in the knowledge that they’ll be catered for. This also applies to more specific types of travelling groups, such as families with small children, larger tour groups, etc. Knowing that a destination is equipped for specific needs and being able to visualise it first keeps customer and visitor confidence high.
For the owner of the virtual tour:
There are several ways in which a 360° virtual tour can improve a business's online presence:
- Wider exposure: as long as they have an internet connection, a 360 virtual tour allows users to explore a location or space from anywhere in the world, making it more accessible to a wider audience.
- Improved searchability & increased website traffic: including a 360° virtual tour on a website makes the site easier to find via search engines, increasing traffic to it. Users who are interested in exploring a location or space in detail are more likely to visit a website that offers a 360° virtual tour.
- More online engagement: virtual tours add an immersive and interactive element to a website, allowing users to move through it and explore at their own pace. This keeps them engaged and interested, staying on the website for longer. As a result, they’re more likely to visit in person, book online, or make an informed purchase.
- Stronger marketing: a 360 tour can be used as a stand-alone marketing tool to showcase a business or organisation's products or services. It can be embedded on multiple websites and shared on social media, making it easy for users to access and share with others.
- Better customer service: a 360 VT provides visitors with a better understanding of the business they’re looking at. This can reduce the amount of initial questions and enquiries, which take up a lot of customer service manpower. As a result, the business has more free time to do what it does best - focus on looking after its visitors and customer experience.
- Greater credibility & competitive advantage: possibly the most important of all, a 360° virtual tour can help a business or organisation establish credibility and trust with potential customers and visitors. It displays a willingness to be transparent and a confidence in the company offering. In today’s competitive online space, this asset is priceless and can really differentiate a business from its competition.
Who can benefit from using a 360° VT to promote their business?
Earlier in this article, we used the property and tourism industries as examples, but let’s face it - the possibilities are endless! If you’re a businessowner who thinks a VT wouldn’t help you then you may be pleasantly surprised. Who hasn’t spent a few minutes (or hours!) on Google Maps, dropping pins and having a nose around? Sadly though, there’s a downside to Google Earth: they don’t let you know when they’re coming and they’re not interested in making anyone look good. If the van happens to drive by when your hotel has the builders in, your event venue is closed and empty looking, or - perish the thought - your restaurant frontage has been vandalised(!), then you’re basically stuck with that viewpoint for the foreseeable future. All the more reason to make sure you have your own 360 degree views for your visitors to see that’s not how you normally look - phew!….
Back to a more positive standpoint: those endless possibilities. Here’s a short list of other 360° VT opportunities that might not immediately spring to mind:
- Health & Safety training: as an orientation vehicle for evacuation, access routes and other H&S issues, a 360° virtual tour can be a powerful training tool, bringing employees and recruits together remotely for initial education sessions before attending the locations in person. They’re also invaluable as a permanent online resource for refresher courses and site visitor information points.
- Transportation: transport industries, such as airlines, shipping, railways, limousine hire and vehicle rental can provide online virtual tours to give customers a look inside their vehicles, vessels and offices.
- Retail: although a shop’s interior displays and stock will change frequently, a 360 tour gives potential shoppers an idea of the space, amenities, accessibility and location of the site, particularly useful for larger retail complexes.
- Healthcare facilities: can use 360° virtual tours to give patients and their families a pre-orientation tour to help them feel more comfortable before a visit.
- Manufacturing: companies producing goods in a factory or warehouse setting can utilise 360° virtual tours to showcase their facilities and production processes to potential clients, suppliers and business partners.
- Architecture: in conjunction with CAD or graphic design layouts, virtual tours help architects present their designs to clients and help them visualise the finished build.
- Spas: a 360° virtual tour of a serene and luxurious spa can increase bookings by giving potential guests a look at their relaxing facilities and treatments.
- Landscapers: 360° virtual tours provide a clear and powerful way to showcase previous work and give potential clients inspiration for new projects.
- Theatres, conference centres, tourist attractions, city centres, breweries, aquariums, sportsfields, theme parks, like we said, endless possibilities…
The Upix team have also created 360° VTs of ski resorts, private jets, luxury motor yachts, churches, science labs, gyms, sailing academies, event stands, & the beautiful cultural centre of Venice, to name but a few….
Fun fact - Upix Photography created the first virtual tour of the Greenwich Meridian Time Line, the restoration of Sir Francis Chichester's yacht "Gypsy Moth IV" - AND the first virtual tour of a nuclear power station in the UK! Sadly we can’t currently display either, but we can still shout about it!
So - the pros and cons of having a 360° virtual tour on your website…
We’ve already covered most of the positive things about using 360° virtual tours for business promotion: they are a powerful addition to your online marketing and a popular choice for website visitors. There are a few things to bear in mind though - that’s not to say the following points are prohibitive, but as an ethical business with our clients’ best interests at heart, Upix Photography will always discuss the key points in the 360° virtual tour creative process openly and honestly. So:
- Cost: creating a 360° virtual tour costs money: no two ways about it. Also, a bespokely made virtual tour will cost more than an out-of-the-box solution. But - probably a lot less than you think and, like any decent marketing asset, get it right and it will more than give you a great return on your investment.
- Technical requirements: there are certain technical considerations to take into account when creating a 360° virtual tour, like making sure the tour is optimised for different devices and internet connections. However, this should be addressed by any professional 360° virtual tour supplier as a matter of course, and not be an obstacle in this day and age.
- Maintenance: a 360° virtual tour requires maintenance to keep it up-to-date and accurate and this can be an ongoing cost and time commitment for a business. However, changes to the tour are only needed when there are changes to the busines (Refurbishments, relocations, etc). Otherwise, the tours can happily run without babysitting and make you money while you’re busy doing other stuff…
- Potential for low usage: Depending on the type of business and the target audience, a 360° virtual tour may not be used frequently by visitors to your site and this can limit its effectiveness. So, If you don’t need a virtual tour, then don’t get one just for vanity’s sake!
- Limited control: like any other marketing tool, you can make your 360° virtual tour as interactive as you like - all the bells and whistles - but you can’t actually make anyone engage with it: that’s entirely down to the user. What you can do is monitor visitor numbers and actively share it on all your digital platforms to create additional interest and feedback. Make it work for you - that’s what it’s there for.
And finally, let’s take a look at the benefits of having a virtual tour bespokely made for your business, as opposed to buying an out-of-the-box product.
- Transparent costs: at Upix we make sure you’re fully aware of all the costs involved and will never push you to have more than you want or need. From initial free consultation, through the production itself, to the hosting afterwards, you should be fully informed by your supplier, with no nasty surprises on delivery. (Sadly, many of the kit-based virtual tour platform providers advertise their basic package and then add on lots of extras afterwards).
- Customisation: a bespoke 360° virtual tour can be tailored to meet the specific needs and goals of the business. Additional information pop-ups, embedded explainer videos and close-up detail images can all be included to produce the best tour for your business needs.
- Branding flexibility: A bespoke tour can be customized to match a business's branding and aesthetic, creating a more cohesive and professional image.
- A unique and memorable user experience: a custom-made virtual tour can be designed with the user experience in mind, creating an exclusive marketing tool that helps a business to stand out from its competitors and leave a lasting impression on potential customers.