COVID-19 has significantly changed the marketing landscape for many businesses. The digital communications landscape and economy is here to stay, and the business world is adjusting itself accordingly, especially as it relates to social media. When virtual tours are applied in the right way, they can drastically improve the online footprint of businesses in a wide variety of different industries. Here we present six different ways that you could be integrating virtual tours into your social media marketing strategy.
Building engagement opportunities that are visual
Because social media is primarily a visual form of communication, it stands to reason that virtual tours would be a massive advantage on such platforms. Many studies have shown that videos and photos can rapidly increase user engagement, so including virtual tours is bound to be a fantastic way to take advantage of this opportunity. Sharing your virtual tour at strategic times can also be a great way to push engagement, for example in the evening when social media use is at its highest.
Sharing individual spots
You can share individual stops or spots on your virtual tour through social media for more targeted engagement and reach across these platforms. For example, if your university has a business school, they might be more interested in sharing this particular stop on the tour featuring the stand-out property than the entire tour itself. A direct link can be included to a particular stop on the tour as well.
Posting condensed videos
Sharing a condensed video from your tour can build more sophisticated engagement opportunities and give your audience a solid preview of what they can expect when they begin to engage with and view the virtual tour on your website. You could, for example, use screen recording software to capture what is happening on your screen as you move through the virtual tour.
Leveraging storytelling for social media
Studies have shown that customers who admire a certain brand’s story are 55% more likely to purchase from that brand, and 44% more likely to share their content with others. Virtual tours can help you take advantage of this, since by showcasing your physical space, you can:
- Talk about the history of your organisation
- Offer a behind-the-scenes look into the organisation
- Tell the origin story of a service or product
Driving conversations
Social media offers brands a form of social interaction with customers that is rarely found elsewhere. Virtual tours can allow you to formulate a ‘hook’ that can drive conversations and prompt audiences to interact with your business. These can be created and prompted in a number of ways:
- Posting of tour-related content underneath a generalised hashtag that is specific to your industry or audience
- Asking audiences to share personal experiences of using the physical space
- Asking your audience for feedback on the kind of content you are creating
Connecting social media posts with larger campaigns
Social media marketing allows you to link up your virtual tour into a larger campaign, for example:
- Universities might want to highlight elements of their tour as part of their larger media and communications plan
- Hospitals can leverage virtual tours by showcasing their facilities to a wider audience
- Hotels might want to showcase their spaces within the particular area that they are located
Virtual 360 Tours make totally immersive virtual reality tours created for your business or property. We provide stunning visual aids to market any location, attraction, destination or building you are trying to rent, sell or simply get people to visit. Using the Matterport 360 camera, we can create pinpoint accurate 3D tours through both interior and exterior areas.
Take a look at our website for more information or give us a call on 07973 419 933 – we’d be delighted to hear directly from you personally!